IntroductionThis survey evaluates knowledge, attitudes and practices of medical students towards use of antibiotics for upper respiratory infections (URTIs).MethodologyCross-sectional questionnaire study among 1042 randomly selected medical students in Saudi Arabia.ResultsRespondents were mostly Saudis (97.5%), had previous knowledge of antibiotics (99.7%) and their usage (98.3%) against bacterial infections (93.7%). 18.1% thought that they could be used for viral infections. Nearly all students (97.2%) used antibiotics themselves during the previous year and self-medication without a prescription was high at 49% of cases. Most antibiotics were taken for URTI symptoms (61.8%). Female medical students had better knowledge on antibiotic effectiveness against bacteria and viruses, and overall knowledge increased with study year. Health seeking behaviour rates for symptoms of RTI and associated estimated necessity for antibiotics varied but were highest for cough with yellow/green phlegm.ConclusionsThe depth of knowledge that healthcare professionals have in relation to the proper use of antibiotics is essential in spreading the right message within communities. This is the first large study among medical students in Saudi Arabia, shedding important light on areas for improvement in the medical curriculum as well as antibiotic practices of medical students themselves.

Introduction: Nosocomial infections are normally hospital acquired. Nasal carriage of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is very common and may be transmitted via a hand-to-nose route. The objective of the present study was to screen healthcare workers for the colonization of their nasal cavities with MRSA. Methodology: The study group included hospital staff such as nurses, doctors, and technicians. The control group included university students. For isolation, nasal swabs were taken from the volunteers and cultured on mannitol salt agar media selective for S. aureus. Suspected colonies were confirmed by PCR using specific primers for the coagulase and mecA gene. Typing of the coagulase-positive strains was done using restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). Results: The results indicated an incidence rate of 76% among healthcare workers. This is in comparison with students who served as control and were negative for MRSA. Using RFLP, four different types of MRSA were confirmed. Conclusions: The results of this study are alarming. Effective control measures must be formulated and implemented to avoid indiscriminate use of antimicrobials and the spread of these infectious agents in the region.

This review documents the sporadic reporting of poultry Salmonella serovars in South Africa, Egypt, Indonesia, India, and Romania, five countries selected based on the importance of their distribution in different regions of the world and their cumulative significant population size of 1.6 billion. South Africa reported contamination of its poultry carcasses by S. Hadar, S. Blockley, S. Irumu, and S. Anatum. Results from Egypt showed that S. Enteritidis and S. Typhimurium were predominant in poultry along with other non-typhoid strains, namely S. Infantis, S. Kentucky, S. Tsevie, S. Chiredzi, and S. Heidelberg. In Indonesia, the isolation of Salmonella Typhi was the main focus, while other serovars included S. Kentucky, S. Typhimurium, and S. Paratyhi C. In India, S. Bareilly was predominant compared to S. Enteritidis, S. Typhimurium, S. Paratyphi B, S. Cerro, S. Mbandaka, S. Molade, S. Kottbus, and S. Gallinarum. Romania reported two Salmonella serovars in poultry that affect humans, namely S. Enteritidis and S. Typhimurium, and other non-typhoid strains including S. Infantis, S. Derby, S. Colindale, S. Rissen, S. Ruzizi, S. Virchow, S. Brandenburg, S. Bredeney, S. Muenchen, S. Kortrijk, and S. Calabar. The results showed the spread of different serovars of Salmonella in those five developing countries, which is alarming and emphasizes the urgent need for the World Health Organization Global Foodborne Infections Network (WHO-GFN) to expand its activities to include more strategic participation and partnership with most developing countries in order to protect poultry and humans from the serious health impact of salmonellosis.

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Ergothioneine is widely distributed in biological systems, particularly in red blood cells of animals. However, it's functional role in human body is not well understood. In order to investigate the biochemical effect of L-ergothioneine, its concentration changes in human blood with respect to ages in healthy individuals was first investigated. L-ergothioneine concentrations in the blood of Saudi males from western province at different stages of life were measured by the procedure of Carlsson et al., 1974. At early stages of life (1-10 years), the concentrations of LER is 1.5-2.0 mg/100 ml. It increases gradually at the age of 11-18 years where it reaches the maximum value of 3.7 mg/100 ml. Then, it declines gradually to 3.0-2.3 mg/ 100 ml during the period of 19-50 years. An increase in the level of LER (2.8 mg/100 ml) was seen at the age of 51 + .