Secondary bacterial infections of the respiratory tract in COVID-19 patients.

Introduction: Secondary Bacterial Infections (SBIs) of the respiratory system are one of the biggest medical concerns in patients undergoing hospitalization with a diagnosis of COVID-19. This study aims to provide relevant data for the initiation of appropriate empirical treatment after examining the etiology and antimicrobial resistance of SBIs in COVID-19 patients under care in the Intensive Care Units (ICUs) in the largest pandemic hospital of our country.

Methodology: Between March 16, 2020 and December 31, 2021, 56,993 COVID patients were hospitalized, of which 7684 were admitted to ICUs.

[Evaluation of blood culture practices: Use of system (Epicenter) data].

Sepsis is a serious clinical problem and estimated to be responsible for 18 million annual deaths worldwide. Therefore, the use and the rapid processing of blood cultures are important for the transition from empiric therapy to directed therapy. The aim of this study was to assess the best blood culture practices in Turkey.

[Investigation of oxacillinase genes in nosocomial multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii isolates by multiplex PCR and evaluation of their clonal relationship with Rep-PCR].

Acinetobacter baumannii is a major nosocomial pathogen which can cause infections with high morbidity and mortality in hospitalized patients. In recent years A.baumannii has become a serious clinical problem because of the development of resistance to many antibiotics, and especially to carbapenems.

[Phenotypic and genotypic traits of vancomycin-resistant enterococci in a public hospital: the first vanB-positive Enterococcus faecium isolates].

Thirty eight vancomycin resistant enterococci (VRE) were isolated in one year surveillance study for hospital infection control programme in a state hospital in Ankara, Turkey. All isolates were identified as Enterococcus faecium by VITEK2 system (bioMerieux, France). Vancomycin and teicoplanin resistant 30 strains were defined as vanA phenotype while vancomycin-resistant teicoplanin-susceptible eight strains were defined as vanB phenotype.

[The rare genes related to resistance to macrolide-lincosamide and streptogramin B group antibiotics among coagulase-negative staphylococci].

Macrolide-lincosamide-streptogramin B (MLSB) group antibiotics are recommended as first choice in the treatment of staphylococcal infections. All of those drugs bind to the 50S subunit of bacterial ribosomes, thus cross-resistance is a major concern in this group of drugs. The mechanisms associated to resistance are (a) ribosomal methylation due to the methylases encoded by erm genes, (b) active drug efflux due to msrA, msrB, vga, vgb gene activity, (c) enzymatic inactivation of the drug due to the activity of linA, vat, vatB genes.