Publications by authors named "Halıs Akalın"
Data in the literature on the use of ceftazidime-avibactam (CAZ-AVI) in carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae bloodstream infections (CRKP-BSIs) are limited especially in OXA-48 (Oxacillinase-48) predominant regions. Our study aimed to evaluate the effect of CAZ-AVI use on outcomes in CRKP-BSIs in Turkey, where OXA-48 is endemic. A multicenter retrospective observational study was conducted between January 2017 and September 2021.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCarbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CRKp) infections continue to be an important cause of mortality. In this retrospective study, the effect of carbapenem or colistin resistance on mortality in Klebsiella pneumoniae bacteremia and combined meropenem + colistin administration in CRKp bacteremia was evaluated. In addition to that, a mathematical model is applied to explore the relationships between the resistance and mortality.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- Cardiovascular disease (CVD) significantly affects people living with HIV (PLWH), with this study finding a diagnosed CVD prevalence of 10.8% among 1425 participants aged 40-75.
- The assessment utilized five different risk evaluation tools, revealing that 42.8% of participants had a high 10-year risk of CVD, while 71.7% were classified as high- to very high-risk using the SCORE2 tool.
- The findings stress the need for better cardiovascular health monitoring and highlighted that current utilization of lipid-lowering therapy is inadequate, despite a large number of PLWH being eligible for such treatment per recent guidelines.
Carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CPKP) infections seriously threaten global public health. The main objective of this study was to assess the in-vitro synergistic activity of ceftazidime-avibactam (CZA) in combination with colistin (COL), amikacin (AK), gentamicin (GEN), and fosfomycin (FOS) against CPKP isolates. The secondary goal was to determine the antibiotic susceptibility performance of BD Phoenix.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: We aimed to compare the performance of carbapenemase classification in carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CRKP) obtained using the BD Phoenix CPO Detect panel (CPO panel) and Cepheid Xpert Carba-R assays. We analyzed 55 CRKP strains from clinical specimens collected between November 2020 and November 2022. The CPO panel was used to detect both antibiotic susceptibility and phenotypic carbapenemase classes, while Xpert Carba-R was employed to identify KPC, NDM, VIM, OXA-48, and IMP genes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe main aim of this study was to compare and analyze the effectiveness of treatment regimens using ceftazidime/avibactam (CAZ/AVI) versus fosfomycin plus meropenem (FOS/MER) for managing bloodstream infections (BSI) or ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) caused by carbapenem-resistant (CRKP) in critically ill patients. Between 4 January 2019, and 16 July 2023, adult patients (≥18 years old) diagnosed with BSI or VAP due to culture confirmed CRKP in ICU of a tertiary care hospital were investigated retrospectively. A total of 71 patients were categorized into two groups: 30 patients in CAZ/AVI-based, and 41 patients in FOS/MER-based group.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOpportunistic Infections Among Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Infected Patients in Turkey: A Systematic Review.
Infect Dis Clin Microbiol
June 2023
This study aimed to identify opportunistic infections among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infected patients in Turkey. Therefore, we conducted a systematic literature review of the studies published up to October 1, 2022, in the Pubmed, Web of Science (WoS), and ULAKBİM TR Dizin databases. We searched for medical subject headings (MeSH) terms of (HIV) OR (AIDS) OR (human immunodeficiency virus) AND (opportunistic infections) AND (Turkey).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSurveillance of carbapenem-resistant and in perianal swab samples.
Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol
April 2024
Our study aimed to detect carbapenem-resistant (CRKP) and/or carbapenem-resistant in perianal swab samples, exploring their link to bloodstream infections (BSIs) in a tertiary-care university hospital. CRKP-related BSIs ranged from 3.7% to 9.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: In a resource-constrained situation, a clinical risk stratification system can assist in identifying individuals who are at higher risk and should be tested for COVID-19. This study aims to find a predictive scoring model to estimate the COVID-19 diagnosis."
Materials: Patients who applied to the emergency pandemic clinic between April 2020 and March 2021 were enrolled in this retrospective study.
Impact of posaconazole prophylaxis and antifungal treatment on BAL GM performance in hematology malignancy patients with febrile neutropenia: a real life experience.
Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis
January 2024
Background: Diagnostic accuracy of galactomannan measurements is highly variable depending on the study population, diagnostic procedures, and treatment procedures. We aimed to evaluate the effect of posaconazole prophylaxis and empiric antifungal treatment upon diagnostic accuracy of GM measurements in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL), bronchial lavage (BL), and serum in hematological malignancy population.
Methods: Patients hospitalized in a single tertiary care center with hematologic malignancies undergoing fiberoptic bronchoscopy (FOB) with a preliminary diagnosis of IPA were retrospectively included.
Objective In this study, we aimed to describe the outcomes in ICU patients with bloodstream infection (BSI) or ventilatory-associated pneumonia (VAP) due to carbapenem-resistant (CRKP) who received ceftazidime-avibactam treatment at a tertiary care university hospital. Methods Patients aged 18 years or older who were admitted to the Anesthesiology and Reanimation ICU at Bursa Uludag University Faculty of Medicine Hospital between June 13, 2021, and July 16, 2023, and diagnosed with BSI or VAP due to CRKP were included in this study. Results A total of 42 patients treated with ceftazidime-avibactam were included.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the combination treatments with intravenous fosfomycin for carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae infections in a tertiary-care center.
Methods: Between December 24, 2018 and November 21, 2022, adult patients diagnosed with bloodstream infection or ventilator-associated pneumonia due to culture-confirmed carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae in the anesthesiology and reanimation intensive care units were investigated retrospectively.
Results: There were a total of 62 patients fulfilling the study inclusion criteria.
Article Synopsis
- Cefiderocol is effective against carbapenem-resistant bacteria, but its susceptibility varies based on different interpretive criteria from EUCAST and CLSI.
- Researchers tested 254 CRK blood isolates and found significant differences in resistance rates to cefiderocol when applying EUCAST versus CLSI criteria.
- High cefiderocol resistance rates were especially noted among NDM producers using EUCAST guidelines, leading to the recommendation that these criteria should be prioritized for testing until more clinical data is available.
Article Synopsis
- The study examined the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), antibiotic resistance, and consumption rates in ICU patients at a university hospital, comparing data from before and during the pandemic (2018-2021).
- Results indicated a higher incidence of bloodstream infections in COVID-19 ICUs during the pandemic, with significant increases in related infection rates compared to pre-pandemic times and other non-COVID ICUs.
- Antibiotic usage patterns also shifted, with notable differences in infection rates and antibiotic resistance, particularly regarding extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) positivity rates, which were higher in the COVID-19 ICU.
Article Synopsis
- Aminoglycosides are important for treating infections caused by carbapenemase-producing bacteria (CPK), but resistance to these antibiotics is rising, primarily due to 16S rRNA methyltransferases (RMTs) often found alongside NDM genes.
- In a study of 181 invasive CPK isolates, 60% were resistant to amikacin, gentamicin, and tobramycin, with most of the resistant isolates carrying RMTs, particularly ArmA and RmtC.
- The study found that the resistance is largely linked to specific clonal types, particularly ST2096 and ST14, which are associated with certain carbapenemases and other resistance genes, suggesting that clonal spread is a
Article Synopsis
- Brucellosis is impacted by the interaction between bacteria and the body's immune response, particularly involving new cytokines like IL-35 and IL-39.
- A study measured the levels of these cytokines in patients with acute and chronic brucellosis, as well as healthy controls, finding that both cytokines were lower in brucellosis patients compared to controls, especially in acute cases.
- The research suggests that decreased levels of IL-35 and IL-39 may be linked to a weaker immune response in brucellosis and could contribute to the disease's progression from acute to chronic stages.
Article Synopsis
- The research found that Gram-negative bacteria, particularly extended-spectrum β-lactamase and carbapenem-resistant strains, are increasing significantly, with colistin resistance also rising sharply.
- The authors emphasize the importance of ongoing monitoring in intensive care units to combat the spread of antibiotic-resistant infections through better stewardship and infection control measures.
Background: The potential role of interleukin-6 (IL-6) in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia provides the rationale for investigating IL-6 signaling inhibitors.
Objectives: To evaluate and report treatment responses to tocilizumab (TCZ) in COVID-19 patients and compare mortality outcomes with those of standard care.
Material And Methods: Patients hospitalized with a severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, diagnosed with reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) between March 2020 and April 2021, were enrolled in this single-center retrospective cohort study.
Due to the high prevalence of multi-drug resistant bacteria, combination therapy is an efficient choice for treatment of infections caused by highly resistant strains. In this study, the efficacy of ceftiofur plus danofloxacin combination was investigated against resistant . The interaction between the two drugs was determined by checkerboard tests and time-kill assays.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCeftazidime-avibactam exhibits good in vitro activity against carbapenem resistant Klebsiella carrying OXA-48-like enzymes. We tested two hundred unique carbapenem resistant Klebsiella blood stream isolates (71% with single OXA-48-like carbapenemases, including OXA-48, n = 62; OXA-232, n = 57; OXA-244, n = 17; OXA-181, n = 5) that were collected as part of a multicentre study against ceftazidime-avibactam using Etest (bioMérieux, Marcyl'Étoile, France), 10/4 μg disc (Thermo Fisher) and Sensititre Gram Negative EURGNCOL Plates (Lyophilized panels, Sensititre, Thermo Fisher) with the aim of comparing the performances of the Etest and disc to that of Sensititre. Ceftazidime-avibactam MIC was 2/>16 mg/L for the entire collection and was 2/4 mg/L for single OXA-48-like producers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- This study assessed how well glycopeptide therapy is used for patients with febrile neutropenia (FN) linked to hematologic cancers.
- A total of 87 patients were examined, revealing that 98% received appropriate glycopeptide treatment, primarily for skin or soft-tissue infections.
- The findings indicated that patients with positive cultures had higher mortality rates and suggested glycopeptide therapy should typically be stopped early if no gram-positive infection is found.
Introduction: Our knowledge has gaps regarding severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) replication levels and its association to severity of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The aim of this study was to investigate the association of SARS-CoV-2 viral load with disease severity and serum biomarkers in COVID-19 patients.
Methodology: Viral load was determined via cycle threshold (Ct) values of SARS-CoV-2 real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in 214 adult patients.
Introduction: Determining prognostic factors in patients with coronavirus disease (COVID-19) can have great impact on treatment planning and follow-up strategies. Herein, we aimed to evaluate prognostic factors and clinical scores for confirmed COVID-19 patients in a tertiary-care hospital in the Bursa region of Turkey.
Methodology: Patients who had been diagnosed with COVID-19 microbiologically and/or radiologically between March and October 2020 in a tertiary-care university hospital were enrolled retrospectively.
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has clinical manifestations ranging from mild symptoms to respiratory failure, septic shock, and multi-organ failure. Lymphocytes are divided into different subtypes based on their cytokine production pattern. In this study, we investigated the role of cytokine expressions of CD4 T (T helper [Th]1, Th2, Th17, Th22) and CD8 T cell subtypes (T cytotoxic [Tc]1, Tc2, Tc17, Tc22) in the pathogenesis of COVID-19.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF