Background: The occurrence of hypertension has been increasing alarmingly in both low and middle-income countries. Despite acknowledging hypertension as the most common life-threatening risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD), a dearth of data is available on the prevalence, awareness, and determinants of hypertension in rural parts of South Africa. The principal aim of the current study is to determine the prevalence and associated risk factors of hypertension among a black rural African population from the Mtatha town of Eastern Cape Province. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study, and individuals over 18 years of age were randomly screened using a World Health Organization stepwise questionnaire. Sociodemographic information, anthropometric measurements, fasting blood glucose levels, and three independent blood pressure (BP) readings were measured. Blood pressure measurements were classified according to the American Heart Association guidelines. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to determine the significant predictors of hypertension. Results: Of the total participants (n = 556), 71% of individuals had BP scores in the hypertensive range. In univariate analysis, age, westernized diet, education, income, and diabetic status, as well as overweight/obese status were positively associated with the prevalence of hypertension. However, in a multivariate logistic regression analysis only, age, body mass index (BMI), diabetic status, and westernized diet were significantly associated with a higher risk of developing hypertension. Gender, age, and BMI were potential factors having a significant association with the treatment of hypertension. Individuals who did not consider the importance of medicine had higher chances of having their hypertension being untreated. Conclusions: Prevalence of hypertension was high among the black rural African population of Mthatha town. Gender, age, westernized diet, education level, income status, diabetic as well as overweight/obese status were the most significant predictors of hypertension.

The proliferation of extended spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) producing Pseudomonas aeruginosa represent a major public health threat. In this study, we evaluated the antimicrobial resistance patterns of P. aeruginosa strains and characterized the ESBLs and Metallo- β-lactamases (MBL) produced. Strains of P. aeruginosa cultured from patients who attended Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital and other clinics in the four district municipalities of the Eastern Cape between August 2017 and May 2019 were identified; antimicrobial susceptibility testing was carried out against thirteen clinically relevant antibiotics using the BioMérieux VITEK 2 and confirmed by Beckman autoSCAN-4 System. Real-time PCR was done using Roche Light Cycler 2.0 to detect the presence of ESBLs; bla_SHV, bla_TEM and bla_CTX-M genes; and MBLs; bla_IMP, bla_VIM. Strains of P. aeruginosa demonstrated resistance to wide-ranging clinically relevant antibiotics including piperacillin (64.2%), followed by aztreonam (57.8%), cefepime (51.5%), ceftazidime (51.0%), piperacillin/tazobactam (50.5%), and imipenem (46.6%). A total of 75 (36.8%) multidrug-resistant (MDR) strains were observed of the total pool of isolates. The bla_TEM, bla_SHV and bla_CTX-M was detected in 79.3%, 69.5% and 31.7% isolates (n = 82), respectively. The bla_IMP was detected in 1.25% while no bla_VIM was detected in any of the strains tested. The study showed a high rate of MDR P. aeruginosa in our setting. The vast majority of these resistant strains carried bla_TEM and bla_SHV genes. Continuous monitoring of antimicrobial resistance and strict compliance towards infection prevention and control practices are the best defence against spread of MDR P. aeruginosa.

The presence of Acinetobacter baumannii outside hospitals remains unclear. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of multidrug-resistance (MDR) A. baumannii in the extra-hospital environment in Mthatha, South Africa and to investigate the frequency of carbapenemase-encoding genes. From August 2016 to July 2017 a total of 598 abattoir samples and 689 aquatic samples were collected and analyzed presumptively by cultural methods for the presence of A. baumannii using CHROMagar™ Acinetobacter medium. Species identification was performed by autoSCAN-4 (Dade Behring Inc., IL) and confirmed by the detection of their intrinsic bla_OXA-51 gene. Confirmed MDR A. baumannii isolates were screened for the presence of carbapenemase-encoding genes, ISAba1 insertion sequence and integrase intI1. In total, 248 (19.3%) Acinetobacter species were isolated. Acinetobacter. baumannii was detected in 183 (73.8%) of which 85 (46.4%) and 98 (53.6%) were recovered from abattoir and aquatic respectively. MDR A. baumannii was detected in 56.5% (48/85) abattoir isolates and 53.1% (52/98) aquatic isolates. Isolates showed high resistance to antimicrobials most frequently used to treat Acinetobacter infections such as piperacillin/tazobactam; abattoir (98% of isolates resistant), aquatic (94% of isolates resistant), ceftazidime (84%, 83%), ciprofloxacin (71%, 70%), amikacin (41%, 42%), imipenem (75%, 73%), and meropenem (74%, 71%). All the isolates were susceptible to tigecycline and colistin. All the isolates carried bla_OXA-51-like. The bla_OXA-23 was detected in 32 (66.7%) abattoir isolates and 11 (21.2%) aquatic isolates. The bla_OXA-58-like was positive in 7 (14.6%) and 4 (7.7%) abattoir and aquatic isolates, respectively. Both groups of isolates lacked bla_OXA-24-like, bla_IMP-type, bla_VIM-type, bla_NDM-1,bla_SIM, bla_AmpC, ISAba1 and inI1. Isolates showed high level of Multiple Antibiotic Resistance Index (MARI) ranging from 0.20-0.52. Extra-hospital sources such as abattoir and aquatic environments may be a vehicle of spread of MDR A. baumannii strains in the community and hospital settings.

Evaluation of resistant profiles and detection of antimicrobial-resistant genes of bacterial pathogens in the nonclinical milieu is imperative to assess the probable risk of dissemination of resistant genes in the environment. This paper sought to identify antibiotic-resistant genes in Pseudomonas aeruginosa from nonclinical sources in Mthatha, Eastern Cape, and evaluate its public health implications. Samples collected from abattoir wastewater and aquatic environment were processed by membrane filtration and cultured on CHROMagarTM Pseudomonas medium. Species identification was performed by autoSCAN-4 (Dade Behring Inc., IL). Molecular characterization of the isolates was confirmed using real-time polymerase chain reaction (rPCR) and selected isolates were further screened for the possibility of harboring antimicrobial resistance genes. Fifty-one Pseudomonas species were recovered from abattoir wastewater and surface water samples, out of which thirty-six strains were Pseudomonas aeruginosa (70.6). The P. aeruginosa isolates demonstrated resistance to aztreonam (86.1), ceftazidime (63.9), piperacillin (58.3), cefepime (55.6), imipenem (50), piperacillin/tazobactam (47.2), meropenem (41.7), and levofloxacin (30.6). Twenty out of thirty-six P. aeruginosa displayed multidrug resistance profiles and were classified as multidrug-resistant (MDR) (55.6). Most of the bacterial isolates exhibited a high Multiple Antibiotic Resistance (MAR) Index ranging from 0.08 to 0.69 with a mean MAR index of 0.38. In the rPCR analysis of fifteen P. aeruginosa isolates, 14 isolates (93.3) were detected harboring bla_SHV, six isolates (40) harbored bla_TEM, and three isolates (20) harbored bla_CTX-M, being the least occurring ESBL. Results of the current study revealed that P. aeruginosa isolates recovered from nonclinical milieu are resistant to frontline clinically relevant antipseudomonal drugs. This is concerning as it poses a risk to the environment and constitutes a public health threat. Given the public health relevance, the paper recommends monitoring of multidrug-resistant pathogens in effluent environments.

Introduction. Carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii has been responsible for an increasing number of hospital-acquired infections globally. The study investigated the prevalence of carbapenemase-encoding genes in clinical multidrug-resistant A. baumannii strains. Materials and Methods. A total of 100 nonduplicate multidrug-resistant A. baumannii strains were cultured from clinical samples obtained from healthcare facilities in the O. R. Tambo district. The strains were confirmed by detecting the intrinsic bla_OXA-51-like gene. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed by VITEK^® 2 and autoSCAN-4 systems. The MIC of imipenem and meropenem was rechecked by E-test. Colistin MIC was confirmed by the broth microdilution method. Real-time PCR was performed to investigate the presence of carbapenemase-encoding genes. Results. Most strains showed high resistance rates (>80%) to the antibiotics tested. Resistance to amikacin, tetracycline, and tigecycline were 50%, 64%, and 48%, respectively. All strains were fully susceptible to colistin. The bla_OXA-51-like was detected in all strains whilst bla_OXA-23-like, bla_OXA-58-like, bla_OXA-24-like, bla_IMP-1, bla_VIM, and bla_NDM-1 were found in 70%, 8%, 5%, 4%, 3%, and 2% of strains, respectively. None of the tested strains harboured the genes bla_SIM and bla_AmpC. The coexistence of bla_OXA-23-like, and bla_IMP-1 or bla_OXA-58-like was detected in 1% and 2% strains, respectively. A distinct feature of our findings was the coharbouring of the genes bla_OXA-23-like, bla_OXA-58-like, and bla_IMP-1 in 2% strains, and this is the first report in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. The intI1 was carried in 80% of tested strains whilst ISAba1/bla_OXA-51-like and ISAba1/bla_OXA-23-like were detected in 15% and 40% of the strains, respectively. The detection of bla_OXA-23-like, ISAba1/bla_OXA-51-like, ISAba1/bla_OXA-23-like, and bla_OXA-23-like, bla_OXA-58-like, and bla_IMP-1 carbapenemases in strains had a significant effect on both imipenem and meropenem MICs. Conclusions. Results showed a high level of oxacillinases producing A. baumannii circulating in our study setting, highlighting the need for local molecular surveillance to inform appropriate management and prevention strategies.

An essential metric for determining the efficacy of tuberculosis (TB) control programs is the evaluation of TB treatment outcomes; this study was conducted to investigate treatment outcomes and associated factors among tuberculosis patients in rural areas of Eastern Cape, South Africa. Assessing treatment outcomes is fundamental to facilitating the End TB Strategy’s set target. Clinic records from 457 patients with DR-TB were examined for data collection while 101 patients were followed up prospectively. Data were analyzed using Stata version 17.0. The odds ratio and 95% confidence interval were calculated to check the association between variables. p ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Of the 427 participants, 65.8% had successful treatment whilst 34.2% had unsuccessful TB treatment. A total of 61.2% and 39% of the HIV-positive and HIV-negative participants had a successful TB treatment whilst 66% and 34% of both HIV-negative and positive participants had unsuccessful TB treatment. From the 101 patients that were followed up, smokers took longer to have treatment outcomes compared to non-smokers. In the study with HIV/TB co-infection, men predominated. HIV and tuberculosis co-infection made therapy difficult with unfavorable effects on TB management. The treatment success rate (65.8%) was lower than the WHO threshold standard with a high proportion of patients being lost to the follow up. The co-infection of tuberculosis and HIV resulted in undesirable treatment outcomes. Strengthening TB surveillance and control is recommended.