Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has imposed psychological distress and fear across the globe; however, factors associated with those issues or the ways people cope may vary by country or context. This study aimed to investigate the factors associated with psychological distress, fear, and coping strategies for people living in Bangladesh during the COVID-19 pandemic.Methods: A cross-sectional study conducted in August-September 2020 using online platforms in Bangladesh. People residing in Bangladesh, aged ≥18 years, who were proficient in English and able to respond to online questionnaire. The Kessler Psychological Distress Scale was used to assess the psychological stress. Level of fear was assessed using the Fear of COVID-19 Scale, and strategies to cope were assessed using the Brief Resilient Coping Scale.Results: Of the 962 participants, half of them were aged between 30 and 59 years. Being born in Bangladesh, having graduate education, perceived distress due to employment change, effect of COVID-19 on financial situation, having multiple comorbidities, and visiting a healthcare provider in the last 4 weeks were associated with higher levels of both psychological distress and fear of COVID-19. Furthermore, higher psychological distress was associated with being a female (AOR 1.81, 95% CI 1.33–2.47, p < 0.001), being a frontline worker (AOR 1.50, 95% CI 1.04–2.15, p < 0.05), having pre-existing psychiatric problems (AOR 4.03, 95% CI 1.19–13.7, p < 0.05), being a smoker (AOR 2.02, 95% CI 1.32–3.09, p < 0.01), providing care to a known/suspected COVID-19 patient (AOR 1.96, 95% CI 1.40–2.72, p < 0.001), having a recent overseas travel history and being in self-quarantine (AOR 4.59, 95% CI 1.23–17.2, p < 0.05), self-isolation without COVID-19 (AOR 2.63, 95% CI 1.68–4.13, p < 0.001) or being COVID-19 positive (AOR 2.53, 95% CI 1.19–5.34, p < 0.05), and having high levels of fear of COVID-19 (AOR 3.27, 95% CI 2.29–4.66, p < 0.001). A higher level of fear was associated with moderate to high levels of psychological distress (AOR 3.29, 95% CI 2.31–4.69, p < 0.001). People with pre-existing mental health problems were less likely to be resilient (AOR 0.25, 95% CI 0.11–0.54, p < 0.01), whereas those with having an income were more likely to be resilient (AOR 1.46, 95% CI 1.02–2.11, p < 0.05).Conclusion: Effective interventions to support the vulnerable groups including improved access to mental health services are of utmost importance during the pandemic.

Bacteria and archaea possess adaptive immunity against foreign genetic materials through clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR) systems. The discovery of this intriguing bacterial system heralded a revolutionary change in the field of medical science. The CRISPR and CRISPR-associated protein 9 (Cas9) based molecular mechanism has been applied to genome editing. This CRISPR-Cas9 technique is now able to mediate precise genetic corrections or disruptions in in vitro and in vivo environments. The accuracy and versatility of CRISPR-Cas have been capitalized upon in biological and medical research and bring new hope to cancer research. Cancer involves complex alterations and multiple mutations, translocations and chromosomal losses and gains. The ability to identify and correct such mutations is an important goal in cancer treatment. In the context of this complex cancer genomic landscape, there is a need for a simple and flexible genetic tool that can easily identify functional cancer driver genes within a comparatively short time. The CRISPR-Cas system shows promising potential for modeling, repairing and correcting genetic events in different types of cancer. This article reviews the concept of CRISPR-Cas, its application and related advantages in oncology.

Introduction: Infections due to antibiotic resistant bacteria have increased alarmingly in both developed and developing countries. Unrestrained and rapidly spreading bacterial growth has turned the management of wound infections into a serious challenge. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of different bacterial pathogens and their antibiotic susceptibility in various types of wound infections. Methods:  A cross-sectional study was conducted to collect 105 wound swabs. All isolated bacteria were identified based on colony characteristics, gram stain and standard biochemical tests, and antibiotic susceptibility testing (AST) with the disc diffusion method. Descriptive statistics were used to present the study findings, and all analyses were performed using Stata Version 13. Results:  The rate of isolation of bacteria was 92.3%. Staphylococcus aureus was found to be the most frequent isolate (55.7%), followed by Escherichia coli (23.7%), Pseudomonas spp. (8.2%), and Streptococcus pyogenes (7.2%). Gram-positive bacteria were mostly (60%) found sensitive to vancomycin, azithromycin, gentamicin, imipenem, cefixime, and ceftriaxone in this study. Among the Gram-negative bacteria, Escherichia coli (>60%) showed sensitivity to cefixime, azithromycin, cefuroxime, ceftriaxone, cefotaxime, gentamycin, and ceftazidime. Conclusions: The diversity of isolated bacteria and their susceptibility patterns signify a need to implement a proper infection control strategy, which can be achieved by carrying out antibiotic sensitivity tests of the isolates.

Background: The genus Enterococcus is of increasing significance as a cause of nosocomial infections and this trend is exacerbated by the development of antibiotic resistance.Objective: The aims of this study was to find out the susceptibility pattern and the prevalence of virulence genes in Enterococcus strains isolated from urinary tract infection in Bangladesh.Methodology: This cross-sectional study was conducted in the Department of Microbiology at Dhaka Medical College, Dhaka from January 2015 to December 2015 for a period of one (01) years. All the admitted patients in the Dhaka Medical College & Hospital, Dhaka and Banghabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, Dhaka who were  presented with clinical features of urinary tract infection at any age with both sexes were included as study population. The antimicrobial susceptibility of the strains was determined using the disk diffusion method; vancomycin susceptibility pattern was detected by MIC method. PCR was performed for the detection of genus-species, vanA, vanB gene and potential virulence genes.Result: Out of 84 Enterococci, majority (71.42%) of the isolates were E. faecalis followed by 23.81% were E. faecium. Regarding antimicrobial susceptibility pattern, 100% isolated Enterococci were sensitive to vancomycin, linezolid and teicoplanin. Most of the Enterococci were resistant to ciprofloxacin and ceftriaxone (92.86%) followed by 88.10% to gentamicin and 85.71% to azithromycin and rifampicin. No VRE was identified and the range of MIC for vancomycin was 1-4 µg/ml. None of the Enterococci was positive for vanA and vanB genes. Out of total E. faecalis and E. faecium, 87.50% were positive for ebp and 77.5%, 72.5%, 55.0%, 45.0%, 40.0% and 10.0% of isolates were positive for gelE, esp, ace, cyl, asa and hyl respectively.Conclusion: Almost all the virulence genes were more prevalent in E. faecalis isolates.Bangladesh Journal of Infectious Diseases 2017;4(2):30-34

Not Available Bangladesh Journal of Infectious Diseases, April 2020;7(suppl_1):S58-S60