Browsing by Author "Wanigatunge, C."

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    A Comparison of Pathogenic Bacterial Spectrum and Antibiotic Susceptibility Pattern in Adult Cancer and Non-Cancer Patients Who Have Received Prior Antibiotic Therapy at Two Tertiary Care Institutions – Preliminary Findings
    (19th Conference on Postgraduate Research, International Postgraduate Research Conference 2018, Faculty of Graduate Studies,University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2018) Chathuranga, G.; Dissanayake, T.; Fernando, N.; Wanigatunge, C.
    Infectious diseases are an important cause of increased morbidity and mortality among patients of all age groups particularly in the immunosuppressed including those with malignancies. Objective of this study was to compare the spectrum of pathogenic bacteria causing respiratory infections, skin and soft tissue infections (SST) and complicated urinary tract infections (UTI) in adults with malignancies and without, and their antimicrobial sensitivity pattern. Patients with diagnosed malignancies and those without, who presented with lower respiratory tract infections, SST and complicated UTI were included. Those with malignancies were selected from Apeksha Hospital, Maharagama while those without malignancies were selected from Colombo South Teaching Hospital. Samples were collected from May 2018 to September 2018. Both patient groups were on antibiotic therapy at the time of specimen collection. All those with malignancies were also on immunosuppressive therapies. Pathogenic bacteria were isolated from sputum, pus, urine, wound swabs and broncho-alveolar lavage specimens. Samples obtained from 59 patients with malignancies and 68 patients without malignancies were analyzed. Lower respiratory tract infections were predominant (42% / n=25) among cancer patients whereas in non-cancer patients it was complicated UTIs (41% / n=28). In cancer patients, majority of the infections were caused by coliform bacteria (63%, 37) followed by S. aureus (17%, 10) and Pseudomonas spp. (10%, 6). Coliform bacteria were the predominant pathogen in non-cancer patients (72%, 49) followed by Pseudomonas spp. (13%, 9) and S. aureus (9%, 6). Of the S. aureus isolates obtained, 7/10 in cancer patients and 4/6 from non-cancer patients were methicillin resistant (MRSA). Inducible clindamycin resistance was observed in 2 S. aureus isolates from cancer patients while it was not detected among non-cancer patients. Multi drug resistant Acinetobacter species was isolated from 4 cancer patients and 1 non-cancer patient with respiratory infection. Imipenem/ meropenem resistance rate in coliform was 43.2% (16/37) among cancer patients and 16.3% (8/49) among non-cancer patients. Amikacin showed the highest sensitivity rate for coliform bacteria in both patient groups; 78.3% (29/37) in cancer patients and 85.7% (42/49) in non-cancer patients. All the Pseudomonas spp. isolates obtained from non-cancer patients were sensitive to imipenem and meropenem while in cancer patients the sensitivity was observed as 50% (3/6) to imipenem and 33.3% (2/6) to meropenem. Higher antibiotic resistant rates were observed in the patients with malignancies in comparison to those without malignancies which could be a major problem when selecting antibiotics for the treatment of infections in that patient population
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    What information and the extent of information research participants need in informed consent forms: a multi-country survey
    (BioMed Central, 2018) Karbwang, J.; Koonrungsesomboon, N.; Torres, C.E.; Jimenez, E.B.; Kaur, G.; Mathur, R.; Sholikhah, E.N.; Wanigatunge, C.; Wong, C.S.; Yimtae, K.; Abdul Malek, M.; Ahamad Fouzi, L.; Ali, A.; Chan, B.Z.; Chandratilake, M.; Chiew, S.C.; Chin, M.Y.C.; Gamage, M.; Gitek, I.; Hakimi, M.; Hussin, N.; Jamil, M.F.A.; Janarsan, P.; Julia, M.; Kanungo, S.; Karunanayake, P.; Kollanthavelu, S.; Kong, K.K.; Kueh, B.L.; Kulkarni, R.; Kumaran, P.P.; Kumarasiri, R.; Lim, W.H.; Lim, X.J.; Mahmud, F.; Mantaring, J.B.V.; Md Ali, S.M.; Mohd Noor, N.; Muhunthan, K.; Nagandran, E.; Noor, M.; Ooi, K.H.; Pradeepan, J.A.; Sadewa, A.H.; Samaranayake, N.; Sri Ranganathan, S.; Subasingha, W.; Subramanium, S.; Sulaiman, N.; Tay, J.F.; Teng, L.H.; Tew, M.M.; Tharavanij, T.; Tok, P.S.K.; Weeratna, J.; Wibawa, T.; Wickremasinghe, R.; Wongwai, P.; Yadav, S.; FERCAP Multi-Country Research Team
    BACKGROUND: The use of lengthy, detailed, and complex informed consent forms (ICFs) is of paramount concern in biomedical research as it may not truly promote the rights and interests of research participants. The extent of information in ICFs has been the subject of debates for decades; however, no clear guidance is given. Thus, the objective of this study was to determine the perspectives of research participants about the type and extent of information they need when they are invited to participate in biomedical research. METHODS: This multi-center, cross-sectional, descriptive survey was conducted at 54 study sites in seven Asia-Pacific countries. A modified Likert-scale questionnaire was used to determine the importance of each element in the ICF among research participants of a biomedical study, with an anchored rating scale from 1 (not important) to 5 (very important). RESULTS: Of the 2484 questionnaires distributed, 2113 (85.1%) were returned. The majority of respondents considered most elements required in the ICF to be 'moderately important' to 'very important' for their decision making (mean score, ranging from 3.58 to 4.47). Major foreseeable risk, direct benefit, and common adverse effects of the intervention were considered to be of most concerned elements in the ICF (mean score = 4.47, 4.47, and 4.45, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Research participants would like to be informed of the ICF elements required by ethical guidelines and regulations; however, the importance of each element varied, e.g., risk and benefit associated with research participants were considered to be more important than the general nature or technical details of research. Using a participant-oriented approach by providing more details of the participant-interested elements while avoiding unnecessarily lengthy details of other less important elements would enhance the quality of the ICF.