Risk factors for rectal colonization of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae in a tertiary care hospital: a case-control study from Turkey.

Background/aim: This study aimed to evaluate the risk factors of patients colonized with carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE).

Materials And Methods: The study was conducted between January 2010 and March 2016. The colonized group consisted of patients who had a CRE strain in their rectal swab cultures, whereas patients with negative rectal surveillance cultures for CRE who were concurrently hospitalized in the same units with the colonized group patients were included in the control group.

Adherence to Nucleoside/Nucleotide Analogue Treatment in Patients with Chronic Hepatitis B.

Background: Adherence to medication is an important aspect of preventing drug resistance and treatment failure in patients receiving nucleos(t)ide analogues for chronic hepatitis B.

Aims: To assess adherence to nucleoside/nucleotide analogues in chronic hepatitis B treatment and to determine factors associated with non-adherence.

Study Design: Cross-sectional study.

Dynamics of viral load in Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever.

Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a viral zoonotic disease with high mortality rate. There are only a few studies on viral load in CCHF. In our study, we revealed the dynamics of viral load and its relationship with mortality in early phase of the disease.

Risk factors for infection with colistin-resistant gram-negative microorganisms: a multicenter study.

Background: Knowing risk factors for colistin resistance is important since colistin is the only remaining choice for the treatment of infections caused by multi-drug resistant microorganisms.

Objective: Evaluate risk factors associated with infection by colistin-resistant microorganisms.

Design: Retrospective study.

A retrospective controlled study of thiol disulfide homeostasis as a novel marker in Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever.

Objectives: Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is the second most common hemorrhagic fever worldwide. This study aimed to evaluate the oxidant-antioxidant balance of patients with CCHF by detecting dynamic thiol disulfide homeostasis (TDH), which is a novel oxidative stress marker, and other molecules, including paraoxonase (PON), arylesterase (ARES), ceruloplasmin (CLP), myeloperoxidase (MPO), and catalase.

Methods: This retrospective, cross-sectional, controlled study, which involved patients with CCHF and healthy volunteers, measured dynamic TDH using a novel automated method developed by Erel.

Crucial parameter of the outcome in Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever: Viral load.

Background: Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a fatal disease with a mortality rate of 5-30%. CCHF can be asymptomatic or it may progress with bleeding and cause mortality.

Objectives: To evaluate relation of viral load with mortality, clinical and laboratory findings in CCHF.

The Knowledge of the Physicians about Sepsis Bundles is Suboptimal: A Multicenter Survey.

Objectives: Sepsis is a severe condition with possible high mortality outcomes. A multicentre-survey to detect the knowledge of the physicians who are involved in sepsis management in daily work was conducted.

Materials And Methods: The study was held in October 2013.

Colistin alone or combined with sulbactam or carbapenem against A. baumannii in ventilator-associated pneumonia.

Introduction: Colistin use has increased over the last ten years because of multidrug-resistant microorganisms. The aim of this study was to compare the clinical and microbiological efficacy of colistin alone or in combination with sulbactam or carbapenem in the treatment of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) due to multidrug-resistant (MDR) and extremely drug-resistant (XDR) A. baumannii.

Increasing resistance of nosocomial Acinetobacter baumannii: are we going to be defeated?

Aim: To investigate the change of the antibiotic resistance profiles of the nosocomial Acinetobacter baumannii isolates in intensive care units (ICUs) between the years 2008 and 2011.

Materials And Methods: A. baumannii isolates that were responsible for ICU-acquired nosocomial infections between 2008 and 2011 were included in the study.

Is ribavirin prophylaxis effective for nosocomial transmission of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever?

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a viral zoonotic disease that is transmitted primarily through contact with ticks. Nosocomial cases and outbreaks of CCHF have been reported from many countries. Health care workers (HCWs) are at risk of exposure to CCHF.

Tularemia during pregnancy: three cases.

Limited knowledge is available regarding tularemia in pregnancy. A total of seven tularemia cases in pregnant women have been published in the literature. This report presents three new cases.

Brucellosis as an aetiology of septic arthritis.

Brucellosis is a zoonotic disease caused by a Gram-negative coccobacillus from the Brucella genus. The disease has a broad spectrum of clinical manifestations. The musculoskeletal system involvement is frequent and, rarely, arthritis can be the only clinical feature of the disease.

[P. falciparum malaria related with travel: four cases].

Malaria is still an important public health problem in the world. Although the number of malaria cases in Turkey has been declining in recent years, the febrile patients with a history of travel to the endemic regions should raise the suspicion of malaria. P.

Relationship between total thiol status and thrombocytopenia in patients with Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever.

The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between serum total thiol level and total oxidant status (TOS) and thrombocytopenia among patients with Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF). Eighty-three subjects and 56 controls were enrolled in the study. Thiol levels were measured with the DTNB method and TOS was measured with the Erel's method among subjects and controls.

Correlation between intrahepatic hepatitis B virus cccDNA levels and other activity markers in patients with HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B infection.

Objective: The aim of this study was to demonstrate the relation between intrahepatic (IH) hepatitis B virus (HBV) covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA) levels and the other HBV replicative intermediates and hepatocyte expression of HBV antigens.

Patients And Methods: Patients with hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) positivity, hepatitis B early antigen negativity, serum HBV DNA levels 10 copies/ml or more, and constantly or intermittently increased alanine aminotransferase levels were included.

Results: Fifty-nine patients were included.

Role of HLA allele polymorphism in chronic hepatitis B virus infection and HBV vaccine sensitivity in patients from eastern Turkey.

Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) alleles have been associated with the clinical outcomes of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, which range from spontaneous recovery to hepatocellular carcinoma. In this study involving subjects from eastern Turkey, the frequencies of HLA-B35, HLA-CW4, HLA-DQ2, and HLA-DQ8 were markedly higher in the chronic HBV group than those in the spontaneously recovered group; the frequencies of HLA-A11 and HLA-A24 in the nonresponsive HBV vaccine group were markedly higher than those in the responsive HBV vaccine group; and the frequency of HLA-CW6 in the nonresponsive HBV vaccine group was significantly lower than in the responsive group. A complete understanding of HLA types associated with the progression to chronic HBV infection and their effects within the cell at the molecular level will be an important contribution in the development of new HBV vaccines and new treatment strategies for chronic HBV infection.

Efficacy of oral ribavirin treatment in Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever: a quasi-experimental study from Turkey.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of oral ribavirin treatment in patients with Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF).

Methods: In 2004, all patients diagnosed with CCHF were treated with oral ribavirin, however in 2003 none of the CCHF patients had been given treatment due to lack of confirmatory diagnostic information at that time in Turkey. In this study, patients treated with ribavirin in 2004 (n=126) were compared with ribavirin-untreated CCHF patients (n=92) in 2003.

Changes in antibiotic use, cost and consumption after an antibiotic restriction policy applied by infectious disease specialists.

The study was designed to compare antibiotic use, cost and consumption before and after an initiation of an antibiotic-restriction policy in our hospital. The policy was applied in 2003, and the prescription of two groups of antibiotics (intravenously used and expensive antibiotics) was restricted. A prescription for the restricted antibiotics could be obtained with approval by an infectious disease specialist (IDS).

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever in Eastern Turkey: clinical features, risk factors and efficacy of ribavirin therapy.

Objectives: This study described the clinical features, factors affecting the outcome of this disease, risk factors, and efficacy of ribavirin therapy for CCHF patients in Eastern Turkey.

Methods: Between 2002 and 2004, 60 cases admitted to our hospital were included in this study. The diagnosis was confirmed through detection of IgM by ELISA and/or genomic segment of virus by RT-PCR.

[A transfusion-transmitted malaria case].

Malaria is a rare but potentially serious complication of blood transfusion. In this report a transfusion-transmitted malaria case has been presented. A 47-years-old woman admitted to our clinic with the complaints of striking fever with chills, diarrhea and vomiting.

Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever outbreak in Middle Anatolia: a multicentre study of clinical features and outcome measures.

A Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) outbreak emerged from 2001 to 2003 in the Middle Anatolia region of Turkey. This study describes the clinical characteristics and outcome features of CCHF patients admitted to four tertiary care hospitals in Turkey. Definitive diagnosis was based on the detection of CCHF virus-specific IgM by ELISA or of genomic segments of the CCHF virus by RT-PCR.