Comparative study of the methods of extracting mesenchymal stem cells from cryopreserved Wharton's Jelly.

The Wharton's Jelly (WJ) is an established source of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC). We compared 3 methods of extracting WJ-MSC from cryopreserved tissue and determined that enzymatic digestion of the WJ yielded the most viable MSC, compared to the explant and mechanical digestion methods. The enzymatically-released WJ-MSC conformed to the International Society for Cellular Therapy (ISCT) criteria: displayed plastic-adherence, co-expressed CD73, CD90, CD105 and were negative for hematopoietic lineage cell markers.

Increasing antibiotic resistance in Streptococcus pneumoniae colonizing children attending day-care centres in Singapore.

Background And Objective: Streptococcus pneumoniae is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in both the paediatric and adult population. This study aimed to define pneumococcal colonization rates, and antibiotic resistance patterns across two periods a decade apart, and also assess the serotypes of colonizing strains in children in the era of early pneumococcal conjugate vaccine uptake in Singapore.

Methods: Two cross-sectional prevalence surveys were carried out in 1997 and 2007-2008 on children attending day-care centres across Singapore.

Comparison of infection rate using different methods of assessment for surveillance of total hip replacement surgical site infections.

Background: The surveillance of surgical site infections (SSI) has been undertaken in many centres worldwide to ascertain the extent of the problem and where possible, to improve the incidence rates, thereby decreasing the undesirable outcomes. The study investigates the processes and outcomes of total hip replacement SSI surveillance carried out in Dunedin Public Hospital in 2004.

Methods: Two hundred and six patients were enlisted in the study and 189 primary replacements and 22 revision replacements were carried out.

Antimicrobial drug utilisation in Dunedin Hospital, New Zealand, and its association with antimicrobial resistance.

Introduction: Antimicrobial resistance (AR) to a drug can be considered a natural response to the selection pressure of that drug, with over prescribing being one of the major causes. Few investigations have evaluated the relationships between antimicrobial drug use in a hospital and antimicrobial resistance.

Method And Materials: Antimicrobial drug utilisation (AU) data were collated for Dunedin Hospital, New Zealand, and expressed as defined daily doses per 1000 patient days according to the World Health Organization's definition.

New rapid screen for the detection of imipenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumanii.

A rapid screen was developed for the detection of imipenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumanii (IRAb) following a recent outbreak in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU) of a hospital in Singapore. Antimicrobial solutions of imipenem ranging from 16 mg/L to 64 mg/L were prepared in-house. Each of the antimicrobial solutions was then incorporated singularly into MacConkey agar plates by two different methods.