Infectious disease is one of the greatest causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide, and with the emergence of antimicrobial resistance, the situation is worsening. In order to prevent this crisis, antimicrobial resistance needs to be monitored carefully to control the spread of multidrug-resistant bacteria. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to determine the prevalence of infection caused by Klebsiella pneumoniae and investigate the antimicrobial profile pattern of K. pneumoniae in the last eleven years. This retrospective study was conducted in a tertiary hospital in Makkah, Saudi Arabia. Data were collected from January 2011 to December 2021. From 2011 to 2021, a total of 61,027 bacterial isolates were collected from clinical samples, among which 14.7% (n = 9014) were K. pneumoniae. The antibiotic susceptibility pattern of K. pneumoniae revealed a significant increase in the resistance rate in most tested antibiotics during the study period. A marked jump in the resistance rate was seen in amoxicillin/clavulanate and piperacillin/tazobactam, from 33.6% and 13.6% in 2011 to 71.4% and 84.9% in 2021, respectively. Ceftazidime, cefotaxime, and cefepime resistance rates increased from 29.9%, 26.2%, and 53.9%, respectively, in 2011 to become 84.9%, 85.1%, and 85.8% in 2021. Moreover, a significant increase in the resistance rate was seen in both imipenem and amikacin, with an average resistance rate rise from 6.6% for imipenem and 11.9% for amikacin in 2011 to 59.9% and 62.2% in 2021, respectively. The present study showed that the prevalence and drug resistance of K. pneumoniae increased over the study period. Thus, preventing hospital-acquired infection and the reasonable use of antibiotics must be implemented to control and reduce antimicrobial resistance.

Purpose: Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) is a common causative pathogen in healthcare settings and displays increasing levels of resistance to common antimicrobial drugs. Its capacity to resist has been reported in multiple locations across the world. This study evaluates current levels of antibiotic resistance and seeks to understand antibiotic resistance patterns in the context of the clinical isolates of P. aeruginosa. Methods: All clinical isolates were cultured at 37 °C for 24 h in different media: blood sheep agar, McConkey agar, and cystine–lactose–electrolyte‐deficient agar (CLED), bacterial identification and antibiotic susceptibility patterns were determined using the Vitek‐2 (bioMérieux) automated system. Results: In total, there were 61,029 patient specimens, of which 5534 were identified as non-duplicated P. aeruginosa clinical isolates, most being from males aged over 60 years. The research findings revealed that the maximum antibiotic resistance associated with P. aeruginosa isolates was found in colistin (97%), which was followed by piperacillin/tazobactam (75.8%). The maximum resistance rates in P. aeruginosa isolates were found in relation to cefepime (42.7%,) which was followed by ciprofloxacin (34.3%). Conclusion: The antibiotic resistance rate during the first six years of the research period was notably higher than in the last years, due to the application of infection control protocols and strict policies to control antibiotic prescriptions in all Saudi hospitals.

Acinetobacter baumannii is pathogen of global concern. It causes infection, especially among immunocompromised individuals in intensive care units, due to its ability to survive for long periods on hard surfaces and under a wide range of environmental conditions and become resistant to almost all the available antibiotics used in clinical practice. Objectives: This study aims to address the gap in A. baumannii surveillance in Saudi Arabia by tracking the prevalence, patterns, and trends of acquired A. baumannii resistance at a healthcare facility in the western part of Saudi Arabia over eleven years. Methods: The study was conducted in a tertiary care hospital in the western region of Saudi Arabia, from January 2013 to December 2023. Results: Our data indicated that A. baumannii infections were predominantly observed in inpatients admitted to the hospital (96%) compared to those treated as outpatients in the emergency clinic (4%). The mean of annual A. baumannii infections isolated from inpatients is 503.3, whereas the mean for outpatients is 21, indicating a statistically significant difference with a p-value of <0.0001. The analysis of the antimicrobial susceptibility profile of A. baumannii demonstrated a variable levels of resistance to the evaluated antibiotics. The lowest resistance rate was for colistin. Conclusions: In conclusion, the incidence patterns of A. baumannii isolates peaked in 2013, then declined, and have recently shown an increase, underscoring the necessity for proactive interventions to curtail its dissemination, notwithstanding initial decreases in infection rates and resistance.

Environmental conditions in hospitals facilitate the growth and spread of pathogenic bacteria on surfaces such as floors, bed rails, air ventilation units, and mobile elements. These pathogens may be eliminated with proper disinfecting processes, including the use of appropriate surface disinfectants. In this study, we aimed to evaluate of the antibacterial effects of seven surface disinfectants (HAMAYA, DAC, AJAX, Jif, Mr. MUSCLE, CLOROX, and BACTIL) against eight bacterial strains Klebsiella pneumoniae, Enterobacter aerogenes, Acinetobacter baumannii, Serratia marcescens, Escherichia coli, vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecalis-ATCC 51299, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus-ATCC 43300, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa-ATCC 1544, using two methods. The first was to determine the effective contact time of disinfectant against the tested bacterial strains, and the second was an assessment of the disinfection efficacy of each disinfectant on six types of contaminated surfaces with on a mixture of the eight tested bacterial strains. The results showed the efficacy of the disinfectants against the tested strains depending on the effective contact time. BACTIL disinfectant showed an efficacy of 100% against all tested strains at the end of the first minute of contact time. HAMAYA, DAC, Jif, Mr. MUSCLE, and CLOROX showed 100% efficiency at the end of the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and fourteenth minutes, respectively, while AJAX disinfectant required nineteen minutes of contact time to show 100% efficacy against all tested strains.

Hepatitis C virus infection kinetics extrapolate complex crosstalk between viral proteins and host cell interactions by involving a plethora of genes and cell signaling to escape host immune responses and subsequently exacerbate the infection course. The approvals and the availability of oral, highly efficacious, and pan-genotypic direct-acting antivirals to treat chronic hepatitis C infection have raised the hopes of achieving the World Health Organization's ambitious goal of hepatitis C elimination by 2030. Several pitfalls exist in the current continuum of HCV care and certain gaps need to be filled for the successful implementation of HCV treatment and elimination strategies in highly endemic and vulnerable populations in many parts of the world in particular low to middle-income countries. This review aims to explore to what extent and to what capacity HCV kinetics, treatment-induced resistance associated substitutions (RASs), and crosscutting barriers of HCV genetic variabilities will impede the efforts and progress toward its elimination.