International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC) national report on device-associated infection rates in 19 cities of Turkey, data summary for 2003-2012.

Background: Device-associated healthcare-acquired infections (DA-HAI) pose a threat to patient safety, particularly in the intensive care unit (ICU). We report the results of the International Infection Control Consortium (INICC) study conducted in Turkey from August 2003 through October 2012.

Methods: A DA-HAI surveillance study in 63 adult, paediatric ICUs and neonatal ICUs (NICUs) from 29 hospitals, in 19 cities using the methods and definitions of the U.

Bacterial spectrum and antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of bloodstream infections in children with febrile neutropenia: experience of single center in southeast of Turkey.

Empirical antimicrobial therapy is usually started in febrile neutropenic patients without having culture results. The aim of this study was to help determine the policies of empirical antibiotic usage in febrile neutropenic children by detecting the antimicrobial susceptibility profile in this group of patients. In this study 811 blood cultures taken from neutropenic children hospitalized at the Department of Oncology of Gaziantep Children Hospital November 2007 and February 2010 were retrospectively evaluated.

Assessment of the requisites of microbiology based infectious disease training under the pressure of consultation needs.

Background: Training of infectious disease (ID) specialists is structured on classical clinical microbiology training in Turkey and ID specialists work as clinical microbiologists at the same time. Hence, this study aimed to determine the clinical skills and knowledge required by clinical microbiologists.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out between June 1, 2010 and September 15, 2010 in 32 ID departments in Turkey.

[Comparative evaluation of in vitro activities of carbapenems against gram-negative pathogens: Turkish data of COMPACT study].

The aim of this study was to determine the in vitro activities of doripenem, imipenem, and meropenem against clinical gram-negative isolates. A total of 596 clinical isolates were obtained from intensive care unit (ICU) and non-ICU patients in 10 centers over Turkey between September-December 2008. The origin of the isolates was patients with nosocomial pneumonia (42.

Brucella melitensis: a rare cause of febrile neutropenia.

Although brucellosis is endemic in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean countries, febrile neutropenia caused by Brucella species has rarely been reported in childhood. In this report the authors described an unusual case of febrile neutropenia due to Brucella melitensis.

Hematologic manifestations of brucellosis in children: 5 years experience of an anatolian center.

Background: Brucellosis continues to be an important cause of fever in underdeveloped countries and in the rural areas of developed world. It is a multisystemic disease, associated with a wide variety of symptoms. A wide variety of symptoms, including hematologic abnormalities, such as anemia, thrombocytopenia, pancytopenia, dissemine intravascular coagulation, and leucopenia could be seen.

In vitro synergistic activity of tigecycline and colistin against XDR-Acinetobacter baumannii.

The emergence of extensive drug-resistant (XDR) Acinetobacter baumannii limits the therapeutic options and leads to high mortality in intensive care units. Combined antibiotic therapy is frequently recommended for the treatment of these infections. Colistin (CO) and tigecycline (TIG), alone or in combination with other antimicrobials, are the most commonly used antibiotics in the treatment of these resistant infections.

High incidence of Candida parapsilosis candidaemia in non-neutropenic critically ill patients: epidemiology and antifungal susceptibility.

The epidemiological and antifungal susceptibility data for 35 episodes of candidemia in intensive care units (ICU) in 2007 were evaluated by prospective active surveillance. The incidence of fungaemia was 39.1 cases per 1000 ICU admissions and 2.

Nosocomial Burkholderia cepacia infections in a Turkish university hospital: a five-year surveillance.

Background: Burkholderia cepacia has the potential to cause fatal infections in ICUs, and multidrug resistance makes them a serious threat in hospital settings. The aim of this study was to evaluate the epidemiology of B. cepacia infections in our hospital.

[Constitutive and inducible clindamycin resistance among nosocomially acquired staphylococci].

Antimicrobial resistance in Staphylococcus aureus and coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS) has become an increasing problem in hospital settings. These strains often reveal resistance to various drug classes in addition to beta-lactam resistance. Clindamycin, as a well-tolerated and cost-effective antimicrobial agent, is used widely in the treatment of intra-abdominal and skin-soft tissue infections.

Surveillance of microbial resistance in European Intensive Care Units: a first report from the Care-ICU programme for improved infection control.

Purpose: To report initial results from a European ICU surveillance programme focussing on antibiotic consumption, microbial resistance and infection control.

Methods: Thirty-five ICUs participated during 2005. Microbial resistance, antibiotic consumption and infection control stewardship measures were entered locally into a web-application.

In vitro synergistic activity of antibiotic combinations against Brucella melitensis using E-test methodology.

The treatment of brucellosis is still problematic, because of high rates of treatment failure or relapses. As the microorganism is an intracellular pathogen, treatment requires combined regimens. However, limited existing data on in vitro combinations are avaliable for Brucellae.

Tigecycline: its potential for treatment of brucellosis.

The in vitro efficacy and synergistic activity of tigecycline in comparison with other antimicrobials used in brucellosis, were tested for 16 Brucella melitensis strains by the E-test method. Tigecycline had the lowest minimal inhibitory concentration levels, and rifampin the highest, in the study. Tigecycline also provided the better synergistic activity compared to doxycycline according to the fractional inhibitory concentration index.

First recurrent infection with vancomycin-resistant enterococcus from Turkey.

Here we describe a case of a neuroblastoma patient with recurrent vancomycin-resistant enterococcal infection successfully treated with ciprofloxacin. This is the first case of recurrent vancomycin-resistant enterococcal infection in our hospital and Turkey.

Disseminated cryptococcosis in a human immunodeficiency virus-negative patient: a case report.

Cryptococcus neoformans is a widely distributed saprophytic fungus that may cause opportunistic infections in normal and immunocompromised individuals particularly in patients with HIV infection. Disseminated infection in HIV-negative individuals is occasionally seen: a 57-year-old HIV-negative Turkish female initially presented with enlarged mediastinal lymph nodes and a large pulmonary parenchymal nodule, eventually diagnosed with disseminated cryptococcosis and tuberculosis.

Brucella endocarditis with repeated mitral valve replacement.

Brucella endocarditis, although a rare complication of brucellosis, is a life threatening and often under-diagnosed complication. Despite its high mortality rate with combined medical and surgical treatment, has a low occurrence rate in cases of brucellosis. Here we describe a patient who underwent mitral valve replacement for 3 times due to underdiagnosis of Brucella endocarditis.

[Case report: difficulty in treating one event of Streptococcus pneumoniae meningitis].

Streptococcus pneumoniae is one of the leading causes of acute bacterial meningitis and the emergence of antibiotic resistant pneumococci is an increasing problem worldwide. In this report, a 22-years-old woman was presented with pneumococcal meningitis occurring twice in a 5 months period. After the first meningitis attack, the patient had been vaccinated by 23-valent polysaccharide vaccine but the illness has relapsed.