Labroots’ virtual events are a tremendous way to network and learn about the research of others in your field. These events promote participants from across the globe who can demonstrate their research for free in a virtual poster format. At this year’s Cell Biology Virtual Week (now available to view On-Demand), Labroots highlighted an extraordinary study examining the drug, mupirocin, which the study dubs “A wonder drug for staphylococcal nasal carriage. This distinguishing study was conducted by Dr. Sakshita Agnihotri of the Department of Microbiology at the Pacific Medical College and Hospital in Udaipur, India.
(To see the full poster in detail, check out the 2022 Cell Biology Virtual Week On-Demand)
Dr. Agnihotri’s examined the drug, mupirocin, and its treatment against the bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) amongst healthcare workers, along with attempting to detect mupirocin sensitivity in S. aureus, specifically for Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MSRA) species. She says the primary focus of the study was “to prevent the rising cases of hospital-acquired infections and restrain the spread of CAMRSA (Community-acquired Methicillin resistant Staphylococcal aureus) by the unaware but healthy carriers of these pathogens.”
“The study threw light on the timely usage and preventive application of Mupirocin as prescribed, in the minimal possible effective concentrations,” said Dr. Agnihotri. “The research also elucidated the reason to assess the presumptive cause and prevention of URI (Upper Respiratory tract Infection) that gradually progress to LRTI (Lower Respiratory Tract Infection) and Nosocomial pneumonia especially when an individual community is compromised due to repeated viral episodes and varied other reasons.”
Dr. Agnihotri said the most meaningful result of the study was the prophylactic use of mupirocin (also known as Pseudonomic acid A) as either a nasal spray or topical ointment which provided a large amount of containment of staphylococcal nasal carriage observed amid healthy healthcare workers.
“These workers pose a great risk of contaminating the critically ill patients and the other immuno-compromised individuals with whom they come in contact,” said Dr. Agnihotri. “Hence, its proven usage can be done prior to the endoscopic procedures done by ENT and Respiratory physicians which will definitely decrease the incidence of post-procedural infections.”
Dr. Sakshita Agnihotri is a practicing dentist having received her B.D.S. (Bachelor of Dental Surgery) from the Jaipur Dental College in India. She has a strong passion for microbiology and is currently pursuing her PhD from Pacific Medical College and Hospital. Aside from this most recent study, she is conducting research on the efficiency of molecular methods in the Tuberculosis (TB) patients in high-burden countries like India. She notes that Labroots “never failed to quench my thirst for knowledge in my field of microbiology even during the pandemic era.” She specifically recommends Labroots to young researchers in the hope of keeping up to date with the most recent opportunities in this field of science.