Antimicrobial resistance is an exigent public health concern owing to the emergence of novel strains of human resistant pathogens and the concurrent rise in multi-drug resistance. An influx of new antimicrobials is urgently required to improve the treatment outcomes of infectious diseases and save lives. Plant metabolites and bioactive compounds from chemical synthesis have found their efficacy to be dwindling, despite some of them being developed as drugs and used to treat human infections for several decades. Microorganisms are considered untapped reservoirs for promising biomolecules with varying structural and functional antimicrobial activity. The advent of cost-effective and convenient model organisms, state-of-the-art molecular biology, omics technology, and machine learning has enhanced the bioprospecting of novel antimicrobial drugs and the identification of new drug targets. This review summarizes antimicrobial compounds isolated from microorganisms and reports on the modern tools and strategies for exploiting promising antimicrobial drug candidates. The investigation identified a plethora of novel compounds from microbial sources with excellent antimicrobial activity against disease-causing human pathogens. Researchers could maximize the use of novel model systems and advanced biomolecular and computational tools in exploiting lead antimicrobials, consequently ameliorating antimicrobial resistance.

Background Psychological distress in vision impairments and blindness is a complex issue and a major public health concern. Sudden adjustments in routine lifestyle and career aspirations in such persons culminate in and/or aggravate their level of stress. Yet, psychological distress in persons with visual difficulties and vision loss in South Africa is poorly understood. We investigated the association between psychological distress and self-reported vision difficulties as well as clinician-assessed vision loss using data from the South African National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (SANHANES-1). Methods Data was analysed on participants aged ≥ 15 years who participated in the SANHANES-1 clinical examinations and interviews. Data on demographic, socio-economic, and health status variables were gathered using a structured questionnaire. Psychological distress was assessed using the Kessler psychological distress scale (K10). Vision assessment was conducted by clinicians adhering to standard protocols as well as by participants’ subjective response to vision-related questions. Vision loss was defined as presenting visual acuity worse than Snellen 6/12 in the better eye. Bivariate and multiple logistic regressions were used to examine the association between vision parameters and psychological distress. Results The analytic sample comprised 6859 participants with mean age of 38.4 years (60.8% females). The prevalence of psychological distress was 19.9%. After adjusting for demographics, socioeconomic, health risk and eye care variables, self-reported myopia (mild adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.9, 95% CI 1.3–2.7; moderate AOR = 2.4, 95% CI 1.6–3.7; severe AOR = 3.6, 95% CI 1.8–7.3) and self-reported hyperopia (mild AOR = 1.7, 95% CI 1.2–2.5; moderate AOR = 2.4, 95% CI 1.5–3.8; severe AOR = 3.5, 95% CI 1.8–6.8) were significantly associated with psychological distress. While psychological distress was higher in patients with clinician assessed vision loss than those with normal vision, the association was not statistically significant after adjusting for confounders (AOR: 1.0, 95% CI 0.7–1.4). Conclusions Persons who self-reported vision difficulty experienced a higher prevalence of psychological distress. Therefore, comprehensive psychological care is needed for patients with eye disease or vision difficulties as part of a governmental strategy to provide mental health care for all South Africans.

Empirical antimicrobial therapy is linked to a surge in antimicrobial resistant infections. However, an insight on the bacteria etiology of ocular infections is essential in the appropriation of choice of antimicrobial among clinicians, yet there remains a dearth of data from Ghana. We investigated the bacteria etiology of external ocular and periocular infections and antimicrobial treatment patterns among a Ghanaian ophthalmic population. A multicenter study design with purposive sampling approach was employed. Patients demographics and clinical data were collated using a pretested structure questionnaire. Cornea specimens and conjunctival swabs were obtained for bacterial isolation following standard protocols. About 95% (98/103) of ocular samples were positive for bacteria culture. The proportion of Gram-negative bacteria was 58.2%, and the predominant bacteria species were Pseudomonas aeruginosa 38.8% and Staphylococcus aureus 27.6%. Conjunctivitis 40.0% and keratitis 75.0% were mostly caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The routinely administered antimicrobial therapy were polymyxin B 41.2%, neomycin 35.1% and ciprofloxacin 31.6%. Participants demographic and clinical characteristics were unrelated with positive bacteria culture (p > 0.05). Our results showed a markedly high burden of ocular bacterial infections and variations in etiology. Bacterial infection-control and antimicrobial agent management programs should be urgently institutionalized to prevent the emergence of resistant infections.

Background: Malaria and typhoid fever coinfection presents major public health problems especially in the tropics and sub-tropics where malaria and typhoid fever are co-endemic. Clinicians often treat both infections concurrently without laboratory confirmation. However, concurrent treatment has public health implications as irrational use of antibiotics or anti-malarials may lead to the emergence of drug resistance, unnecessary cost and exposure of patients to unnecessary side effects. This study determined the proportion of febrile conditions attributable to either malaria and/or typhoid fever and the susceptibility patterns of Salmonella spp. isolates to commonly used antimicrobial agents in Ghana.   Methods: One hundred and fifty-seven (157) febrile patients attending the Ga West Municipal Hospital, Ghana, from February to May 2017 were sampled. Blood samples were collected for cultivation of pathogenic bacteria and the susceptibility of the Salmonella isolates to antimicrobial agents was performed using the Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method with antibiotic discs on Müller Hinton agar plates. For each sample, conventional Widal tests for the detection of Salmonella spp were done as well as blood film preparation for detection of Plasmodium spp. Data on the socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of the study participants were collected using an android technology software kobo-collect by interview. Data were analyzed using Stata version 13 statistical Software. Logistic regression models were run to determine odds ratio (OR) and the direction of association between dependent and independent variables, setting p-value at <0.05 for statistical significance.   Results: Of the total number of patients aged 2–37 years (median age = 6 years, IQR 3–11), 82 (52.2%) were females. The proportion of febrile patients with falciparum malaria were 57/157 (36.3%), while Salmonella typhi O and H antigens were detected in 23/157 (14.6%) of the samples. The detection rate of Salmonella spp in febrile patients was 10/157 (6.4%). Malaria and typhoid fever coinfection using Widal test and blood culture was 9 (5.7 % ) and 3 (1.9%), respectively. The isolates were highly susceptible to cefotaxime, ceftriaxone, ciprofloxacin, and amikacin but resistant to ampicillin, tetracycline, co-trimoxazole, gentamicin, cefuroxime, chloramphenicol, and meropenem. Conclusion: Plasmodium falciparum and Salmonella spp coinfections were only up to 1.9%, while malaria and typhoid fever, individually, were responsible for 36.3% and 6.4%, respectively. Treatment of febrile conditions must be based on laboratory findings in order not to expose patients to unnecessary side effects of antibiotics and reduce the emergence and spread of drug resistance against antibiotics.