Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a Gram-negative bacillus that is ubiquitous. It is found in abundant amount in the environment, especially in moist places. Immunocompetent persons get less infected by P. aeruginosa, while immunocompromised patients get more infected by them. The burn patients, patients with cystic fibrosis, and patients who are dependent on any device like ventilator, intravenous catheter, or indwelling bladder catheter are more prone to acquire the infection. It is the main cause of ventilator-associated pneumonia. Patients with neutropenia are more susceptible to P. aeruginosa infections. P. aeruginosa has got several virulence factors through which they can cause disease. They have got attachment factors like Pilli and enzymes. They are one of the main pathogens of healthcare-associated infection (HAI). As P. aeruginosa is multidrug-resistant so this has got an extra contribution to the fact that they can cause HAI more. Common antibiotics like penicillin, carbapenems, cephalosporins, and all other Beta-lactam drugs along with aztreonams and fluroquinolones are resistant to P. aeruginosa. The proper maintenance of hand hygiene and continuous monitoring of hospital devices can lessen the burden of HAI associated with P. aeruginosa infection.

Background: Suicide is one of the commonest causes of death worldwide and has a great public health effect. The cause of suicide is found to be multi-factorial in which biological, psychological, social and environmental factors act together. The choice of method depends on the accessibility and availability of the means on the spot at the time of act. Objective: To find out the choice of ligature material used by the victims, type of hanging in relation to the point of suspension and other related factors. Materials and method: This retrospective observational study summarizes the post mortem examinations on 187 cases of suicide by hanging during January 2012 to December 2013 in the Department of Forensic Medicine, Sir Salimullah Medical College and Mitford Hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Ligature material used by the victim was noted from the available forensic reports. Results: The current study is done to find out the commonly used material in cases of hanging. Male (63%) outnumbered females (37%) in committing suicide by hanging. Most commonly used ligature material was rope (28%) followed by ‘orna’/’dupatta’ (22%). The nature of ligature material was soft in 68% cases while hard material was used in 5% cases. The position of knot was observed on left side of neck in 63% cases followed by right side in 21% cases. The commonly used ligature was a rope with guider, and ceiling fan and tree branches as the point of suspension. Conclusion: Rope is frequently used for domestic purposes and thus it is also the most commonly used ligature material. Social, cultural and economic values must be strengthened to reduce incidence of suicide. Delta Med Col J. Jul 2019 7(2): 66-70

Sexual assault is defined as any sexual act performed by one (or more) person(s) on another without consent. It may include the use of threat or force. In some cases, the person cannot give consent to sex because he/she is unconscious or otherwise incapacitated. A person may be raped by a stranger, an acquaintance or date or a family member. The purpose of the present study was to find out the medicolegal findings of rape victims in order to point out the visible loopholes of the procedure. This was a cross sectional descriptive type of study which was done in the Dept. of Forensic Medicine, Sir Salimullah Medical College and Mitford Hospital, Dhaka , Bangladesh from January to December 2015 with maintaining ethical issues. Rape cases were sent for medicolegal examination and victims who ultimately agreed to do medicolegal examinations were examined and opinions were given regarding the issues. In this study, majority (70.0%) of the victims was within 11 to 20 years of age and 65.0% of the victims were unmarried. Almost 68.0% of the victims were examined within 7 days followed by 32.0% of the victims after 7 days to beyond one month after rape; however, 48.0% of the victims showed sign of recent hymeneal tear with bruise and abrasion followed by 52.0% showed sign of old hymeneal tear. Spermatozoa were not found in any of the specimen of high vaginal swab. Young adults remain the most vulnerable group, so education related to sex, morality, humanity and different life skills training should be provided to these groups from their school years itself. The benefits of early intervention and comprehensive care of survivors with the use of standardized protocols along with shorter and lesser traumatic period of court processing to the survivors of these cases should be encouraged.

Background: Wound infection is one of the health problems that are caused and aggravated by the invasion of pathogenic organisms. Objective: The objective of the study was to compare the bacteriological profiles including antimicrobial sensitivity patterns from wound swab isolates among hospital-acquired infection and community-acquired infection so that recommendations can be made for preventing resistance and empirical antibiotic treatment. Methodology: This retrospective study was conducted in the Department of Microbiology at Monno Medical College, Manikganj, Bangladesh during the period from June 2020 to July 2021 for a duration of one year. The patients attending the outpatient department were represented as community-acquired infection and patients admitted at least 48 hours were represented as hospital-acquired infection. All the samples were inoculated on blood agar and Mac Conkey agar media for 24 to 48 hours at 35 to 37°C. Organisms were identified by standard microbiological procedures. An antimicrobial susceptibility test was done for all isolated bacteria by the disc diffusion method. Results: A total number of 170 patients were recruited among them hospital-acquired infection was predominant at 96(56%) patients and community-acquired infection was at 87(49%) patients. About 126 (74.1%) yielded growth of different bacteria and culture-positive cases were found in 78 (61.9%) in the HAI group. The predominant isolate is Staphylococcus aureus majority were found in the HAI than CAI which was 36(57.1%) and 27(42.9%) respectively. Followed of Escherichia coli majority were found in the HAI than CAI which was 17(68.0%) and 8(32.0%) respectively. Streptococcus pyogenes were found 11(61.1%) of the HAI, Pseudomonas species majority were found in the HAI than CAI which was 10(62.5%) and 6(37.5%) respectively and Klebsiella species were found in the HAI 4 (100.0%). Staphylococcus aureus was found highly sensitive to sulphamethoxazole (100%), imipenem (79.4%), and gentamicin(76.2%). Escherichia coli was found highly sensitive to sulphamethoxazole (100%), ceftazidime (100%), and gentamicin (100%). Conclusion: Staphylococcus aureus was the most frequently isolated pathogen from wound swab among both HAI & CAI. Antibiotic sensitivity patterns of various isolates will guide for appropriate selection of antibiotics to reduce the spread of resistant bacteria against wound infection.  Bangladesh Journal of Medical Microbiology, July 2022;16(2):53-59