Browsing by Author "Olila, D."

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    Antibacterial and antifungal activities of extracts of Zanthoxylum chalybeum and Warburgia ugandensis, Ugandan medicinal plants
    (African Health Sciences, 2001) Olila, D.; Odyek, Olwa; Opuda, Asibo J.
    Measles is a killer disease of children in Uganda. The treatment of the disease is mainly directed at the secondary microbial infections. A large proportion of the population in Uganda still relies on the use of herbal remedies, which have been claimed to produce beneficial responses. In this study, the efficacy of Warburgia ugandensis and Zanthoxylum chalybeum against common bacteria and fungi was investigated. Bactericidal and antifungal assays were done using extracts derived from Z. chalybeum and W. ugandensis (agar well diffusion, disc diffusion and colony count assays). All extracts (ethanolic, petroleum ether and aqueous) of Z. chalybeum did not show antimicrobial activity. Phytochemical investigations of Zanthoxylum chalybeum (seed) yielded a pure crystalline alkaloid (27-135D) which was characterized as skimianine based on 1H-NMR spectroscopy and comparison with spectra of authentic samples. Skimmianine did not have antimicrobial activity in this test system. W. ugandensis water extracts elicited antibacterial activity against both Escherischia coli and Staphylococcus aureus in the agar well assay but not in the disc diffusion assay. Warburgia ugandensis water extracts and fraction 27-163D also showed antifungal activity against Candida albicans. Chromatography of extracts of Warburgia ugandensis stem bark afforded compound 49-169K, which was characterized as the sesquiterpine muzigadial (by 1H-NMR spectroscopy), which did not show antibacterial activity but had antifungal activity against C. albicans. Therefore, the claimed efficacy of W. ugandensis could be attributable to antibacterial and antifungal activity of its components
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    Drug sensitivity patterns of bacterial isolates from septic post-operative wounds in a regional referral hospital in Uganda
    (African health sciences, 2007) Anguzu, J. R.; Olila, D.
    Wound infections have been a problem in the field of surgery for a long time.Advances in control of infections have not completely eradicated this problem because of development of drug resistance.Antimicrobial resistance can increase complications and costs associated with procedures and treatment. A study was carried out on drug sensitivity patterns of bacterial isolates from septic postoperative wounds in Jinja hospital, Uganda.This study was designed to determine the distribution of bacterial pathogens isolated from septic post-operative wounds and their antimicrobial susceptibility patterns. Method: Specimens of pus swabs were collected aseptically and analysed in the laboratory. Colony characteristics and Grams technique were used to differentiate the organisms. Biochemical tests were done to confirm the species of the organisms. Sensitivity testing was done on the isolates using the disk diffusion method. Results: Pathogenic bacteria were recovered from 58.5% of the specimens.The isolates were: S.aureus (45.1%), Coliforms (16.9%), Proteus mirabilis (11.3%), P.aeruginosa (9.9%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (7.0%) and Enterobacter spp (2.82%). Most of the organisms were sensitive to gentamicin, ciprofloxacin and ceftazidime.There was resistance to ampicillin, amoxycillin and chloramphenicol. Staphylococcus aureus was generally sensitive to gentamicin (87.5%), ciprofloxacin (68.7%) and methicillin (75%), but resistant to erythromycin (56.2%) and ampicillin (97%). Most of the gram-negative bacteria isolated (Coliforms, P.aeruginosa , E.coli , Proteus mirabilis , and Klebsiella pneumoniae ) were sensitive to Ciprofloxacin, Gentamicin and Ceftazidime but resistant to Ampicillin,Amoxycillin and Chloramphenicol. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains formed 25% of this species. Pseudomonas aeruginosa was sensitive to gentamicin (87.5%) and ceftazidime (85.7%) but showed resistance to ciprofloxacin (57.2%). Some organisms e.g. S.aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Proteus mirabilis exhibited multi-drug resistance to the antibiotics tested. Since a high proportion of samples had positive cultures, infection control is recommended as a strategy to minimise spread of resistant organisms. It is recommended that gentamicin, ciprofloxacin and ceftazidime be used in preference to ampicillin and amoxycillin for treatment of septic wounds. There is need to develop national surveillance of antibiotic- resistant organisms.