This cross-sectional study was carried out to identify causative pathogens and to determine the demographic characteristics and predisposing factors of corneal ulcer presenting at tertiary care hospitals in Dhaka.

Bacterial vaginosis is the commonest cause of abnormal vaginal discharge in women of reproductive age and require laboratory test for diagnosis . A total 200 women aged 15-45 years with history of abnormal vaginal discharge were included as study population. Fifty women without such history of discharge were taken as healthy control. Three vaginal swab samples were taken from each case and control. These swab samples were subjected to test by conventional methods such as Amsel clinical criteria, Gram stain Nugent method, culture and by newly developed BV Blue test. The results of the BVBlue test were compared with these methods to find out the efficacy of BVBlue test. Rate of detection of bacterial vaginosis (BV) cases was 21.5% by Amsel clinical criteria, 21.0% by Gram stain Nugent method, 21.0% by culture and 22% by BVBlue test among the study population. When comparing with the conventional test and culture, BVBlue test was 100% sensitive and 98% specific. It is rapid, technically simple and is suitable for screening large number of patient in short time where laboratory facilities are not developed. Key words: Bacterial Vaginosis, BVBlue test, Nugent method, Abnormal vaginal discharge. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bjmm.v4i1.8465 BJMM 2011; 4(1): 24-27

Background & Objectives: Emergence of drug resistant Tuberculosis (TB) is a major obstacle in the TB control programme of Bangladesh. This study was carried out to detect pre-extensively drug resistant TB (pre-XDR-TB) cases among the multidrug resistant TB (MDR-TB) patients in Bangladesh, as the early detection of pre-XDR-TB can guide clinicians in the appropriate modification of MDR-TB treatment regimen with effective drugs to prevent treatment failure. Methodology: A total of 68 MDR-TB cases were enrolled in this study. Multiplex Real-time PCR was done to detect pre-XDR-TB cases directly from sputum samples of MDR-TB patients. Results: Out of 68 MDR-TB cases 11 (16.18%) cases were detected as pre-XDR-TB. The resistant profile of the 11 pre-XDR-TB revealed 9 (81.82%) cases of fluoroquinolone (FLQ) resistant pre-XDR-TB and 2 (18.18%) cases of injectable second line (ISL) agent resistant pre-XDR-TB. Out of 11 pre-XDR-TB cases 7 (63.64%) cases had history of taking treatment for MDR-TB regularly, 1 (9.09%) case had history of taking treatment for MDR-TB irregularly and 3 (27.27%) cases had no history of taking treatment for MDR-TB. Conclusion: This study encountered a high rate of pre-XDR-TB cases along with a significant number of primarily resistant bacilli which is of concern in the management of MDR-TB. It is evident that Bangladesh is in urgent need to device strategies for rapid and early detection of pre-XDR-TB in order to prevent treatment failure of MDR-TB cases and also to halt the progression of MDR-TB cases to extensively drug resistant TB (XDR-TB), which is not only difficult but also very expensive to treat.

Transfusion transmitted infections (TTI) are a great concern of safety for patients. Blood transfusion is a lifesaving procedure but always caries a potential risk of infections.The present study was designed to evaluate the prevalence of infectious disease markers and frequency in males and females of various age groups among healthy blood donors. A retrospective review of donor record over a period of 2 years between 2015 to2016 was done at the department of transfusion medicine Khulna medical college Hospital, Khulna, Bangladesh.Among the total 37,266 donors,358(0.96%) donors were infected and therefore not suitable for blood donations.HBV was found to be the most frequent infection with a total frequency of 0.72% followed by TP (0.20%), HCV (0.03%) and HIV (0.01%). None of the blood samples showed positivity for malarial parasite.Majority of the seropositive donors, (47.96%) were in the age group of 26 to 35 years followed by 29.47% in 18 to 25 years’ age group. Bangladesh Med J. 2017 May; 46 (2): 16-21

Background and objectives: Fluoroquinolones (FLQs) are an essential component of multidrug resistant-tuberculosis (MDR-TB) treatment regimen but unfortunately the emergence of FLQ resistant MDR-TB cases is challenging the current MDR-TB treatment regimen. FLQ resistance is mainly caused by gyrA gene mutation and phenotypic cross-resistance may occur among the different FLQs. A limited number of data exists regarding the cross-resistance phenomenon among FLQs and it appears that resistance to the present class representative FLQ, ofloxacin (OFX), may or may not correlate with complete cross-resistance to other FLQs. So the study was designed to observe if gyrA gene mutations confer to the phenotypic cross-resistance among FLQs [OFX, Levofloxacin (LFX) and Gatifloxacin (GFX)] tested. Methodology: Sputum samples from 68 diagnosed pulmonary MDR-TB cases were collected. All samples were subjected to Multiplex Real-time PCR for the detection of gyrA gene mutations and conventional culture on Lowenstein-Jensen (L-J) media followed by drug sensitivity testing (DST) of culture isolates (MDR-TB strains) by indirect proportion method for the detection of phenotypic resistance pattern to OFX, LFX and GFX. Results: Out of the 68 MDR-TB sputum samples 13 (19.11%) had MDR-TB bacilli with mutations in the gyrA gene and 11(16.18%