Introduction-Enterococci are part of the normal intestinal flora of humans and animals but have also emerged as important pathogens responsible for serious infections in hospital and community acquired infections. According to recent surveys, Enterococci remain in the top 3 most common pathogens that cause nosocomial infections. Aim-To process all the clinical samples from various departments in our hospital, for the isolation of Enterococci sp. To speciate the isolates & to have the resistance pattern of the isolates to Vancomycin Methods and Material-A total of 928 samples were collected from both out patients and in patients in all clinical departments and transported to microbiology laboratory. Specimens were processed by inoculating on to Mac Conkeys agar, blood agar, nutrient agar and Pfizer selective media and incubated at 37 0 C for 24 -48 hours. Enterococci were identified by their typical arrangement in Gram stain, Bile esculin test and salt tolerance test. Speciation was done by subjecting the isolates to a battery of biochemical tests. Antimicrobial susceptibility patterns were determined by performing Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method and Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) values were identified by Tube & Agar dilution method. Results-A total of 928 samples. Among these, 647 (69.72%) were culture positive with different isolates and 281 (30.28%) were culture negative. Among 647 culture positive cases, 100 (15.46%) were Enterococcus faecalis. Antimicrobial susceptibility & MIC done as per standard protocols. The E. Faecalis showed 99% sensitive to Vancomycin. The resistance to Vancomycin was further confirmed by MIC both Agar &Tube dilution methods, in which the MIC was: 32µg/ml in one isolate. Conclusions-Species level identification of Enterococcus is not only important for epidemiological study, but also for analysing the drug resistant pattern. Effective detection of Vancomycin resistance in laboratory helps in reducing the morbidity and mortality due to VRE in hospitalized patients.

Background: Vertical transmission of infection from mother to infants is a very important route of transmission of hepatitis B virus. Hepatitis B virus infection in pregnant women usually goes undetected. The hepatitis B surface antigen in serum is the first seromarker to indicate active HBV infection. This study was done to determine the seroprevalence of HBsAg in healthy asymptomatic antenatal women.Methods: It was a hospital based study over a period of two years. A total of 1282 antenatal patients were tested for hepatitis B surface antigen.Results: The prevalence rate of HBsAg was found to be 1.01 %( 13 positive out of 1282 cases). Highest prevalence was in age group 26-30(46%) followed by age group 31-35(30.8%) followed by age group 20-25 yrs (23.1%).Conclusions: Screening of all pregnant women for HBV irrespective of risk factors will reduce the prevalence and risks of HBV infection.

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This study reveals the importance of analyzing the appendectomy specimen for understanding the etiopathogenisis of appendicitis in spite of having a negative stool microscopy. A post surgical analysis of appendectomy specimen may surprise you with different etiological agents as confirmed by our study.