Immunogenicity and efficacy of an in-house developed cell-culture derived veterinarian rabies vaccine

The efficiency of an inactivated tissue culture rabies vaccine produced on BHK-21 cells, according to an in-house developed process, was evaluated and compared to a commercial cell-tissue culture vaccine (Rabisin). Fifteen experimental dogs from local common breed were duly conditioned during a quarantine period, then vaccinated via the subcutaneous route with 1 ml of either the tissue culture vaccine developed in-house or the commercial vaccine Rabisin. The immune response of each dog was monitored for 162 days. Serum-neutralizing antibodies titers to rabies virus were determined by the rapid fluorescent focus inhibition test (RFFIT) which confirmed the strong response of dogs to both vaccines except one dog in the Rabisin group. The dogs were then challenged in the masseter muscle with a rabies street virus of canine origin. All vaccinated dogs except the single dog in the Rabisin group that failed to respond to the vaccine, survived the challenge. In contrast, 80% of animals in the control non-vaccinated group, developed rabies and died. A field vaccine trial was also conducted: 1,000 local dogs living in field conditions received one subcutaneous dose of the locally developed vaccine. Serum neutralizing antibody titers to rabies virus was determined by RFFIT at days 0, 60 and 360. Mean rabies neutralizing antibody titers were equal to 0.786, 3.73 and 1.55 IU/ml, respectively. The percentage of dogs with a neutralizing rabies antibody titer higher than the 0.5 IU/ml mandated WHO threshold, was 30%, 91.4% and 87.5% at day 0, 2 months and 1 year post-vaccination, respectively. These data demonstrate the efficiency of the in-house developed vaccine produced on BHK-21 cells in both experimental and field conditions and support its use in dog mass vaccination campaigns.     

Translation and validation of the Arabic version of the “Suicide Behavioral Attitude Questionnaire”

Introduction : Attitudes and knowledge of health professionals are critical dimensions in the management of suicidal behavior. The “Suicide Behavioral Attitude Questionnaire” (SBAQ) was designed in Brazil to measure these variables in paramedical personnel. Aim: To translate and validate the SBAQ in literary Arabic. Methods : After author-approved translation and back-translation, the Arabic version of the SBAQ was distributed to 125 Tunisian caregivers working in psychiatric departments. Factor analysis and internal consistency were calculated. The stability was measured overtime using the paired Student’s T-test. Results : Cronbach''s alpha value was 0.741. The adequacy index of the factorization factor Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) of our sample was 0.74. This value was higher than 0.5 which indicates that our data was suited for factor analysis. Bartlett’s sphericity test result was significant, rejecting the null hypothesis. Three factors were extracted explaining 50.7% of the overall variance. Cronbach''s alpha value for the three subscales was 0.735, 0.713 and 0.798. The instrument had good stability over time. Conclusions : The Arabic version of the SBAQ showed good reliability and validity allowing its use in Arabic speaking paramedical personnel.     

High prevalence of imipenem-resistant and metallo-beta-lactamase-producing Pseudomonas aeruginosa in the Burns Hospital in Tunisia: detection of a novel class 1 integron

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is one of the most important causes of nosocomial infections, and its eradication is very difficult due to its multidrug resistance. The objective of the present study was to characterize the metallo-beta-lactamases (MBLs), integrons, OprD modifications and virulence factors of P. aeruginosa strains isolated from burn patients and to analyze their genetic relatedness by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and multilocus sequence typing (MLST). Sixty-seven P. aeruginosa isolates were recovered from different clinical samples of burn patients hospitalized in the Intensive Care Burn Unit of the Centre de Traumatologie et des Grands Brulés (Ben Arous, Tunisia), and MBLs and alterations in porin OprD were analyzed among imipenem-resistant isolates. Class 1 and 2 integrons were studied by PCR and sequencing of corresponding variable regions. The presence of eight genes involved in the virulence of P. aeruginosa was investigated by PCR. Fourteen of the 36 imipenem-resistant P. aeruginosa (IRPA) isolates (38.8%) were MBLs producers and harbored the bla_VIM-2 gene, in all cases included into class 1 integrons. A new class 1 integron was identified (intI1-bla_OXA-10-aadB-bla_VIM-2-aadB-bla_OXA-10). Five sequence types were detected among IRPA isolates: ST1, ST112, ST238, ST308 and ST395. P. aeruginosa is a major nosocomial pathogen in patients suffering burns, and the spreading of multidrugs resistant and MBL-producing isolates should be controlled in burn units. Moreover, the implantation of infection control guidelines is crucial to decrease the morbidity and mortality of nosocomial infections due to multidrug resistant P. aeruginosa.