This article presents the incidence of ciprofloxacin resistance among 480 clinical isolates obtained from patients with urinary tract infection (UTI) during January to June 2004 in Gaza Strip, Palestine. The resistance rates observed were 15.0% to ciprofloxacin, 82.5% to amoxycillin, 64.4% to cotrimoxazole, 63.1% to doxycycline, 32.5% to cephalexin, 31.9% to nalidixic acid, and 10.0% to amikacin. High resistance to ciprofloxacin was detected among Acinetobacter haemolyticus (28.6%), Staphylococcus saprophyticus (25.0%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (20.0%), Klebsiella pneumonia (17.6%), and Escherichia coli (12.0%). Minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of ciprofloxacin evenly ranged from 4 to 32 μg/mL with a mean of 25.0 μg/mL. This study indicates emerging ciprofloxacin resistance among urinary tract infection isolates. Increasing resistance against ciprofloxacin demands coordinated monitoring of its activity and rational use of the antibiotics.

The prevalence of intestinal parasites was determined for 1,370 children in Khan Younis Governorate, Gaza Strip. The age of the children ranged from 6 to 11 years. For stool samples, inspection, direct smear microscopy, flotation and sedimentation techniques were used. The general prevalence of intestinal parasites was 34.2%. Different types of intestinal parasites were detected during this survey: Ascaris lumbricoides seemed to be the most common parasite (12.8%), whereas Giardia lamblia had a prevalence of 8.0%, Entamoeba histolytica 7.0%, Entamoeba coli 3.6%, Trichuris trichiura 1.6% and Hymenolepis nana 1.0%. The prevalence of enterobiasis was determined using a scotch tape preparation. A total of 20.9% of the children examined were infected and there was sex variation in the prevalence of enterobiasis.

The aim of this study was to identify the microorganisms that cause "community-acquired" urinary tract infections among adults and to investigate their resistance to fourteen selected antimicrobial agents. The uropathogens identified in 121 positive midstream urine cultures from the 270 subjects included in this study were Escherichia coli (57.9%), Proteus species (9.9%), Enterobacter species (7.4%), Klebsiella species (6.6%), Pseudomonas species (5.8%), Staphylococcus saprophyticus (5.0%), Enterococcus species (3.3%), Acinetobacter species (2.5%), Citrobacter species (0.8%) and Staphylococcus aureus (0.8%). Isolates were subjected to antimicrobial susceptibility testing and a high proportion of the isolates was found to be resistant to amoxycillin (73.6%), doxycycline (68.6%) and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (66.1%). The most effective drugs against all the isolates were ciprofloxacin (95.9%), amikacin (95.0%) and ceftazidime (94.2%). A high percentage of multiple-drug resistance was also observed for the majority of the isolates.

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