Background: During Ramadan, Muslims fast throughout daylight hours. There is a direct link between fasting and increasing incidence of infections. Antibiotic usage for treatment of infections should be based on accurate diagnosis, with the correct dose and dosing regimen for the shortest period to avoid bacterial resistance. This study aimed to evaluate the practices of physicians in prescribing suitable antibiotics for fasting patients and the compliance of the patients in using such antibiotics at regular intervals. Materials and methods: An observational study was carried out during the middle 10 days of Ramadan 2014 in two pharmacies at Baghdad. A total of 34 prescriptions (Rx) for adults who suffered from infections were examined. For each included Rx, the researchers documented the age and sex of the patient, the diagnosis of the case, and the name of the given antibiotic(s) with dose and frequency of usage. A direct interview with the patient was also done, at which each patient was asked about fasting and if he/she would like to continue fasting during the remaining period of Ramadan. The patient was also asked if the physician asked him/her about fasting before writing the Rx. Results: More than two-thirds of participating patients were fasting during Ramadan. Antibiotics were prescribed at a higher percentage by dentists and surgeons, for which a single antibiotic with a twice-daily regimen was the most commonly prescribed by physicians for patients during the Ramadan month. Conclusion: Physicians fail to take patient fasting status into consideration when prescribing antibiotics for their fasting patients. Antibiotics with a twice-daily regimen are not suitable and best to be avoided for fasting patients in Iraq during Ramadan – especially if it occurs during summer months – to avoid treatment failure and provoking bacterial resistance. Keywords: fasting, Ramadan, antibiotics, dosing regimen
This study investigated the prevalence of quinolones resistance proteins encoding genes (qnr genes) and co-resistance for fluoroquinolones and β-lactams among clinical isolates of Klebsiella pneumoniae. Out of 150 clinical samples, 50 isolates of K. pneumoniae were identified according to morphological and biochemical properties. These isolates were collected from different clinical samples, including 15 (30%) urine, 12 (24%) blood, 9 (18%) sputum, 9 (18%) wound, and 5 (10%) burn. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) assay revealed that 15 (30%) of isolates were resistant to ciprofloxacin (≥4µg/ml), 11 (22%) of isolates were resistant to levofloxacin (≥8 µg/ml), 21 (42%) of isolates were re
... Show MoreA case–control study (80 patients with chronic hepatitis B virus [HBV] infection and 96 controls) was performed to evaluate the association of an IL12A gene variant (rs582537 A/C/G) with HBV infection. Allele G showed a signifcantly lower frequency in patients compared to controls (31.2 vs. 46.9%; probability [p]=0.009; corrected p [pc]=0.027) and was associated with a lower risk of HBV infection (odds ratio [OR]=0.49; 95% confdence interval [CI]=0.29–0.83). A similar lower risk was associated with genotypes CG (17.5 vs. 29.2; OR=0.25; 95% CI=0.08–0.81; p=0.02) and GG (10.0 vs. 16.7; OR=0.25; 95% CI=0.07–0.91; p=0.036), but the pc value was not signifcant (0.12 and 0.126, respec‑ tively). Serum IL35 levels showed signifcant difere
... Show MoreThere is a suggestion that an antidiuretic hormone-induced decrease in diuresis might contribute to the rapid relief of the acute pain in renal colic. This study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of desmopressin nasal spray compared with diclofenac given intramuscularly in patients with acute renal colic. The study included 75 patients randomized into three different groups; group A received desmopressin (40 μg, nasal spray), group B diclofenac (75 mg) intramuscularly and group C, both desmopressin and diclofenac. Pain was assessed using a visual analogue scale (a 10-cm horizontal scale ranging from `no pain' to `unbearable pain') at baseline, 10, 20 and 30 min after administering t
... Show MoreBackground: Sex variations in coronary artery disease (CAD) are well documented. However, sex differences in coronary artery calcium (CAC) and its role in the detection of coronary artery stenosis remain controversial. Objective: To assess the impact of sex variation on coronary artery calcification and its efficacy in predicting coronary artery stenosis. Methods: This is a cross-sectional observational study including 230 consecutive patients with suspected CAD (120 men and 110 women) referred for coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA). The study analyzed sex-based differences in the sensitivity and specificity of coronary artery calcification (CAC) for detecting moderate to severe stenosis across various coronary arteries
... Show MoreIn this research, the influence of the fermentation treatments and baking in Iraqi’s flour type (Ibaa 99, Al-rashed, Tamus, Abu-grabe) and Turkish flour type (Muaamel) on phytic acid was investigated. In whole wheat flour, the phytic acid was (1500, 1290, 1450, 1230, 1440 ( mg/ 100 g flour respectively, and the inorganic phosphorous was (29.18, 25.15, 23.89, 20.85, 22.83) mg/100 g flour respectively. The dough prepared from flour with a higher phytic acid content also contained higher amount of phytic acid. During fermentation, degradation of phytic acid occurred. The cumulative loss of phytic acid after fermentation in all type of dough was ~ 23, 22, 34, 26 and 27% respectively،While increased of inorganic phosphorous occurred. The c
... Show MoreTeachers play a critical role in planning, organizing, coordinating, monitoring, and instructing, hence the topic of leadership styles receives a lot of attention. As a result, the physical education school is regarded as the most significant component of the educational process because it has the ability to weave together the teaching and educational skills, attitudes, and capacities that its students develop. Fits into their identities through her relationship with them. Teachers play a critical role in planning, organizing, coordinating, monitoring, and instructing, hence the topic of leadership styles receives a lot of attention. As a result, the physical education school is regarded the most significant aspect in the educational proces
... Show MoreReservoir fluids properties are very important in reservoir engineering computations such as material balance calculations, well testing analyses, reserve estimates, and numerical reservoir simulations. Isothermal oil compressibility is required in fluid flow problems, extension of fluid properties from values at the bubble point pressure to higher pressures of interest and in material balance calculations (Ramey, Spivey, and McCain). Isothermal oil compressibility is a measure of the fractional change in volume as pressure is changed at constant temperature (McCain). The most accurate method for determining the Isothermal oil compressibility is a laboratory PVT analysis; however, the evaluation of exploratory wells often require an esti
... Show MoreThis paper presents a robust algorithm for the assessment of risk priority for medical equipment based on the calculation of static and dynamic risk factors and Kohnen Self Organization Maps (SOM). Four risk parameters have been calculated for 345 medical devices in two general hospitals in Baghdad. Static risk factor components (equipment function and physical risk) and dynamics risk components (maintenance requirements and risk points) have been calculated. These risk components are used as an input to the unsupervised Kohonen self organization maps. The accuracy of the network was found to be equal to 98% for the proposed system. We conclude that the proposed model gives fast and accurate assessment for risk priority and it works as p
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