Background: Dental caries remains a public health threat of concern among children. About 2.3 billion people are affected by dental caries, of which 530 million are children globally. Objective: This study was carried out to identify sugar fermenting bacteria in the oral cavity and their antibiotic susceptibility pattern, assess the association with sugar fermenter bacteria and dental caries and evaluate dental caries outcomes among children. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted between October 2021 and February 2022 at Ruhengeri Referral Hospital. About 136 oral swab samples were collected from children with and without dental caries at 1:1 ratio. The samples were put in Stuart sterile container and transported to INES-clinical microbiology laboratory for microbial identification. Logistic regression analysis of demographic characteristics was performed to study the relationship between demographic variables and dental caries. Chi-square test was performed for the association between variables. Results: About 67.6% were male, while children of age 7–9 years (64.7%) dominated the age groups. Lactobacilli spp (15.29%) and Streptococcus mutans (12.94%) were the most predominant microorganisms observed in the oral cavity among children with dental caries. The S. mutans (x 2 = 27.03, P < 0.00001, 95% confidence interval [CI]=0.2901–0.5785), S. aureus (x 2 = 34.59, P < 0.00001, 95% CI = 0.3541–0.6292), Enterobacter aerogenes (x 2 = 13.5, P = 0.000239, 95% CI = 0.151–0.4622), Serratia marcescens (x 2 = 11.64, P = 0.00645, 95% CI = 0.1275–0.4418) and Klebsiella pneumonia (x 2 = 13.51, P = 0.000237, 95% CI = 0.1511–0.4623) were significantly associated with dental caries. Teeth loss (x 2 = 51.04, P < 0.00001, 95% CI = 0.4757–0.7205), teeth pain (x 2 = 5.05, P = 0.0246, 95% CI = 0.0249–0.33499), and infection (x 2 = 4.73, P = 0.02964, 95% CI = 0.0186–0.3441) were dental outcomes associated with tooth decay. Ciprofloxacin, clindamycin, and amoxicillin were the most sensitive antibiotics, while vancomycin and chloramphenicol were the most resistant. Conclusion: Sugar consumption favours the growth of sugar fermenter bacteria that cause dental caries among children. Dental caries is associated with adverse oral health outcomes among children. Oral health education is recommended for children. Parents are advised to reduce the consumption of sugary food for their children for oral health safety.

Electronic devices have become one of the most essential accessories being used in hospitals. Those devices increase the communication and contact making healthcare delivery more efficient and quality service oriented. The study was designed to collect reliable information about the spreading of pathogens through electronic devices especially in sensitive departments. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the bacterial colonization of electronic devices and determine the effectiveness of disinfection with alcohol 70% (w/v) to reduce the bacterial colonization of electronic devices. It was a cross-sectional study where samples were collected by means of moistened swabs in sterile saline solution from 30 electronic devices used by healthcare workers at Ruhengeri Referral Hospital within four different units: maternity, neonathology, intensive care, and theater room. To evaluate the effects of disinfection using 70% isopropyl alcohol, the second sample collection was carried out after decontamination with 70% isopropyl alcohol. Samples were analyzed in the microbiology lab of INES-Ruhengeri. The result showed that Staphylococcus aureus was the most predominant with 22.5%. Lactobacillus and Citrobacter spp. were 12.5%; Pseudomonas aeruginosa, coagulase-negative Staphylococci, and Serratia marcescens were 10%; Escherichia coli was 7.5%; Klebsiella spp. and Providencia spp. were at 5%. The lowest prevalence was 2.5% of Enterobacter spp. and Salmonella spp. The threat of dissemination of isolated microorganisms is valid, since all devices evaluated in this study showed bacterial contamination of species associated to hospital-acquired infections. Special care should be taken when using electronic devices in healthcare settings in addition to disinfection to reduce the risk of transmission of bacterial agents. Further studies should evaluate the antibiotic susceptibility for better conclusive results since all isolated bacteria in this study were subjected to high resistance and were associated with nosocomial infections.

Background: Malaria presents a diagnostic challenge in most tropical countries including Rwanda. Microscopy remains the gold standard for diagnosing malaria, however, it is labour intensive and depends upon the skill of the examiner. Malaria rapid diagnostic tests (MRDTs) have been developed as an easy, convenient alternative to microscopy. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted from October to November 2019 on 130 febrile patients who were directed to the laboratory department for blood screening for malaria parasites at Byumba Health centre. The main objective of this study was to correlate Microscopy and MRDTs in diagnosis of malaria. Results: After signing a consent form, Blood samples were collected and screened for malaria parasites microscopically and by using MRDTs. Data collection forms were filled with relevant information and obtained results for MRDTs and for peripheral blood smear were recorded. The collected data were statistically analyzed using GraphPad Prism 9 software. The mean age found to be 16 years old. In this study peripheral blood smear microscopy was considered as a reference method. The sensitivity and specificity of RDT Histidine–Rich Protein 2 (HRP-2) were calculated and found to be 96.6% and 60% respectively. The negative predictive value was found to be 92.85% where positive predictive value was 73.3%. Conclusion: MRDTs should be used along with microscopy to avert complications associated with delayed diagnosis and similar studies are required to identify alternative techniques with high specificity for the diagnosis of malaria.

Infectious diseases remain a global health challenge as result of antimicrobial resistance. The use of natural products has revealed a potential source of alternative antimicrobial agents. The aim of this research was to evaluate the antibacterial activities and the phytoconstituents of Tragia brevipes against pathogenic bacteria. The crude extracts of leaves, roots and stems were obtained using polar and non-polar solvents and the antibacterial assay was performed using agar well diffusion and disc diffusion methods. The results showed that in the leaves and roots, flavonoids, saponins, glycosides, phenols, tannins and resins were present whereas in the stem, flavonoids, glycosides and resins were present. Only S. aureus ATCC43300, E. coli ATCC25922 did not show inhibition zone to all plant parts, P. aeruginosa ATTCC27853 showed the highest inhibition zone compared to other bacteria. It was observed that methanolic extract has a great potential antimicrobial activity, followed by distilled water extracts. The combination of plant extracts showed a marked synergic effect. The two way ANOVA showed a statistical difference in the mean zone of inhibition obtained among bacteria and leaves (f = 2.3478, p < 0.05), roots (f = 2.3478, p < 0.05) whereas stem extracts difference was between solvents and tested bacteria (f = 3.4923, p < 0.05). T. brevipes could be a potential candidate in bacterial infection treatment as a source of novel antimicrobial agents. Further studies are recommended to isolate the active ingredients and investigate pharmacological properties.

Background: Chorioamnionitis is the association of microorganisms infection in fetal membrane, placental membrane and amniotic fluid. About 2 to 4% of chorioamnionitis occurs in full-term deliveries, but higher than this prevalence in preterm birth. Objectives: The objective of this study was to detect the most dominant bacteria of chorioamnionitis and evaluate correlation of the presence of microorganisms infection in placental membrane, fetal membrane and amniotic fluids in women with preterm birth. Methods: It was cross section study where 20 women with preterm premature rupture of membrane, premature rupture of membrane or preterm birth. By caesarean section or without caesarean section with a group of control of 10 women with term delivery. After delivery immediately the samples swab of amniotic fluid, fetal membrane and placenta membrane sample were placed in separate sterile container (swabs Stuart plastic) in the hospital, where it was stored at temperatures ranging between 8 o C-20 o C. Culture technique, gram staining and biochemical test were used to identify the microorganisms in this study at INES-Ruhengeri Microbiology laboratory. At the Ruhengeri Referral Hospital and analyzed according to INES Microbiology Laboratory standard operating procedures. Results: in 20 women with preterm birth, the most dominant mircoroganism was yeast 28.4% and mould 28.4%, other infections were caused by Escherichia coli, with 9.3%, Klebsiella species with 3.7%, Streptococcus species with 9.3%, Staphylococcus species with 9.3%, Candida albican with 11.7%. Those microorganisms show the association in fetal membrane, placenta membrane and amniotic fluid, of all women suspected to have chorioamnionitis. In 10 samples of control group, for women with term birth, same microorganisms were found like in fetal membrane were (Staphylococcus species 11%, mould 33%, and Yeast 56%), in placenta membrane were (Staphylococcus species 20%, mould 30%, Yeast 50%) and Amniotic fluid were (Staphylococcus species 0%, mould 33%, Yeast 67%). Conclusion: Chorioamnionitis can be in women with preterm birth or with term birth, untreated microorganism infections will cause a big problem of chorioamnionitis in pregnant women this will conduct to preterm morbidity and mortality.