SSM Newsletter

November 2013 -The Newsletter of the Sri Lankan Society for Microbiology -Issue 06

SSM office bearers

President Prof. Vasanthi Thevanesam Vice president Prof. Jennifer Perera Secretary Ms. Charitha Mendis Treasurer Prof. Nadira Karunaweera Assistant treasurer Dr. Susiji Wickramasinghe Editor Prof. Vasanthi Thevanesam Council members Dr. Faseeha Noordeen Dr. Dhammika Magana-Arachchi Prof. Sunil Chandra Dr. Enoka Corea Dr. Suneth Agampodi Newsletter production team : Ms. Charitha Mendis Dr. Champa Ratnatunga Ms. Sitara Mediwaka Dr. Saranga Sumathipala

Contact details Sri Lankan Society for Microbiology

ssm.srilanka@gmail.com

Contents Annual scientific sessions of the

Sri Lankan Society for Microbiology …………………

2

Jaffna Chapter –SSM …………………………………. 6

Upcoming events………………………………………. 7

Article…………………………………………………….. 9

Sri Lanka Journal of Infectious Diseases……………. 10

Local bibliography……………………………………… 11

News in Microbiology…………………………………... 12

Annual subscription for 2013………………………….. 12

1 | SSM Newsletter November 2013

Annual Scientific Sessions of the Sri Lankan Society for Microbiology

The Annual Sessions of the Society was successfully held at the Post Graduate Institute

of Science, University of Peradeniya on the 25th

of October 2013. The programme

consisted of 3 keynote lectures, 20 free papers and 12 poster presentations.

Professor Natkunam Ketheesan, Professor of Infection and Immunity from the School of

Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, James Cook University, Australia spoke on

“Double Trouble – why diabetics are more susceptible to Burkholderia pseudomallei

infection” – a fascinating insight into a very under recognized infection in tropical

countries, including Sri Lanka. Professor Sinnathamby Noble Surendran from the Department of Zoology, Faculty of

Science, University of Jaffna, speaking on „Brackish water breeding adaptation of

dengue vectors and its implication for dengue control in Sri Lanka‟ drew our attention to

the adaptability of an arthropod whose natural breeding places were under threat! He

also demonstrated very ably that novel research is possible in the most difficult of

circumstances! Mr Sachith Kalana Muthukumarana of Fonterra Brands (Pvt) Ltd. Lanka gave an

entertaining and instructive address on the “use of beneficial microorganisms in the food

industry – a closer look on pre and probiotics. His talk brought home the role of science

in industry and the need for healthy interactions between the academic world and

industry. The free papers and posters covered a wide area of vector borne parasitic and viral

infections, antimicrobial activity of natural products and detection of microbes and their

products in clinical disease, food and interestingly, even in bats!!

The conference was well attended with 72 participants. SSM is a Society which creates

spaces for interactions of scientists from many disciplines and the Conference amply

played this role, with many discussions taking place during the tea and lunch breaks.

The Conference committee, headed by Dr Faseeha Noordeen and ably assisted by

Dr Susijith Wickremasinghe, Ms Charitha Mendis and many others are to be

congratulated and thanked for their effective organization which involved hours of hard

work. The production of the Book of abstracts was a „first‟ for SSM. We are grateful to

the International Research Centre, University of Peradeniya for funding the Conference

book of abstracts. Having successfully completed the Second Annual Scientific Sessions of the Sri Lankan

Society, we will start preparations for the Third Annual Scientific Sessions which will be

held in October 2014. We do hope that all those who participated this year and those

who could not will look forward to this conference and help us to further expand the

space for interdisciplinary interactions. Prof. Vasanthi Thevanesam

2 | SSM Newsletter November 2013

A snapshot view of the conference Venue - The Postgraduate Institute of Science in the beautiful University of Peradeniya

Our keynote speakers

Prof Ketheesan

Prof Surendran

Mr Muthukumarana 3 | SSM Newsletter November 2013

Proceedings

What we did

Listened to scientific presentations ….from many places …..on many topics

4 | SSM Newsletter November 2013

……read and discussed the poster presentations

..…and received our certificates 5 | SSM Newsletter November 2013

Jaffna Chapter – SSM

We are happy to inform the SSM membership that the Jaffna Chapter has been formed.

President - Prof Noble Surendran

Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science,University of Jaffna

Secretary - Dr Mathy Ambalavanar

Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Jaffna 6 | SSM Newsletter November 2013

Upcoming events

WORKSHOP On

Extraction, Screening and Bioassays for the

Analysis of Microbial and Plant Products

Including

Extraction techniques and Bioassay guided fractionation Screening for antibacterial activity

Determination of Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC)

Detection of antioxidant and antifungal activity

Lectures, demonstrations and hands on practicals with

discussions on protocols, concepts and trouble shooting

4th

(Wednesday), 5th

(Thursday) & 6th

(Friday) December 2013

(8 am – 5.30 pm)

Department of Microbiology Faculty of Medicine &

Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science,

University of Peradeniya

Institute of Fundamental Studies(IFS), Hantane, Kandy

Pre-registration essential

Closing date 22.11.12

Numbers limited – Please apply early

Charges: SSM member– Rs 8500/= (please quote your membership no)

SSM non member – Rs 10,000/=

For more information contact

Priyanga Dharmaratne

Tel:

Prof. V. Thevanesam

0773157451 0772524947

E‐mail: vasanthithevanesam@yahoo.com

priyangadharmaratne@yahoo.com

7 | SSM Newsletter November 2013

A Guest Lecture

on

“New concepts in infection-associated glomerulonephritis –

Staphylococcus aureus, an emerging threat”

by

Anjali A. Satoskar MD

Associate Professor, Department of Pathology, Ohio State University, Columbus, USA

Date - 02nd

January 2014 Time - 12.00noon -1.00pm

Venue - Board room, Faculty of Medicine,

Colombo

Jointly organized by

Sri Lankan Society for Microbiology and

the Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine,

Colombo

All are welcome!

8 | SSM Newsletter November 2013

ARTICLE

“Don’t forget the migrants”: exploring preparedness and response strategies

to combat the potential spread of MERS-CoV virus through migrant workers

in Sri Lanka Kolitha Wickramage

1, Sharika Peiris

1, Suneth B Agampodi

2,3

1 Health Department, International Organization for Migration (IOM), Colombo, Sri Lanka

2 Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Allied Sciences,

Rajarata University of Sri Lanka, Saliyapura, Sri Lanka 3

Tropical Disease Research Unit, Faculty of Medicine and Allied Sciences,

Rajarata University of Sri Lanka, Saliyapura, Sri Lanka Grant information: The author(s) declared that no grants were involved in supporting

this work. From September 2012 to July 2013, 81 laboratory-confirmed cases of infection with Middle East

respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), including 45 deaths (a case fatality ratio of 55%)

have been reported from eight countries. Human-to-human transmission is now confirmed showing

potential for another pandemic of zoonotic disease, with an extremely high mortality rate. Effective

surveillance strategies are required in countries with a high influx of migrants from the Middle East

to mitigate the probable importation of MERS-CoV. We discuss here the risk of MERS-CoV in

major labour sending countries and list the probable strategies for control and prevention of

MERS-CoV using Sri Lanka as an example. It is conservatively estimated that 10% of Sri Lanka‟s

population work as international labour migrants (1.8 to 2 million workers), with 93% residing in the

Middle East. An average of 720 workers depart each day, with the majority of these workers (71%)

departing to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (the country with 81.5% of total MERS-CoV cases). We

also describe other inbound migration categories such as tourists and resident visa holders

relevant to the context of preparedness and planning. The importance of partnerships between

public health authorities at national and regional levels with labour migration networks to establish

institutional and/or policy mechanisms are highlighted for ensuring effective preparedness and

response planning. Strategies that can be taken by public health authorities working in both labour

sending and labor receiving counties are also described. The strategies described here may be

useful for other labor sending country contexts in Asia with a high frequency and volume of migrant

workers to and from the Gulf region.

Sent by Dr. Suneth Agampodi Original article is available in: http://f1000research.com/articles/2-163/v1

9 | SSM Newsletter November 2013

Sri Lanka Journal of Infectious Diseases

Vol 3, No 2 (2013) is now online

Table of contents

Editorial

Editorial Vol.3(2)

Vasanthi Thevanesam 1

Review Articles

Chronic wounds and their management and application in a contemporary Sri Lankan

hospital setting

JMRWW Wadinamby 2-16

Research Articles

Prevalence of Enterobius vermicularis infection among schoolchildren attending four

selected schools in the Hambantota district of Sri Lanka

S Gunawardena, H Gunatilleke, M Ismail 7-20

Diagnostic efficacy of rapid assays used for the detection of hepatitis B virus surface

antigen

EWS Chameera, F Noordeen, H Pandithasundara, AMSB Abeykoon 21-27

Massive hepatitis A outbreak in Sri Lanka in 2009: an indication of increasing

susceptibility and epidemiological shift?

NJ Dahanayaka, T Kiyohara, SB Agampodi 28-30

Case Reports

Multi-Drug Resistant Tuberculosis in a foreign resident visa holder and implications of

a growing inbound migrant flow to Sri Lanka

K Wickramage, S Samaraweera, S Peiris, J Elvitigala, DATND Patabendige 31-36

A case series of nontyphoidal Salmonella bacteraemia–some food for thought!

FN Mubarak, P Chandrasiri 37-42

Nocardia Keratitis : A case report

SK Jayatilleke, DHH Wariyapola, KAE Fernando, YWS Suranadee 43-45

The journal Can be accessed at http://www.sljol.info/index.php/SLJID/issue/current

The next issue of SLJID will be released in February 2014

Your contributions will be welcome

10 | SSM Newsletter November 2013

LOCAL BIBLIOGRAPHY

Aiming to make your local literary survey more effective and less strenuous, SSM has

introduced a local bibliography section to the SSM newsletter In this section we are planning to collect and collate details of published as well as unpublished research, in various disciplines of microbiology in Sri Lanka. We appreciate the support of the SSM members in the collection of the research details

under following guidelines :

Research title Names of the authors and their

affiliations Year

If your research has been published, its details / if not, the place where it

(dissertation/project report) is available.

We have published local bibliography on Staphylococcal spp. and Mycobacteria spp. in

previous newsletters. Any further additions to these bibliographies are welcome. Please

help to keep the bibliography up-to-date. We would also value your contribution to this Compendium of bibliographies! A bibliography of work

done in Sri Lanka on any microbe would be a valuable addition and you are more than welcome to

provide us with such a bibliography which we will publish in the newsletter with you as the compiler.

Join us in our endeavour to make life easier for those who are searching the literature.

11 | SSM Newsletter November 2013

News in Microbiology

Fifth Dengue virus serotype found

Dengue virus infections are the most commonest vector-borne infection in Sri Lanka with four

known serotypes of the virus in existence. The diversity of these serotypes play a major role in the

pathogenesis of the disease process which paves the way towards dengue haemorrhagic fever.

Adding to the burden of the disease, researchers have discovered a fifth serotype which would

complicate the issues of present diagnostics for dengue viral infection and the dengue vaccines in

the pipeline. For more information: http://news.sciencemag.org/health/2013/10/first-new-dengue-virus-type-50-years

Annual subscription for 2013

SSM Members are requested to submit their annual subscription for 2013 (Rs. 1000/-).

Subscriptions can be directly paid into the following account. Please send the

receipt of your payment with your details (including SSM membership no.)

to:

Dr.Susiji Wickramasinghe, Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Peradeniya.

Keep a copy of your receipt!

Account No : 026212016510

Name : The Sri Lankan Society for Microbiology

Bank: Nations Trust Bank

Branch : Peradeniya Branch

12 | SSM Newsletter November 2013