Infectious Disorders - Drug Targets (Formerly Current Drug Targets - Infectious Disorders) - Volume 25, Issue 1, 2025

Rabies is a fatal infectious viral disease that affects all warm-blooded mammals, including humans. Rabid dogs are commonly found in Egypt.

By assessing the knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards Rabies in Gharbia Governorate, Egypt, this KAP study aimed to improve knowledge of the populations dealing with infected wounds and rabid animals. It also aimed to generate baseline data that would be a reference for evaluating community awareness and aid in developing and administering appropriate rabies prevention strategies.

This is a cross-sectional study that was carried out from June 2020 to October 2022 to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of six different towns and villages from the El Gharbia government, Egypt, regarding rabies. A self-administered closed-ended questionnaire was used to collect the data from 326 participants by convenient sampling. The data were analyzed by SPSS statistical software version 21 using descriptive analysis and the Chi-square test.

Most of the respondents (73.6%) had heard about rabies mainly from mixed sources (formal and informal sources). The bite was considered to be the only mode of transmission of rabies by 49.4% of respondents, and only 10.7% and 14.4% of respondents answered that it could be transmitted by scratching and saliva contact, respectively. Nearly half of the participants (52.1%) believed that biting and sudden changes in behavior are the clinical signs and symptoms of rabies in humans. Most of the participants (70.9%) knew that rabies could be prevented by vaccination, but (57.1%) of them did not know about the almost 100% fatal nature of rabies once the clinical signs developed. Residency, educational status, and age were found to be significantly associated with KAP of rabies (P<0.05).

There is a need for educational campaigns and mass media programs in the El Gharbia government, Egypt to increase the awareness of the community about rabies.

Tuberculosis is still one of the biggest causes of infection-related death around the world. Disseminated tuberculosis is a potentially fatal disease caused by the haematogenous spread of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. First-line anti-tuberculosis drugs include isoniazid, rifampicin, pyrazinamide, and ethambutol. The first three drugs are known to cause hepatotoxicity.

We have, herein, reported a case of Drug-induced Liver Injury (DILI) due to anti-tuberculosis therapy in a one-year-old male child with disseminated tuberculosis. He was started on a fixed-dose combination of Anti-tuberculosis Therapy (ATT; isoniazid 50 mg, rifampicin 75 mg, and pyrazinamide 150 mg) and pyridoxine 10 mg orally. Initially, liver parameters were normal, but later on with the course of the treatment, there was a rapid rise in liver enzymes, suggesting liver injury.

The association between liver injury and anti-tuberculosis therapy has been confirmed by applying various causality association scales. It is obvious that proper treatment of disseminated tuberculosis can avoid the development of drug-resistant strains that can be harmful, worsening the prognosis as there are fewer therapeutic alternatives available. At the same time, there is a need to monitor the patient with ATT-induced DILI.

The diagnosis of tuberculosis in children is difficult because of the mild, nonspecific clinical presentation, which usually reflects the implicated underlying organ. In addition to prompt diagnosis and treatment of disseminated TB, careful monitoring is equally important.

Salmonellae are gram-negative, facultatively anaerobic Enterobacteriaceae consisting of two species, Salmonella enterica and Salmonella bongori. Invasive diseases, such as meningitis, result in hospitalization, short and long-term complications, and high mortality rates.

A 4-month-old baby girl was admitted to a district hospital because of diarrhea and fever. WBC count, urinalysis, urine cultures, and stool cultures were normal. She was treated with intravenous cefuroxime for 5 days. She was discharged on oral cefprozil for 5 days. After the end of therapy, she was admitted again to the same hospital with fever, diarrhea, vomits, and irritability. Cerebrospinal fluid examination revealed pleocytosis, while S. enterica was isolated. Empirical therapy with ceftriaxone, amikacin, and dexamethasone was started. Because of intracranial hypertension signs, she was transferred to the pediatric intensive care unit of our tertiary hospital. Therapy continued with intravenous ceftriaxone. Brain MRI revealed subarachnoid space dilatation. Increased head circumference and pulsating bregmatic fontanel led to a new cerebral MRI, in which ventricular dilatation and extraparenchymal subdural collection were noted. Ceftriaxone was changed to cefotaxime and ciprofloxacin was added. She remained clinically well; her brain MRI, a week later, showed marked improvement, and the course of intravenous antibiotics for 5 weeks was completed. Her baseline immunodeficiency screening tests were normal and repeat MRI two months post-treatment cessation did not reveal the previous abnormalities.

Invasive Salmonella diseases, such as meningitis, are very uncommon in industrial countries nowadays, and the optimal management is yet not well established. Late onset of complications from Salmonella meningitis warrants more thorough neurodevelopmental follow-ups.

Bruton’s Tyrosine Kinase (BTK), an important element for the production of several inflammatory cytokines, may play a role in the pathogenesis of COVID-19. This study aimed to assess BTK gene expression levels in COVID-19 cases based on disease severity and outcome.

In this study, 33 hospitalized patients with COVID-19 were recruited and divided into two groups based on the severity of the disease: “mild to moderate” and “severe to critical”. A blood sample was taken from each patient, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were extracted, and BTK gene expression was measured. The level of BTK gene expression was compared based on the demographic data, laboratory results, and the severity and outcome of the disease.

Among the 33 patients, 22 (66.7%) were male, with nearly half having at least one underlying condition. The severity groups comprised 12 patients in the “mild to moderate” category and 21 in the “severe to critical” category, with eight (24.2%) experiencing fatal outcomes. Age, weight, and BMI showed no significant associations with BTK expression. BTK expression was notably lower in “severe to critical” and ICU-admitted cases, as well as in individuals with low O2 saturation. However, no significant difference in BTK expression was observed between cured and deceased patients (p = 0.117).

BTK gene expression in PBMCs exhibited an inverse correlation with COVID-19 severity. However, no difference was found between BTK expression and disease outcome.

Antimicrobial resistance exhibited by bacteria against the majority of antibiotics has resulted in research on alternative methods of treatment. Aloe vera has a strong tradition as a medical plant with a wide range of therapeutic uses.

The objective of this study is to determine the antibacterial activity of gel and crude ethanol leaf extract of Aloe vera against Staphylococcus aureus and Enterobacterales isolated from wound infections.

It is a cross-sectional study conducted over a period of 7 months. Antibacterial effect of the ethanol leaf extract and gel was determined by the punch well method. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of the ethanol leaf extract were determined by macro broth dilution technique.

Aloe vera ethanol leaf extract induced a mean zone size of 13.0 ± 6.0 mm and 16.7 ± 8.4 mm, respectively, for S. aureus and Enterobacterales by Punch Well method (p≤0.002). Whereas Aloe vera gel failed to induce any zone of inhibition for all the isolates p<0.001. Mean MIC of Aloe vera leaf extract against 74 S. aureus was 94 ± 41.23 mg/ml and against 73 Enterobacterales, it was 45.6 ± 20 mg/ml p < 0.001. Mean MBC of Aloe vera leaf extract against 74 S.aureus isolates was 188 ± 82.46 mg/ml and against 73 Enterobacterales was 91.18±40 mg/ml p < 0.001.

Aloe vera ethanol leaf extract showed a good antibacterial effect against the different strains of bacteria causing wound infection. The present article shows the possibility of future use of natural products for the treatment of wound infections.