Mikrobiyol Bul
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Comparative Study
[Investigation of hepatitis G virus prevalence in hemodialysis patients and blood donors in Denizli, Turkey].
This study focuses on the prevalence of hepatitis G virus (GBV-C/HGV) in hemodialysis patients and blood donors in Denizli (located at Aegean region of Turkey). A total of 100 patients (mean age: 56.8 +/- 13.3 years; 46 female) receiving hemodialysis and 100 blood donors (mean age: 31.3 +/- 8.1 years; 8 female) were included in the study. The presence of GBV-C/HGV RNA was determined in all patients by reverse transcriptase-PCR and the presence of GBV-C/HGV anti-E2 antibodies was determined by a commercial enzyme immunoassay (Diagnostic Automation, INC). ⋯ There was no significant difference in terms of duration of hemodialysis, serum ALT levels, age or gender between GBV-C/HGV positive and negative hemodialysis patients. In conclusion, since hemodialysis patients are at an increased risk of parenteral transmission, they have significantly higher GBV-C/HGV viremia rates and prevalence when compared to blood donors. However, the prevalence of GBV-C/HGV and coexistence between GBV-C/HGV and hepatitis C virus have been decreasing in our region owing to increased hygienic precautions in hemodialysis units, avoidance of unnecessary blood transfusions and more widespread use of erythropoietin.
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Turkey is located at an endemic area for brusellosis and tuberculosis which are both important public health problems. Meningitis caused by Brucella and Mycobacterium spp. may be confused since the clinical and laboratory findings are similar. In this report, a meningitis case with Brucella and tuberculosis co-infection has been presented. ⋯ On the 30th day of treatment she was discharged on anti-tuberculous treatment with isoniazid and rifampicin for 12 months. The follow-up of the patient on the first and third months of treatment revealed clinical and laboratory improvement. Since this was a rare case of Brucella and tuberculosis co-infection, this report emphasizes that such co-infections should be kept in mind especially in the endemic areas for tuberculosis and brucellosis.
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Mediterranean spotted fever (MSF) is one of the tick-borne rickettsial infections caused by Rickettsia conorii. It is transmitted to humans by brown dog ticks (Rhipicephalus sanguineus). In this case report, a 16-years-old male patient who was diagnosed as MSF after an exposure to dog-tick in Bartin province (located at middle Black Sea region of Turkey) has been presented. ⋯ Indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA) for Rickettsia yielded negative result in the serum sample collected on admission day, however, it was found positive at 1/512 titer in the serum sample collected 10 days after admission. The patient has recovered completely without any complication after 10 days of doxycycline therapy. The aim of this presentation is to point out that MSF should be considered for the differential diagnosis of a patient with a history of tick bite, fever, maculopapular rash, headache, myalgia, arthralgia and especially with black escar during summer months in our country where the incidence of tick-borne infections has been increasing since recent years.
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The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of efflux pump inhibitors on the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of ciprofloxacin (CIP) in fluoroquinolone-resistant 42 Pseudomonas aeruginosa (n= 42), Escherichia coil (n= 97), Acinetobacter baumannii (n= 58) and Staphylococcus aureus (n= 80) strains isolated from clinical specimens. For this purpose phenylalanyl-arginyl-beta-naphthylamide (PA beta N) was used for P. aeruginosa, E. coli, A. baumannii and reserpine for S. aureus isolates as pump inhibitors. Fluoroquinolone resistance of the clinical isolates were determined by VITEK2 Compact (BioMerieux, France) automated system and confirmed with standard broth microdilution method. ⋯ The MIC values have also been lowered for > or = 4 folds in 83.6%, and two folds in 13.4% of E. coli strains by the use of 100 mg/l PA beta N concentration, however, no decrease in MIC values was detected in 3% of the isolates. 20 mg/l of reserpine have caused a decrease of > or = 4 folds in 8.75%, and two folds in 33.75% of S. aureus isolates, while there was no change in MIC values of 57.5% of S. aureus strains. Our results showed that PA beta N causes significant reduction in MIC values for CIP in the clinical isolates of P. aeruginosa, E. coli and A. baumannii and this effect may be attributed to efflux pump inhibition. In contrast, it was concluded that reserpine does not have a considerable effect on the MIC values of S. aureus against ciprofloxacin.