Mikrobiyol Bul
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In this report, characteristics of two cases of Herpes simplex virus (HSV) encephalitis with normal cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) findings at the time of admission have been discussed and the current literature has been reviewed. The diagnosis of the cases (one was 23 years old male, and the other was 75 years old female patient) was made on the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings concordant with HSV encephalitis, together with HSV-1 DNA positivity by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). ⋯ The first male patient recovered with mild neurological defects, whereas the second female patient died because of nosocomial pneumonia and septicemia. In conclusion, even the CSF findings are normal, in cases considered to be HSV encephalitis, MRI should be the first radiological diagnostic step and the diagnosis should be confirmed by the detection of HSV DNA in CSF by PCR.
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The relationship between the airborne contaminants obtained from operating theatres and intensive care units and the colonizing and infecting microorganisms isolated from patients were investigated. Air samples were obtained with the biocollector air IDEAL (BioMerieux, France). During the study period (19 weeks), a total of 77 air samples and 870 clinical specimens (swabs from throat, nose, conjunctiva and skin) from 174 patients were collected weekly. ⋯ In general surgery rooms and anesthesia intensive care unit, the most frequent air-colonization related nosocomial infections were surgical wound infections and bacteremia, respectively. The most frequently isolated microorganisms were methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Acinetobacter baumannii. It can be concluded that, total number of airborne viable particles in the critical areas such as operating theatres and intensive care units, seems to be a significant risk factor for the development of nosocomial infections in immunocompromised patients.
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Skin disinfection during phlebotomy is a critical step for bacterial contamination of blood and blood products. The aim of this study was to investigate the bacterial contamination rates during phlebotomy and to detect the probable microorganisms present. Skin disinfections of 100 blood donors were performed by using povidone iodine solution with standard procedure. ⋯ Staphylococcus epidermidis was the microorganism which had been grown in three of the samples, and Streptococcus mutans in one. The positivity rate detected in our study was considered high, since expected bacterial contamination rates in blood transfusions were between 0.2-0.5%. This data indicated that the procedures used in phlebotomy such as the choice of phlebotomy region, disinfectant use and disinfection time should be re-evaluated in our blood centre.
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Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease (histiocytic necrotizing lymphadenitis) which presents with fever and lymphadenopathy, should be considered in differential diagnosis of fever with unknown origin. We presented a 19 years old male patient with complaints of fever and lymphadenopathy. The case was diagnosed as Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease by histopathological evaluation.
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GB virus C/hepatitis G virus (GBV-C/HGV) is a recently identified flavivirus, which has been frequently detected in patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections. In this study, the prevalence of HGV-RNA and antibodies to E2 envelope antigen (anti-E2) which is a marker of past infection, have been investigated in the samples of patients with HCV and HBV infections, and the prevalence rates were compared with the control group. The study group consisted of 50 patients with HBV and 50 patients with HCV infections, who did not have any risk for parenteral transmission, and 60 healthy control subjects. ⋯ Although the prevalence of HGV-RNA in patients with HBV and HCV infections were higher than the control group (1.66%), there was no statistically significant difference (p>0.05). The prevalence of anti-E2 antibodies in patients with HBV and HCV infections did not revealed any difference in comparison to the control group (6.66%) (p>0.05). In conclusion, GBV-C/HGV infection prevalence was found low in patients with HBV and HCV infections, supporting that although parenteral route is the most effective way, other routes such as sexual contact and intra-familial contact may also play role in HGV transmission.