Introduction: Candida albicans is one of the most important aetiological agents causing vaginal candidiasis in pregnant women. Most women will experience at least one episode during their reproductive years. Antifungal resistance is a particular problem with Candida infections. Some types of Candida are increasingly resistant to the first-line and second-line antifungal medications. Objective: To investigate the azole susceptibility of Candida albicans (C. albicans) from pregnant vulvovaginal candidiasis patients and to detect ERG11 gene in these azole resistance isolates. Methods: Forty-one clinical isolates of C. albicans were collected. Azole susceptibility was tested in vitro using microdilution techniques. The ERG11 genes of 27 isolates of C. albicans (All resistant to azoles) were amplified using PCR method. Results: Of the 67 isolates recovered, 41(61.19%) were C. albicans, of which 27 (65.85%) each, and 25(60.98%) were resistant to Fluconazole, Voriconazole, and Nystatin respectively. In total, ERG11 genes were detected among 24(88.89%) of 27 C. albicans azole resistant isolates. Conclusions: Twenty four ERG11 genes were detected among 27 azole resistant C. albicans isolates, which indicates a possible relation with the increase in resistance to azole drugs and the recurrence of vulvovaginal candidiasis.

Objectives: Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is regarded as an important aetiological agent of various human infections. Fluoroquinolones are routinely used in the chemotherapeutic management of these infections; nonetheless, in recent years, a growing rate of resistance to these drugs has been reported worldwide. The aims of this study were to isolate and discover the prevalence of plasmid-mediated (qnrA, qnrB, and qnrS) genes among the quinolone-resistant clinical S. aureus isolates in Bayelsa State, Nigeria. Methods: A total of 25 (31.25%) clinical isolates of S. aureus were collected from hospitalized patients. The bacterial isolates were identified through standard laboratory protocols and further confirmed using the API Staph system (bioMérieux, France) test strips. The antimicrobial susceptibility and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) were determined by the standard disk diffusion and serial dilutions methods respectively. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used for detecting qnrA, qnrB, and qnrS genes. Results: Of the 25 S. aureus isolates, 19(76.00%) were resistant to ampicillin-cloxacillin, while 14 (56.00%) each were resistant to norfloxacin and Amoxicillin, 13 (52.00%) each to gentamicin and erythromycin, 11 (44.00%) were resistant to streptomycin, rifampicin and ciprofloxacin, respectively. The resistance pattern among the isolates to chloramphenicol and levofloxacin were 10 (40.00%) and 7 (28.00%) respectively. All the eleven ciprofloxacin resistant were high-level (1000 µg/mL) resistance isolates and only one (9.00%) of these isolates was positive for the qnrB gene. Conclusion: The study results were indicative of the presence of low frequency of qnr genes among the clinical isolates of S. aureus in Yenagoa, indicating that other mechanisms are employed in resisting to these fluoroquinolones. This, however, emphasizes the need for establishing discreet policies associated with infection-control measures in hospital settings.