Introduction: Group B Streptococci (GBS) colonize almost one third of human gastrointestinal and genitourinary tracts, particularly in females. The aim of this study is to evaluate the epidemiology, microbiological characteristics, and clinical outcomes of invasive GBS disease in Qatar from all age groups. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted on patients with confirmed GBS blood stream infections during the period between January 2015 and March 2019. Microbiological identification was performed using automated BD PhoenixTM system, while additional antimicrobial susceptibility tests were performed using E test and disc diffusion methods. Result: During the four years period, the incidence steadily rose from 1.48 to 2.09 cases per 100.000 population. Out of 196 confirmed cases of invasive GBS infections, the majority were females (63.7%, 125/196) of which 44.8% were pregnant and 53.6% were colonized. Three distinct affected age groups were identified: children ≤ 4 years of age (35.7%), young adults 25–34 (20.9%) and the elderly ≥ 65 year (17.4%). Presenting symptoms were mild with fever in 53% of cases while 89% of cases had Pitt bacteraemia score of ≤ 2. Isolates were universally sensitive to penicillin, ceftriaxone, and vancomycin at 100% but with significant resistance to erythromycin (49%) and clindamycin (28.6%) while 16.8% had inducible clindamycin resistance. Clinical outcomes showed cure rate of 87.25% with complications in (8.76%) and 4% mortality. Conclusion: There is a rising trend of Group B Streptococcal blood stream infections in Qatar with significantly high clindamycin and erythromycin resistance rates. Universal susceptibility rates were demonstrated for penicillin, ceftriaxone, and vancomycin.

Early diagnosis is a fundamental component of global tuberculosis control. The objective of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic yield of post-bronchoscopy sputum (PBS) testing as part of a tuberculosis diagnostic work-up. All new residents in the State of Qatar undergo a tuberculosis (TB) screening program. Those with abnormal chest radiology, negative sputum acid-fast bacilli (AFB) smears, and nucleic acid amplification testing (NAAT) for M. tuberculosis, undergo an additional bronchoscopic evaluation for TB. We prospectively enrolled individuals who were going to undergo bronchoscopy to provide two PBS samples for AFB smears and mycobacterial cultures between 18 September 2018 and 12 March 2021. A total of 495 individuals, with a median age of 31 years, were included. The majority of the patients were males (329, 66.5%). The most frequent country of origin was India (131, 26.5%) followed by the Philippines (123, 24.8%). The addition of PBS to bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) testing allowed microbiological confirmation of tuberculosis in an additional 13 patients (3.9%), resulting in improved sensitivity (from 77.9% to 81.9%), negative predictive value (from 69.2% to 73.2%), and negative likelihood ratio (from 0.22 to 0.18). Where resources are available, the incorporation of routine PBS examination as part of tuberculosis diagnostic work-up can enhance the diagnostic yield.

This study was conducted to evaluate the characteristics, treatment outcome and risk factors associated with 223 drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) cases in the State of Qatar. A descriptive records-based retrospective study was conducted on patients registered at Communicable Disease Centre (CDC), Qatar to all consecutive microbiologically confirmed tuberculosis cases for the period January 2010 – March 2015. Demographic, clinical data, drug-resistance pattern of isolated mycobacteria and treatment outcome was assessed for the patient who completed their treatment in Qatar. Of 3301 patients with positive M. tuberculosis culture were analyzed; 223 (6.7%) were resistant to at least one drug. The overall prevalence of multi-d rug resistant TB (MDR-TB) was 1.2% (n = 38) of patients. A former resident of Indian sub contents was the most common demographic characteristic observed (64.1%). The outcome of treatment was assessed for 85 resistant cases with follow-up after completion of treatment. Cure and relapse rates were 97.6%, and 2.4%, respectively. Drug-resistant TB in Qatar is influenced by migration where the patients were probably infected. Rapid sputum sampling performed in the early stages of the disease, patient isolation, and drug-susceptibility testing should be the standard of care.

Chryseobacterium gleum is a Gram-negative aerobic bacillus. It commonly colonizes mechanical devices, causing device-associated infections like central line–associated bloodstream infection and ventilator-associated pneumonia. We describe two cases of C. gleum bacteraemia in patients admitted to our intensive care unit in Qatar, one of which resulted in death. Long hospital stays and indwelling devices are risk factors for C. gleum bacteraemia. Because C. gleum is inherently resistant to β-lactam antibiotics, rapid identification and antimicrobial susceptibility testing are essential for guiding therapy.

Background: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection remains a major health problem since discovery of the virus in 1981. Globally, since the introduction of antiretroviral therapy in 1996, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) related deaths fell by more than 25% between 2005 and 2011. HIV related opportunistic illnesses (OIs) are less common, especially with the use of prophylaxis. This study aims to assess the incidence of HIV infection and related OIs in Qatar over a 17-year period. Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study of all HIV infected patients registered in Qatar from 2000-2016. Incidence of HIV infection and related OIs were calculated per 100,000 population. Demographic and clinical characteristics were compared between two groups of patients with and without OIs. Results: In 167 cases with HIV infection, 54 (32.3%) had OIs. The average incidence rate of HIV infection over 16 years is 0.69 per 100,000 population, and the incidence rate for OIs is 0.27 per 100,000 population (Figure 1). The most common OIs is pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PCP), seen in 25% of cases, followed by cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinitis with 7.2%, tuberculosis 5.4%, toxoplasmosis 4.2%, and less than 2% for Kaposi sarcoma and cryptococcal infection. The treatment outcome of cases with OIs was: cure in 59.3%, failure in 3.7%. Mortality within 3 months of OIs was 3.7%, whereas 33.4% accounted for loss to follow up after starting the treatment due to patients leaving the country. Most patients in both groups were young males. The CD4 lymphocyte count and percentage (CD4%), CD4/CD8 ratio and viral load were statistically significant risk factors in cases with OIs (p < 0.05). Presence of comorbidities was lower in patients with OIs (p = 0.032) (). Conclusion: Qatar has a low prevalence rate for HIV infection and related opportunistic illness. Early diagnosis and use of antiretroviral therapy are important measures to decrease the rate of opportunistic illness.

Actinomyces species are Gram-positive anaerobic bacilli that are commensal in the gastrointestinal and genital tracts. Actinomyces blood stream infections (BSIs) are rare but becoming more frequent with advanced diagnostic techniques. The presented study aims to evaluate relevance, clinical and microbiological spectrum of Actinomyces species bacteremia. A retrospective cohort study was conducted for all reported Actinomyces species BSI between January 2016 to November 2020. Isolates identification and antimicrobial susceptibility tests were performed using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization–time of flight (MALDI-TOF) and BD PhoenixTM automated systems. Overall, 37 episodes of Actinomyces BSIs were recorded, most were Actinomyces odontolyticus (40.5%, 15/37). The mean age of patients was 32 years, with females’ preponderance (23/37, 62.2%). Cultures were considered significant in only 48.6% cases (18/37), in which the primary source of infection was attributed to oropharyngeal origin (40%) with excellent activity for amoxicillin and ceftriaxone but poor susceptibility to aminoglycosides and quinolines. Of those who received antimicrobials (87.5%, 28/32), shorter duration of therapy (<2 weeks) did not result in long-term consequences with 86.5% 1-year survival rate. Nearly half of the cases were deemed clinically insignificant and responded well to short courses of antimicrobial therapy without long-term consequences. Penicillin and cephalosporins demonstrated superior activity compared to aminoglycosides and quinolones.