The study aimed at examining the microbial quality of restaurant salad and the water used for salad preparation and their role as a source of antibiotic resistant bacteria. Samples were collected from 15 different restaurants located in Chittagong city. The range of Total Viable Count was 1.86×10 4 to7.28×10 5 CFU/g and 1.60×10 4 CFU/ml to 4.38×10 5 CFU/ml for salad and water respectively. Total colifrm and fecal coliform count > 1100 CFU/100 ml were found in 73.33% of salad and 33.33% water samples. Salmonella spp was present in 46.67% of restaurants salad and water. Vibrio spp. was present in 66.67% of salad and 53.33% of water. A total of 102 isolates belonging to genus Vibrio, Salmonella and E. coli were subjected to antibiotic sensitivity test by disc diffusion method by using nine different types of antibiotic discs. Salmonella spp. from salad and water showed resistance against Amoxicillin (75%), Cephradine and Cephalexin (68.75%). 85.71% Vibrio spp. isolated from salad and water were resistant to Amoxicillin respectively. Multiple drug resistance was seen in 39 and 51 isolates of Salmonella and Vibrio isolates, respectively. The results suggest the necessity to follow the hygienic practices in salad preparation and salad might have an important role as a source of multiple antibiotic resistant bacteria.

Antioxidant activities and specific bioactive polyphenol content of methanol and ethanol extracts of the stem of Tinospora cordifolia Miers were evaluated in the present investigation. Phenolic compounds were identified by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). Results revealed that absolute methanol extract had the lower IC50 value. DPPH (1, 1-Diphenyl-2-Picryl Hydrazyl) was scavenged 50% by 9.36±1.75 mg/ml methanol extract. Flavonoid, tannin and phenolic contents were found comparatively higher in methanol extract. The study implied that the methanol extract had higher antioxidant activity than the ethanolic extract and T. cordifolia stem can be used as a source of biologically active polyphenolic compounds as well as antioxidants to develop functional food. Bangladesh J. Sci. Ind. Res.55(1), 23-34, 2020

To test the efficacy and safety of furazolidone given as a single dose for childhood cholera, a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial was carried out among 118 culture-positive dehydrated children with diarrhea. Patients were randomly assigned to one of four groups to receive medication orally in liquid suspension: furazolidone at 7 mg/kg/day once, furazolidone at 7 mg/kg/day divided into four doses for 3 days, placebo once, or placebo for 3 days. After 12 patients with furazolidone-resistant infections were excluded from the analysis of efficacy, it was determined that both groups treated with furazolidone showed significantly higher rates of bacteriologic success (stool cultures negative for Vibrio cholerae on days 2 to 4 after start of therapy) and clinical success (cessation of diarrhea within 72 h after start of therapy) than corresponding placebo groups (P < 0.001). There were no significant differences between responses to the 3-day and single-dose regimens of furazolidone, but there was a trend toward better clinical responses in patients who received furazolidone for 3 days. No patient treated with furazolidone dropped out because of side effects. These results indicate that furazolidone, given as either a single dose or divided doses for 3 days, is effective treatment for childhood cholera.Cholera is an acute illness caused by an enterotoxin produced by Vibrio cholerae that have colonized in the small bowel. In its most severe form, there is rapid loss of fluid and electrolytes from the gastrointestinal tract, resulting in hypovolemic shock, metabolic acidosis, and, if untreated, death (20). Cholera remains one of the diarrheal diseases with significant mortality in many developing countries (4). Fluid replacement is the most important component of therapy. While antibiotics are not essential to the treatment of the disease, they do shorten the duration of excretion of vibrios, the duration and volume of diarrhea, and the amount of fluid replacement required (5). Tetracycline is the antibiotic of choice for the treatment of cholera, and consideration of alternative drugs has been confined to the treatment of pregnant women and children for whom tetracycline was contraindicated because it stains developing teeth (8). Additionally, in areas such as Bangladesh, where multiply antibiotic-resistant V. cholerae have emerged, an alternative treatment must be considered (11).Furazolidone is effective in the treatment of cholera when given in multiple doses or single daily doses for 3 to 7 days (7,8,14,17 Treatment and clinical observations. After selection for the study, patients were allocated to one of four treatment groups according to a computer-generated list of random numbers. The treatments consisted of liquid suspensions of (i) furazolidone (7 mg/kg/day) given as a single dose on day 1, (ii) placebo liquid suspension given as a single dose on day 1, (iii) furazolidone (7 mg/kg/day) given in four equal daily doses on days 1, 2, and 3, and (iv) placebo liquid suspension given in four equal dai...

Thirty two strains of Salmonella were isolated from the samples collected from different poultry farm of Chittagong City. Isolated organisms were then subjected to antibiotic sensitivity test against seven different standard antibiotics. Most of the strains tested were resistant to four antibiotics; 93.75% were resistant to co-trimaxazole, while 90.62% were resistant to cephotaxime, nalidixic acid and Tetracycline each. In this study, ciprofloxacin and gentamicin were found to be the most potent drugs, (78.125%) were sensitive to Ciprofloxacin & (78.125%) were sensitive to gentamicin. Antimicrobial activity of bark extract of T. arjuna against 13 selected isolates of Salmonella were then determined. During the course of the anti-microbial screening it was found that among the 13 selected isolates, Salmonella (L3-B1), Salmonella (L5-X4), Salmonella (F-X2) and Salmonella (S2-B1) showed good sensitivity to crude extract of T. arjuna.

Morbidity and mortality due to diarrhoea continues to be a major problem in many developing countries. Water samples from different areas of Chittagong were collected and 22 Vibrio cholerae were isolated from the samples. In this experiment we found that 85% of the Vibrio cholerae  isolated  can grow at 6% NaCl whereas none of these  can survive at 8% NaCl. Most of the isolates were resistant to at least 2 antibiotics. 95.45% were resistant to ampicillin, 50% to erythromycin, 63.63% to nalidixic acid, 13.63% to cephotaxine, 13.63% to ceftriaxone and 27.27% to cotrimoxazol. Arjun bark extract was used as a biological tool to resolve the antibiotic resistant V. cholerae problem. Arjun extract inhibited the growth of V. cholerae at all concentrations and zone diameter increased with the increase of concentrations. The regression coefficient of the relationship between concentration and zone diameter varies from 0.75 to 0.984 for most of the isolates which indicates that there exists a linear relationship. This study revealed that Terminalia arjuna would be a good antibacterial drug in the treatment of Vibrio cholerae infections, provided if found effective and nontoxic through in vivo studies.Keywords:  Vibrio cholerae; Terminalia arjuna; Antimicrobial; Drug resistance.© 2011 JSR Publications. ISSN: 2070-0237 (Print); 2070-0245 (Online). All rights reserved.doi:10.3329/jsr.v3i1.6094                J. Sci. Res. 3 (1), 129-137 (2011)