Factors associated with community-acquired urinary tract infections among adults attending assessment centre, Mulago Hospital Uganda.

Background: Urinary tract infections (UTI) are a common medical problem affecting the general population and thus commonly encountered in medical practice, with the global burden of UTIs at about 150 million people. Because uropathogens largely originate from colonic flora, they are easy to predict, and this is the rationale for empirical treatment in Community Acquired-UTI (CA-UTIs). With the increasing prevalence of drug-resistant bacteria among adults with CA-UTI in Uganda, it is no longer adequate to manage CA-UTIs on empiric regimen without revising the susceptibility patterns of common CA-UTI causative agents.

Prevalence of virulence determinants in Staphylococcus epidermidis from ICU patients in Kampala, Uganda.

Introduction: Staphylococcus epidermidis is often considered a non-pathogenic organism but it causes nosocomial infections. To distinguish invasive strains, comparative studies of patient and community isolates may offer some clues. We investigated the distribution of virulence determinants in patient isolates from Uganda.

High prevalence of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus in the surgical units of Mulago hospital in Kampala, Uganda.

Background: There is limited data on Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in Uganda where, as in most low income countries, the routine use of chromogenic agar for MRSA detection is not affordable. We aimed to determine MRSA prevalence among patients, healthcare workers (HCW) and the environment in the burns units at Mulago hospital, and compare the performance of CHROMagar with oxacillin for detection of MRSA.

Results: One hundred samples (from 25 patients; 36 HCW; and 39 from the environment, one sample per person/item) were cultured for the isolation of Staphylococcus aureus.

Identification of Staphylococcus aureus: DNase and Mannitol salt agar improve the efficiency of the tube coagulase test.

Background: The ideal identification of Staphylococcus aureus clinical isolates requires a battery of tests and this is costly in resource limited settings. In many developing countries, the tube coagulase test is usually confirmatory for S. aureus and is routinely done using either human or sheep plasma.