Candida species are major fungal pathogens in humans. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of individual Candida species and their susceptibility to antifungal drugs among clinical isolates in a tertiary care hospital in Bangladesh. During a 10-month period in 2021, high vaginal swabs (HVSs), blood, and aural swabs were collected from 360 patients. From these specimens, Candida spp. was isolated from cultures on Sabouraud dextrose agar media, and phenotypic and genetic analyses were performed. A total of 109 isolates were recovered, and C. albicans accounted for 37%, being derived mostly from HVSs. Among non-albicans Candida (NAC), C. parapsilosis was the most frequent, followed by C. ciferrii, C. tropicalis, and C. glabrata. Three isolates from blood and two isolates from aural discharge were genetically identified as C. auris and Kodamaea ohmeri, respectively. NAC isolates were more resistant to fluconazole (overall rate, 29%) than C. albicans (10%). Candida isolates from blood showed 95% susceptibility to voriconazole and less susceptibility to fluconazole (67%). Two or three amino acid substitutions were detected in the ERG11 of two fluconazole-resistant C. albicans isolates. The present study is the first to reveal the prevalence of Candida species and their antifungal susceptibility in Bangladesh.

Dengue virus (DENV) that caused an outbreak in Dhaka, Bangladesh during 2018 was analysed phylogenetically. DENV samples were classified into type 2-Cosmopolitan genotype (54%) and type 3-genotype I (46%), indicating co-circulation of two DENV types and resurgence of type 3 associated with genotype replacement.

Enterococcus faecalis is one of the major causes of urinary tract infection, showing acquired resistance to various classes of antimicrobials. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of drug resistance and its genetic determinants for E. faecalis clinical isolates in north-central Bangladesh. Among a total of 210 E. faecalis isolates, isolated from urine, the resistance rates to erythromycin, levofloxacin, and gentamicin (high level) were 85.2, 45.7, and 11.4%, respectively, while no isolates were resistant to ampicillin, vancomycin and teicoplanin. The most prevalent resistance gene was erm(B) (97%), and any of the four genes encoding aminoglycoside modifying enzyme (AME) were detected in 99 isolates (47%). The AME gene aac(6′)-Ie-aph(2”)-Ia was detected in 46 isolates (21.9%) and was diverse in terms of IS256-flanking patterns, which were associated with resistance level to gentamicin. Tetracycline resistance was ascribable to tet(M) (61%) and tet(L) (38%), and mutations in the quinolone resistance-determining region of both GyrA and ParC were identified in 44% of isolates. Five isolates (2.4%) exhibited non-susceptibility to linezolide (MIC, 4 μg/mL), and harbored the oxazolidinone resistance gene optrA, which was located in a novel genetic cluster containing the phenicol exporter gene fexA. The optrA-positive isolates belonged to ST59, ST902, and ST917 (CC59), while common lineages of other multiple drug-resistant isolates were ST6, ST28, CC16, and CC116. The present study first revealed the prevalence of drug resistance determinants of E. faecalis and their genetic profiles in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh is an endemic region of dengue fever and experienced an unprecedented large outbreak with more than 100,000 confirmed cases in 2019. To understand the prevalence of dengue antibody in patients and molecular epidemiological characteristics of dengue virus (DENV) in this outbreak, a total of 179 blood samples were collected from patients in 10 districts (seven divisions) covering nearly the whole country from August to December 2019. DENV NS-1 was detected in 162 samples, among which DENV-specific IgM was positive in 119 samples (73.5%), including 60.5% samples also positive for DENV-specific IgG. Sequencing of the partial C-prM gene and its phylogenetic analysis revealed predominance of DENV type 3 genotype I, accounting for 93% of samples examined. DENV-3 genotype III was identified in two samples from separate districts, and only one DENV-2 cosmopolitan genotype was found in the capital city, Dhaka. These findings suggest the predominance of DENV-3 genotype I and occurrence of DENV-3 genotype III, associated with increased incidence of recent secondary infection in Bangladesh in 2019.

From July 2015 to December 2016, the presence of rickettsial pathogens was investigated for 414 patients with unknown fever in eight places in all the divisions of Bangladesh. Rickettsia felis was identified in blood samples from all the regions (overall detection rate, 19.6%), suggesting nationwide prevalence of R. felis infections.