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Background: This study aimed to determine the prevalence, antibiotic, and toothpaste sensitivity of oral streptococcal isolates in healthy individuals in the Okada community of Nigeria. Methods: Oral samples were collected from 230 volunteers and were subjected to standard microbiological tests. Antibacterial sensitivity tests were carried out on the streptococcal isolates that were obtained using a disk diffusion technique, and eight kinds of toothpaste (A-H) were screened for their antibacterial effects on Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans). Results: The prevalence of oral streptococci found in this study was 26.1% and the predominant species was S. salivarius (13.9%). S. salivarius was highly resistant to cloxacillin (100%) and Augmentin (96.9%), whilst resistance to gentamicin and erythromycin was low at 21.9% and 3.1% respectively. S. mutans were completely sensitive to gentamicin whilst resistance to erythromycin was 33.3%. The entire Streptococcus species showed the lowest resistance to erythromycin (20.0%), followed by gentamicin (31.7%). At 100 mg/mL all toothpaste samples had antibacterial effects on S. mutans. At 50 mg/mL all samples except toothpastes G and H inhibited the bacterium. Toothpastes A and E had the lowest minimum inhibitory concentration of 25 mg/mL. Conclusions: Toothpastes A and E were the most effective toothpastes of the eight assessed in this study.

Background and Aim: Asymptomatic bacteriuria is bacteria in the properly collected urine of a patient, leading to a urinary tract infection with no symptoms. Asymptomatic bacteriuria is a common complication in clinical practice with an increasing prevalence due to increase of age. The present study investigated the prevalence of asymptomatic bacteriuria among pregnant women receiving antenatal care in Ovia North East Local Government Area, Edo State, Nigeria. Materials and Methods: A total of 201 urine samples were collected randomly from pregnant women at Igbinedion University Teaching Hospital, Okha Maternity and Usen General Hospital in in Ovia North East Local Government Area. The bacteria isolation was carried out using the pour plate technique. The bacteria identification was conducted by gram staining and biochemical tests and the antibiotic susceptibility pattern of the bacterial isolates was determined by Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion technique. Results: Eighty-one of the subjects had significant bacteriuria, with a prevalence of 40.3 %. The bacteria isolated in the samples were Streptococcus, Proteus, Klebsiella and Micrococcus species as well as Staphylococcus epidermidis, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. Streptococcus spp. occurred more frequently (42.0 %) while S. aureus had the lowest frequency of occurrence (2.5 %) in the samples. The infection was most prevalent among women aged between 28 and 37 years (74.5 %). Pregnant women in their third trimester in this study had the highest prevalence of asymptomatic bacteriuria (55.2 %). Ciprofloxacin was found to be the most effective antibiotic against the urinary isolates. Conclusion: Pregnancy promotes the progression from symptomatic to asymptomatic bacteriuria with its consequences such as pyelonephritis and increased fetal mortality. Therefore, routine culture test should be carried out for all antenatal women to detect asymptomatic bacteriuria and all positive cases should be treated with appropriate antibiotic therapy to prevent any obstetric complications which are associated with pregnancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing emergence of multidrug-resistant infection causing microorganisms has become a significant burden globally. Despite the efforts of pharmaceuticals in producing relatively new antimicrobial drugs, they have resulted in a high rate of mortality, disability and diseases across the world especially in developing countries. Supporting this claim was the report of the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) who estimated that over 2 million illnesses and 23,000 deaths per year are attributable to antibiotic resistant pathogens in the United States. They include Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Vancomycin-intermediate Staphylococcus aureus (VISA), Vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (VRSA), Vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE), Extended spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBLs) producing gram-negative bacilli, Multidrug-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae (MDRSP), Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) and Multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii . For MRSA, resistance is as a result of Methicillin-sensitive S. aureus (MSSA) strains that have acquired Staphylococcal Cassette Chromosome mec (SCCmec) which carries mecA gene. The gene encodes the penicillin-binding protein (PBP2a) which confers resistance to all β-lactam antibiotics. Vancomycin was previously the widely preferred drug for the treatment of MRSA infections. It is no longer the case with the emergence of S. aureus strains with reduced vancomycin sensitivity limiting the conventional treatment options for MRSA infections to very scanty expensive drugs. Presently, many researchers have reported the antibacterial activity of many plant extracts on MRSA. Hence, these medicinal plants might be promising candidates for treatment of MRSA infections. This work is a brief review on Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and the anti-MRSA activities of extracts of selected medicinal plants., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest: All the authors have declared no conflict of interest in this short review.