OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to evaluate the present status of amoebiasis in Thi-Qar Province in southern Iraq, and to determine the presence of <i>Entamoeba histolytica</i> and <i>Entamoeba dispar</i> with nested and real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR).METHODS: Epidemiological data were obtained from the public health department of the Thi-Qar Health Office (2015-2020). Eighty stool samples were also randomly collected from patients ≤12 year of age with diarrhea at 2 hospitals between the beginning of February 2020 and the end of October 2020. These samples were selected after microscopy to identify the <i>18S rRNA</i> gene in <i>Entamoeba</i> DNA.RESULTS: Of the 341,554 cases of intestinal parasitic infections, 38,004 (11.1%) individuals were recorded as having amoebiasis, which accounted for the highest proportion of infections in 2015 (26.1%) and the lowest in 2020 (8.1%). Amoebiasis was distributed among all age groups, with the age group of 5-14 years accounting for the highest proportion (27.3%). In molecular testing, 42 (52.5%) out of 80 samples were positive for the <i>18S rRNA</i> gene (888 bp). Using nested PCR, <i>E. histolytica</i> (439 bp) was detected in 25 (31.3%) samples and <i>E. dispar</i> (174 bp) in 14 (17.5%), while using real-time PCR, <i>E. histolytica</i> and <i>E. dispar</i> were detected in 28 (35.0%) and 15 (18.8%) samples, respectively.CONCLUSIONS: Epidemiological data confirmed that amoebiasis is endemic in this province, and is not limited to certain months. Our study confirms the applicability of molecular identification to detect pathogenic and non-pathogenic <i>Entamoeba</i> to prescribe the appropriate drug.

Vaginitis is still considered to be a global health problem for females. It is mainly occurred by bacterial vaginosis, trichomonal, candidal, and gonococcal vaginal infections. This study is aimed identify Staphylococcus haemolyticus in females infected with vaginitis and determine some of their virulence genes. A total of 250 vaginal swabs were collected from females with vaginitis. Of the 250 vaginal swabs, 40 isolates were showed bacterial growth of S. haemolyticus. In susceptibility testing, S. haemolyticus isolates were sensitive to some antibiotics, whereas other isolates were resistant. The amplified 16S rRNA gene was in all isolates, using conventional PCR, icaA, blaz, mecA, and SodA genes were detected in 30, 23, 32, and 24 samples, respectively. The sequencing analysis of all local isolates appeared slight mismatching in their sequencing. The PCR products of virulence factors of S. haemolyticus showed slight variations. This may explain different clinical manifestations and the infection severity.