BackgroundData on nosocomial infections in hospitals in low-income countries are scarce and often inconsistent. The objectives of this study were to estimate the prevalence of nosocomial infections and antimicrobial drug use in Benin hospitals.MethodsAll hospitals were invited to participate in the first national point prevalence study conducted between 10–26 October 2012 using the protocol developed by the “Hospitals in Europe Link for Infection Control through Surveillance” (HELICS) project. Infection prevalence rates and the proportion of infected patients and exposure to antimicrobials were assessed.ResultsOverall, 87% (39/45) of hospitals participated. Of 3130 inpatients surveyed, 972 nosocomial infections were identified among 597 patients, representing an overall prevalence of infected patients of 19.1%. The most frequent infections were related to the urinary tract (48.2%), vascular catheter use (34.7%), and surgical site (24.7%). 64.6% of patients surveyed were treated with antibiotics, including a significant proportion (30%) of non-infected patients and a high proportion of self-medication (40.8%). Resistance of leading nosocomial pathogens to antimicrobials included methicillin-resistance (52.5%) among Staphylococcus aureus, vancomycin resistance among enterococci (67.5%), cefotaxime resistance among Escherichia coli (67.6%), and ceftazidime resistance among Acinetobacter baumannii (100%) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (68.2%).ConclusionsBenin has high nosocomial infection rates and calls for the implementation of new national infection control policies. Patient safety education and training of all individuals involved in healthcare delivery will be critical to highlight awareness of the burden of disease. The high use of antimicrobials needs to be addressed, particularly their indiscriminate use in non-infected patients.

BackgroundStaphylococcus aureus is an opportunistic commensal bacterium that mostly colonizes the skin and soft tissues. The pathogenicity of S. aureus is due to both its ability to resist antibiotics, and the production of toxins. Here, we characterize a group of genes responsible for toxin production and antibiotic resistance of S. aureus strains isolated from skin, soft tissue, and bone related infections.ResultsA total of 136 S. aureus strains were collected from five different types of infection: furuncles, pyomyositis, abscesses, Buruli ulcers, and osteomyelitis, from hospital admissions and out-patients in Benin. All strains were resistant to benzyl penicillin, while 25% were resistant to methicillin, and all showed sensitivity to vancomycin. Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) was the most commonly produced virulence factor (70%), followed by staphylococcal enterotoxin B (44%). Exfoliative toxin B was produced by 1.3% of the strains, and was only found in isolates from Buruli ulcers. The tsst-1, sec, and seh genes were rarely detected (≤1%).ConclusionsThis study provides new insight into the prevalence of toxin and antibiotic resistance genes in S. aureus strains responsible for skin, soft tissue, and bone infections. Our results showed that PVL was strongly associated with pyomyositis and osteomyelitis, and that there is a high prevalence of PVL-MRSA skin infections in Benin.

A wide range of clinical samples were screened for identification of Staphylococcus aureus, their antibiotic sensitivity profile and the production of different leucotoxin and epidermolysins was evaluated. Out of 2,040 biological samples (collected from pus, urine, sperms, genital, catheter and blood of hospitalized and extra-hospital patients) screened, 123 pure cultures of S. aureus colonies were isolated. 48.78% of S. aureus were resistant to methicillin (MRSA), while 78% of them were isolated from extra-hospital patients. The S. aureus isolated from urines, pus and blood produced Panton and Valentine leukocidin (PVL) toxin, while the leucotoxin lukE-lukD was exclusively encountered by S. aureus isolated from pus samples. None of the bacterial colony isolated produced epidermolysin toxins A and B. In addition, 3.25% of MRSA and 8.13% of methicillin sensitive S. aureus (MSSA) produced PVL respectively. Our results indicated high frequency rate of MRSA in extra-hospital screened samples isolated from various types of infection. This high resistance rate combined with toxin production increases the virulence of S. aureus colonies and put therefore at risk the life of the patients in developing countries where auto-medication is not controlled. There is the need to instruct the population in order to avoid further widening of MRSA territory.

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The river water and groundwater from Lagbe town in Benin Republic were collected and analyzed for physical, chemical and microbiological parameters. The surface water samples were treated with alum, <i>Moringa oleifera</i> seeds powder and the combination of alum and <i>Moringa oleifera</i> seeds. The jar-test essays were carried out with two water samples at initial turbidities 7.2 NTU and 14.4 NTU. The water samples analyzed are fairly mineralized (conductivity varies between 166 and 687 µS/cm), enough soft and contain the nitrate (104 mg/L for W₄ sample). They are greatly polluted by pathogenic microorganisms such as <i>Escherichia coli, Klebsiella, Enterococcus, Vibrio, Serratia. </i> The optimal dosages of <i>Moringa</i> are 96 mg/L and 80 mg/L respectively. We have observed a reduction of 60% of turbidity and a substantial remove of all pathogenic microorganisms after water treatment with <i>Moringa oleifera</i> seeds. For the combination treatment, 93% of initial turbidity and 92% of initial concentration of organic matter in the sample E₂ were eliminated. The pH remained almost constant during the treatment