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Background and Objectives: Acinetobacter species are responsible for a wide range of clinical complications in hospitalized patients. Antimicrobial treatment of clinical strains of Acinetobacter baumannii may be compromised due to multiple-drug resistance to -lactams. Aim of this study was to determine antibiotic resistance patterns and frequency of PER and VEB genes in A. baumannii isolates from hospitalized patients.Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 100 clinical strains of A. baumannii were isolated from patients hospitalized in Qom (Iran) using specific culture media and biochemical tests. The disk diffusion method was performed to determine resistance to some antibiotics. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) for cefepime and ceftazidime was evaluated. Identification of ESBL-producing strains and presence of the PER and VEB genes were determined by combined disk test and polymerase chain reaction, respectively.Results: The isolates were highly resistant against cefixime, ceftriaxone and cefepime. Lowest level of resistance was against polymyxin B. In addition, 70% of the isolates were multi-drug resistant. MIC<128 µg/ml to ceftazidime and cefepime was observed in 84% and 91% of the strains, respectively. Moreover, 21% of the strains were ESBL-positive and frequency of the PER and VEB genes was 47% and 32%, respectively.Conclusion: Majority of A. baumannii isolates are highly resistant to the tested antibiotics. Due to presence of the PER and VEB genes in the isolated strains, there is the possibility of resistance spread to other bacteria. Therefore, it is recommended to modify the consumption pattern for antibiotics and pay more attention to standards of nosocomial infection control.

Background & Objectives: Papillomaviruses are found in many different types of infections and in a wide range of animals and humans. They can cause health problems, including benign and malignant tumors. In the present study, the association between human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and breast cancer (BC) in Iran was investigated. Materials & Methods: In this cross-sectional study, the presence of the HPV genome was investigated in BC-suspected tissues for the first time in Qom Province, Iran. A total of 400 samples (including 200 BC-suspected tissue samples and 200 blood samples of women without BC) were collected from women referred to two cancer-specific general hospitals. To determine the presence of the L1 gene of HPV in the collected samples, nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed. Then, HPV-positive samples were tested by PCR using high-risk specific HPV-16 and 18 primers. Results: Out of 200 BC-suspected tissue samples, 172 were malignant (in terms of pathology). Based on the nested PCR method, the L1 gene of HPV was detected in 12% (24/200) of the BC-suspected tissue samples and in 1.5% (3/200) of the blood samples from women without BC. The high-risk HPV genotypes (which were the predominant types) were present in 75% of the samples. Conclusion: The results of the current study show a high frequency of HPV-16 and 18 genotypes in human BC in Iranian women. This is almost certainly due to poor rates of HPV vaccination, and it is strongly recommended that health organizations (such as the World Health Organization [WHO]) ensure adequate coverage of highly effective HPV vaccination in Iran.

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