An investigation into respiratory tract viruses in children with acute lower respiratory tract infection or wheezing.

Background: This study aimed to determine the frequencies of respiratory tract viruses in patient (acute lower respiratory tract infection [LRTI] or wheezing) and control (history of asthma without symptoms) groups.

Methods: Using multiplex-polymerase chain reaction (PCR), respiratory tract viruses were investigated in the respiratory tract specimens from patient and control groups followed in the Pediatric Clinic.

Results: The viruses detected in the patient and control groups (P=0.

In vitro susceptibility of Candida species to four antifungal agents assessed by the reference broth microdilution method.

This study was performed to determine the distribution of Candida species isolated from the blood cultures of the patients hospitalized in our hospital and to investigate their antifungal susceptibility. Candida strains were identified at species level by using classical methods and API ID 32C (bioMerieux, France) identification kits. The susceptibility of the strains to amphotericin B, fluconazole, voriconazole, and caspofungin was evaluated by using the reference broth microdilution method in document M27-A3 of the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute.

The prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae in the endocervical swab specimens of symptomatic, asymptomatic and infertile women in Turkey.

Purpose: To investigate C. trachomatis and N. gonorrhoeae prevalence in three different female populations in Turkey.

[Comparison of disc diffusion, E-test, and broth microdilution methods for the determination of resistance to colistin, polymyxin B, and tigecycline in multi-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii isolates].

The increased rate of antimicrobial resistance in Acinetobacter baumannii made it necessary to reconsider old antibiotics such as polymyxins and develop new drugs such as tigecycline. The aim of this study was to investigate the susceptibility rates of multi-drug resistant A. baumannii clinical isolates to colistin, polymyxin B, and tigecycline by three different methods in microbiology laboratory of Gaziantep University Research Hospital, between September 2006 and April 2008.

[Enterococcus spp. colonized in the gastrointestinal tract of patients in hemato-oncology and intensive care units and their resistance profiles to vancomycin].

The aim of this study was to identify the Enterococcus spp. and to determine their vancomycin-resistance profiles, in the samples collected from the patients who were described as risky groups for vancomycin-resistant enterococcal (VRE) colonization, in scope of a survey study carried out in our hospital for the first time. Rectal swab samples were taken once in a month from a total of 180 patients who were hospitalized in the Surgery and Intensive Care Units, adult Oncology-Hematology and Pediatric Oncology Units between March-December 2006.

[Investigation of the frequency of extended spectrum beta-lactamases and antibiotic resistance in clinical isolates of Escherichia coli and Klebsiella sp].

The aim of this study was to detect the presence of extended spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) in clinical isolates of Escherichia coil and Klebsiella sp. and to determine in vitro antibiotic resistance of these strains. A total of 78 E.

Real-time polymerase chain reaction assay for detection of Streptococcus pneumoniae in sputum samples from patients with community-acquired pneumonia.

Background And Purpose: A quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method targeting the pneumolysin gene of Streptococcus pneumoniae in sputum specimens from patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) was evaluated for the identification of pneumococci.

Methods: The applicability of the assay to clinical samples was evaluated by studying 140 sputum specimens from patients with CAP. Of the specimens, 96 (68.

Patterns of antimicrobial resistance in a surgical intensive care unit of a university hospital in Turkey.

Background: Several studies have reported higher rates of antimicrobial resistance among isolates from intensive care units than among isolates from general patient-care areas. The aims of this study were to review the pathogens associated with nosocomial infections in a surgical intensive care unit of a university hospital in Turkey and to summarize rates of antimicrobial resistance in the most common pathogens. The survey was conducted over a period of twelve months in a tertiary-care teaching hospital located in the south-eastern part of Turkey, Gaziantep.

Automatized PCR evaluation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex in respiratory and nonrespiratory specimens.

In this study, Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex isolates recovered from respiratory and nonrespiratory specimens with culture were evaluated using an automatized PCR method. Specimens with suspected tuberculous disease were decontaminated and concentrated using the standard N-acetyl-L-cysteine NaOH method and were inoculated onto glycerol-supplemented Löwenstein-Jensen media and BACTEC B12 vials. Forty-one specimens with typical colonies on solid media and 127 specimens identified as M.

Evaluation of negative results of BacT/Alert 3D automated blood culture system.

Although automated continuous-monitoring blood culture systems are both rapid and sensitive, false-positive and false-negative results still occur. The objective of this study, then, was to evaluate negative results occurring with BacT/Alert 3D blood culture systems. A total of 1032 samples were cultured with the BacT/Alert 3D automated blood culture system, using both aerobic (FA) and anaerobic (FN) [corrected] media, and 128 of these samples yielded positive results.

A prospective epidemiologic survey on the prevalence of onychomycosis and dermatophytosis in male boarding school residents.

Dermatophyte infections and onychomycosis are not usually serious in term of mortality; however, they may have significant clinical consequences such as secondary bacterial infections, chronicity, therapeutic difficulties and esthetic disfigurement in addition to serving as a reservoir of infection. Our aim was to determine the prevalence of onychomycosis and dermatophytosis in a selected high risk group, consisting of male boarding school residents. A total of 410 males inhabiting two houses were evaluated by two dermatologists.

Synergy tests by E test and checkerboard methods of antimicrobial combinations against Brucella melitensis.

Two different synergy testing methods, the checkerboard and the E test methods, were used to compare the in vitro efficacies of various antimicrobial combinations against 16 Brucella melitensis strains isolated from blood cultures. The rate of agreement of the E test and checkerboard methods was found to be 55%. The most concordant results were found for the streptomycin-doxycycline combination in 12 (75%) tests, in which four strains showed synergistic activity by E test and antagonistic activity by the checkerboard method and in which one strain showed antagonistic activity by both methods.

Cutaneous hyalohyphomycosis and onychomycosis caused by Onychocola canadensis: report of the first case from Turkey.

We present the first Turkish case of skin and nail infection due to Onychocola canadensis in an otherwise healthy farmer who frequently worked barefoot on soil. Cutaneous involvement consisted of scaly and hyperkeratotic lesions resembling tinea pedis, erythematous plaques, and dermal papulonodules of various sizes simulating Majocchi's granuloma. Repeated cultures from nail plates, skin scrapings and needle aspiration materials from papules or nodules all yielded the same mold on Sabouroud dextrose media with and without cycloheximide, trichophyton agar, and potato dextrose agar at 26 degrees C.