COVID-19, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, is spreading rapidly worldwide, with devastating consequences for patients, healthcare workers, health systems, and economies. As it reaches low- and middle-income countries, the pandemic puts healthcare workers at high risk and challenges the abilities of healthcare systems to respond to the crisis. This study measured levels of knowledge and preparedness regarding COVID-19 among physicians and nurses. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among healthcare workers in Libya between February 26 and March 10, 2020. We obtained 1,572 valid responses of a possible 2,000 (78.6%) participants from 21 hospitals, of which 65.1% were from physicians and 34.9% from nurses. The majority of participants (70%) used social media as a source of information. A total of 47.3% of doctors and 54.7% of nurses received adequate training on how to effectively use personal protective equipment. Low confidence in managing suspected COVID-19 patients was reported by 83.8% of participants. Furthermore, 43.2% of healthcare workers were aware of proper hand hygiene techniques. Less than 7% of participants received training on how to manage COVID-19 cases, whereas 20.6% of doctors and 26.3% of nurses felt that they were personally prepared for the outbreak. Awareness and preparedness for the pandemic were low among frontline workers during the study. Therefore, an effective educational training program should be implemented to ensure maintenance of appropriate practices during the COVID-19 pandemic. arabic 19 English 107
Muhammed Elhadi, Ahmed Zaid(1-2020)

Acinetobacter baumannii is an opportunistic pathogen causing various nosocomial infections. The aim of this study was to characterize the molecular support of carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii clinical isolates recovered from four hospitals in Tripoli, Libya. Bacterial isolates were identified and antibiotic susceptibility testing was per-formed using automated system. Carbapenem resistance determinants were studied phenotypically using two dif-ferent techniques: E-test; chromogenic culture media. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification was used to determine the presence of bla OXA23 and blaOXA51 genes among isolates. A total of 119 isolates were characterized, overall the resistance prevalence was extremely high for aminoglycosides (79-96.6%), fluoroquinolones (94-96%), cephalosporins (96.6-100%) and carbapenemes (93.2-100%), all isolates were susceptible to colistin. In addition, 97.5% of isolates were identified as multidrug resistance (MDR). Varying degree of phenotypic detection of car-bapenemes was determined; highest levels of carbapenemes were detected using chromogenic media (76.5%) com-pared with E-test (45.4 %). The carbapenem resistance-encoding genes detected were blaOXA23 (84%) and blaOXA51 (73.1%); the highest occurrence of blaOXA23 was demonstrated in Tripoli’s Central Hospital (5/5; 100%) then in Tripoli Medical Center (44/51; 86.27%). The co-occurrence of these genes was demonstrated in (75/119; 63%) showing dissemination of carbapenemes resistance MDR A. baumannii in hospitals. This study shows that the high prevalence of OXA-23 contribute to antibiotic resistance in … arabic 14 English 113
Nada Elgrew, Abdulla Bashein(1-2016)

Preterm neonates are highly vulnerable and most susceptible to Infections. Gram-negative bacterial (GNB) infection is an increasing problem among hospitalized neonates. It is showing periodic and geographic variations in the distribution and antibiotics resistance which necessitate continuous surveillance. In present study surveillance of Gram-negative bacterial colonization and infection among preterm neonates was carried out between July, 2008 and January, 2009 at AL Jala Hospital of Obstetric and Gynecology, Tripoli. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of Gram negative infections among preterm neonates, correlate colonization with the onset of subsequent infection, and to determine the antibiotics susceptibility of Gram-negative isolates. Surveillance swabs from mouth, nose, rectum, axilla and umbilicus were collected from 112 preterm neonates twice at first week, the first swab was taken before the preterm receive any antibiotics, then once per week. Clinical samples from preterm neonates who developed infection were collected according to the site of suspected infection. Samples transport, isolation and identification of GNB were conducted according to standard microbiological methods. Infection is the cause of death in 25% of cases. 19.6% of neonates colonized at the first day, 63.2% at third day and 66.7% at the second week. 25 of 74 colonized neonates and one of 38 noncolonized neonates developed infection. Rectum was the commonest site of colonization. A. baumannii is a permanent colonizer, K. pneumoniae and E. coli are early colonizers and E. cloacae and Pseudomonas spp. are late colonizers. Isolates specially K. pneumoniae and E. coli showed high resistance to most used antibiotics mainly ampicillin and gentamicin. 26 (23%) neonates developed infection mainly caused by E. coli and K. pneumoniae. Only eight cases using microbiological culture proved infections. In conclusion Gram-negative infection could be a major cause of death among preterm neonates. Acquisition of GNB increased with hospitalization and it is an important step in developing infection. Preterm neonates were heavily colonized at 3rd day of hospitalization by most GNB. K. pneumoniae and E. coli were found to be the most resistant strain to antibiotics and were associated with high rate of infection. Rectum could be used as a surveillance site instead of the other sites.
زينب عبد الله كريمه (2013)