Serotype distribution of and pneumococcal vaccine coverage in adults in Turkey between 2015 and 2018.

Objective: To evaluate the serotype distribution and antibiotic resistance in pneumococcal infections in adults and to provide a perspective regarding serotype coverage of both current and future pneumococcal vaccines.

Patients And Methods: This passive surveillance study was conducted with the strains isolated from the specimens of patients with pneumonia (materials isolated from bronchoalveolar lavage), bacteraemia, meningitis, pleuritis and peritonitis between 2015 and 2018. Serogrouping and serotyping were performed by latex particle agglutination and by conventional Quellung reaction using commercial type-specific antisera, respectively.

Serotype distribution of in children with invasive disease in Turkey: 2015-2018.

: To determine the serotype distribution of pneumococcus causing invasive pneumococcal disease (meningitidis, bacteremia and empyema) in children in Turkey, and to observe potential changes in this distribution in time to guide effective vaccine strategies. : We surveyed with conventional bacteriological techniques and with real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in samples of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), blood and pleural fluid. strains were isolated from 33 different hospitals in Turkey, which are giving health services to approximately 60% of the Turkish population.

Disseminated Cryptococcosis With Severe Increased Intracranial Pressure Complicated With Cranial Nerve Palsy in a Child.

Cryptococcosis is less common in children than in adults but remains an important cause of pneumonia and meningoencephalitis in both immunocompromised and immunocompetent patients. Intracranial hypertension commonly complicates cryptococcal meningitis and may cause significant visual and neurologic morbidity and mortality. Early and aggressive management of intracranial hypertension in accordance with established guidelines reduces the risk of long-term complications and death.

Evaluation of MALDI-TOF-MS for the Identification of Yeast Isolates Causing Bloodstream Infection.

Background: Infections due to Candida species are major causes of morbidity and mortality in humans, causing a diverse spectrum of clinical disease ranging from superficial and mucosal infections to invasive disease. Several authors have demonstrated that mortality is closely linked to both timing of therapy and/or source control. The rapid identification of pathogenic species is helpful to start timely and effective antifungal therapy.

[Investigation of carbapenemases in carbapenem-resistant Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae strains isolated in 2014 in Turkey].

Carbapenems are the choice of treatment in infections caused by multidrug resistant Enterobacteriaceae. In recent years carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae isolates due to carbapenemases have been increasingly reported worldwide. Multicenter studies on carbapenemases are scarce in Turkey.

ATR-FTIR Spectroscopy Highlights the Problem of Distinguishing Between Exophiala dermatitidis and E. phaeomuriformis Using MALDI-TOF MS.

The present study compared two chemical-based methods, namely, matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) and attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy, to understand the misidentification of Exophiala dermatitidis and Exophiala phaeomuriformis. The study utilized 44 E. dermatitidis and 26 E.

MALDI-TOF MS-based identification of black yeasts of the genus Exophiala.

In this study, we investigated the applicability of matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) for the identification of Exophiala species. The analysis included a total of 110 Exophiala isolates, including 15 CBS strains representing 4 species, Exophiala dermatitidis (61), E. phaeomuriformis (36), E.

The role of Bifidobacterium lactis B94 plus inulin in the treatment of acute infectious diarrhea in children.

Background/aims: In contrast to many other studies of probiotic species, the number of publications evaluating Bifidobacterium lactis and its combinations with prebiotics as treatments for acute infectious diarrhea is limited. We investigated the synbiotic effects of B. lactis B94 plus inulin on acute infectious diarrhea.

Evaluation of patients with zygomycosis.

Aim: Zygomycosis is a severe angioinvasive infection caused by Zygomycetes. We retrospectively investigated 16 cases of zygomycosis.

Materials And Methods: The data of patients, who had been followed between 2004 and 2010 in 8 tertiary-care teaching hospitals, were reviewed.

Cutaneous Alternaria infectoria infection diagnosed by molecular techniques in a renal transplant patient.

Organ transplant recipients under immunosuppressive therapy have a highly increased risk of opportunistic fungal infections. Cutaneous infection caused by Alternaria species are relatively rare in humans and most cases reported in the literature are in immunocompromised individuals. We report here on a 33-year old male renal transplant patient with diabetes mellitus who presented with cutaneous alternariosis caused by Alternaria infectoria, two years after the transplant.

Evaluation of a chromogenic medium for detection of extended-spectrum-beta-lactamase-producing Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae strains.

Background: Because of the emergence and spread of extended-spectrum-beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing strains which are resistant to many antibiotics, reliable detection of ESBL is very important for infection control. Several chromogenic media have been proposed for the detection of ESBL producers in addition to the conventional phenotypic and genotyping methods. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the performance of Brilliance ESBL agar (Oxoid; Thermo Fisher Scientific, UK), a selective chromogenic agar for the detection of ESBL-producing Escherichia coli (E.

[Distribution of hepatitis C virus genotypes among patients with chronic hepatitis C infection in Akdeniz University Hospital, Antalya, Turkey: a five-year evaluation].

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is one of the major causes of chronic hepatitis. It is important to know the genotypes of HCV in the decision of the HCV related chronic hepatitis therapy. The aim of this study was to evaluate the HCV genotypes determined at the Microbiology Laboratory of Akdeniz University Hospital, and to evaluate the changes in the distribution of the genotypes within the last five years.

Evaluation of the BD Phoenix system for detection of methicilin resistance in Staphylococcus aureus isolates in comparison to BD GeneOhm MRSA assay.

Background: In order to identify methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus isolates quickly, automated and semiautomated systems, commercial media, and identification kits are widely used. The Phoenix system (BD, Sparks, MD, USA) has been available since 2004 in our laboratory. This study evaluated the reliability of the Phoenix system for the detection of methicillin resistance in Staphylococcus aureus isolates in comparison to BD GeneOhm MRSA assay (Becton Dickinson Diagnostics GeneOhm, CA, USA).

[Investigation of hepatitis B and hepatitis C virus infections by serological and molecular methods in hemodialysis patients].

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections are significant causes of morbidity and mortality in hemodialysis patients, since those patients are highly susceptible to infections due to immune suppression. The aims of this study were to investigate the presence of HBV and HCV infections in chronic hemodialysis patients by serological and molecular methods, and to determine the rate of occult HBV infection and the viral genotypes. A total of 201 patients who were under hemodialysis due to end-stage renal disease, were retrospectively evaluated.

Evaluation of vancomycin resistance 3 multiplexed PCR assay for detection of vancomycin-resistant enterococci from rectal swabs.

Background: Active screening for vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) using rectal specimens is recommended to limit the spread of antimicrobial resistance within certain high-risk populations. We evaluated the diagnostic performance of Vancomycin Resistance 3 Multiplexed Tandem PCR assay (AusDiagnostics, Australia), a rapid multiplex real-time PCR assay that detects vanA and/or vanB.

Methods: Two-hundred-and-eleven rectal swabs from Hematology and Oncology unit were submitted for VRE surveillance via direct detection of vanA and/or vanB by culture and by using Vancomycin Resistance 3 Multiplexed Tandem PCR assay.

[Comparison of Phoenix Automated System, API ID 32 Strep System and LightCycler Enterococcus MGRADE System in the Identification of Clinical Enterococcus Isolates].

Enterococci which are part of the commensal flora of the human gastrointestinal and genitourinary tracts, are increasing in importance as the cause of hospital-acquired infections. Identification of Enterococcus spp. at the species level is of great importance, for appropriate treatment of patients, infection control and to supply epidemiological data.

[Evaluation of antibiotic susceptibilities and VISA-VRSA rates among MRSA strains isolated from hospitalized patients in intensive care units of hospitals in seven provinces of Turkey].

The aim of this study was to determine whether vancomycin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (VRSA) and vancomycin intermediate susceptible S.aureus (VISA) strains were present among methicillin-resistant S.aureus (MRSA) strains isolated from patients hospitalised at intensive care units (ICU) of hospitals located at different regions of Turkey and to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of teicoplanin, linezolid, tigecycline, quinupristin-dalfopristin and daptomycin, which are alternative drugs for the treatment of MRSA infections.

Distribution and antifungal susceptibility of Candida species causing nosocomial candiduria.

The aim of the study was to investigate the distribution of Candida species isolated from urine specimens of hospitalized patients in Akdeniz University Hospital, Antalya, Turkey, as well as their susceptibilities to antifungal agents. A total of 100 patients who had nosocomial candiduria between March 2003 and May 2004 at the facility were included in the study. Organisms were identified by conventional methods and the use of API ID 32C strips.

[Investigation of ESBL types in community acquired urinary Escherichia coli isolates by isoelectric focusing and polymerase chain reaction].

The aim of this study was to determine the extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) types by isoelectric focusing (İEF) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) methods in 56 Escherichia coli strains isolated from urine samples of patients with community-acquired urinary tract infection and determined as ESBL positive with the phenotypic screening tests (E test and combined disk method). IEF revealed that most of the strains produced 1 to 3 different bands, mostly at the isoelectric points 8.2 (n= 44, 79%) compatible with CTX-M.

Evaluation of in vitro activities of tigecycline and various antibiotics against Brucella spp.

Brucellosis is a zoonosis with a worldwide distribution and remains a significant public health problem mainly in the developing world. In this study we evaluated the in vitro activities and synergistic effects of antibiotic combinations against blood culture isolates of Brucella spp. In vitro susceptibilities of 76 blood culture isolates of Brucella melitensis and one blood culture isolate of Brucella abortus to doxycycline, streptomycin, gentamicin, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, moxifloxacin, rifampin, ciprofloxacin, and tigecycline were examined by Etest method.

[Shall we report the carbapenem resistance in Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter baumannii strains detected by BD Phoenix system?].

Imipenem and meropenem are broad spectrum antimicrobial agents that are especially useful in the treatment of nosocomially acquired Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter spp. infections. Previous reports have noted that susceptibility tests could show false resistance to imipenem.

Aspergillus alliaceus and Aspergillus flavus co-infection in an acute myeloid leukemia patient.

We report a case of a pulmonary infection caused by Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus alliaceus in an acute myeloid leukemia patient. These isolates were identified using traditional and sequencing-based molecular methods.

Nosocomial outbreak of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium in a paediatric unit at a Turkish university hospital.

Background: Despite growing concern about vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) as nosocomial pathogens, especially in the USA, they have been rarely isolated in Turkish hospitals. After initial description in 2001 of unrelated VRE isolates, we report now the molecular characterization of a nosocomial outbreak at the Akdeniz University Hospital, Antalya, Turkey.

Methods: VRE isolates were from either clinical or rectal swab specimens.