BACKGROUND AND AIM: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a novel respiratory infection caused by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Recent studies have suggested that certain blood groups may be associated with different risks of COVID-19 infection and mortality. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective case-control study to determine if ABO blood groups are associated with different clinical outcomes. Our study involved 286 COVID-19 patients. RESULTS: We found that patients with the AB blood group had a higher risk of COVID-19 compared to the control group (OR=3.63, 95% CI=2.76-4.76, p<0.0001). Conversely, patients with the O blood group had a higher risk of death (OR=9.56, 95% CI=3.059-27.89, p=0.001). White blood cell (WBC) counts, C-reactive protein (CRP) levels, and the Neutrophil to Lymphocyte ratio (NLR) varied among ABO blood groups. Comparing fatal to survival cases, we observed that fatal cases had higher levels of WBC, CRP, and NLR in comparison to survivors. Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that age, O blood group, and NLR were independent factors for mortality. CONCLUSIONS: ABO blood groups can exhibit different clinical characteristics. Nonetheless, it is crucial to emphasize that elevated inflammation markers and advanced age are also independent risk factors for mortality. Further studies with larger populations are essential to fully comprehend the relationship between ABO blood groups and COVID-19 outcomes.

Despite their use in life-saving treatment, blood and blood products can cause life-threatening complications. To administer blood transfusion safely, national guidelines and protocols should be consulted in healthcare organizations. In T & uuml;rkiye, there are guides and regulations published by the Ministry of Health. With the definition of hemovigilance in the regulations; training in clinical use of blood and transfusion practice fields is now mandatory. This study presents data from a survey designed to assess transfusion knowledge levels of clinical departments for the purpose of planning our training programs. A two-part survey was conducted on 110 nurses from various departments. Questions included sociodemographic attributes, department they worked in, employment duration, knowledge level on transfusion practices. Statistical analysis was performed. Of the nurses that participated; 52.7% were above 40 years old, 15.5% were 31-40 years old and 31.8% were below 30 years old. For education; 84.5% of the nurses were graduates or postgraduates. For work experience; 64.5% were working in internal medicine departments, 58.2% had been working as a nurse for 10 or more years while 85.5% worked in the same department for less than 5 years. It was determined that the nurses should know more about transfusion. Beginner nurses in the intense care unit were found to have lower levels of transfusion practice knowledge, from this it was deduced additional training should be scheduled for beginner nurses with low transfusion knowledge. In addition to theoretical instructions, one-on-one training on operation controls and "observation and guidance" style practical training should be implemented. Theoretical and practical topics with inadequate knowledge should be instructed in finer detail to increase the knowledge level in these subjects. (c) 2024 Published by Elsevier Masson SAS on behalf of Soci & eacute;t & eacute; fran & ccedil;aise de transfusion sanguine (SFTS).

Objective: Staphylococcus aureus continues to be a major health problem due to widespread methicillin resistance. The aim of this study was to determine the susceptibility to various antibiotics of 100 methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) and 100 methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) strains isolated from various clinical samples between January 2016 and November 2019. Methods: Gradient test strips were used to test the susceptibilities of isolates to vancomycin, teicoplanin, and linezolid. The susceptibilities to other antibiotics were determined by automated system and evaluated based on EUCAST recommendations. Results: Seventy five percent of MRSA strains and 66% of MSSA strains included in the study were isolated from inpatients and 40% of MRSA and 21% of MSSA strains were isolated from intensive care patients. Isolates were obtained from tissue-abscess, blood, sterile body fluid, deep tracheal aspirate and sputum, urine, and catheter tip cultures, respectively. We did not detect S. aureus resistance to vancomycin, teicoplanin and linezolid in our study. Vancomycin, teicoplanin and linezolid MIC50/MIC90 values for MSSA strains were found to be 1/1.5 µg/ml, 0.75/1.5 µg/mL, 0.75/1 µg/mL and 1.5/2 µg/mL, 1.5/2 µg/mL, 0.75/1.5 µg/mL for MRSA strains, respectively. Based on MIC90 values, linezolid was 1.3 times more effective than vancomycin and 2 times more effective than teicoplanin in MRSA strains; linezolid was 1.5 times more effective than vancomycin and teicoplanin in MSSA strains. MRSA strains showed high resistance rates to all antibiotics, except daptomycin, tigecycline, cotrimoxazole and fusidic acid. All antibiotics were found to be highly effective in MSSA strains. Conclusions: MIC values of glycopeptides in MSSA isolates were found to be close to MIC values of MRSA isolates. Regarding the MIC90 values, linezolid was found to be more effective than glycopeptides. All other antibiotics were highly effective in MSSA strains

Objective: Evaluation of the frequency and antimicrobial susceptibility of organisms isolated from blood cultures, leads clinicians to start an empirical treatment. Staphylococcus aureus has an important place among organisms isolated from bloodstream infections. Antibiotic resistance in these organisms causes serious problems in the treatment of infections. In this study, we aimed to investigate antimicrobial susceptibility of S. aureus strains isolated from bloodstream infections and to contribute to the antibiotic policy in the hospital. Methods: In our study, antibiotic resistance of S. aureus strains isolated from blood cultures of inpatients were investigated retrospectively. Blood cultures were performed with BacT/Alert (R) 3D (bioMerieux, Marcy l'Etoile, France) between August 2017 and August 2018, and in Render BC128 (Shandong Huifa Electronics Technology Co., Jinan, Shandong, China) automated blood culture systems between August 2018 and August 2019. Bacterial identification was performed using conventional methods and BD Phoenix (TM) 100 (Becton Dickinson Co., Sparks, Maryland, USA) automated identification system. Antimicrobial susceptibility tests of bacteria were performed with the same automated system taking into consideration the recommendations of the European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing. Results: During the two years period, 20 367 blood culture samples were examined, and culture positivity was observed in 22.1%. Of 390 (8.6%) S. aureus strains, 160 (41.02%) were identified as methicillin-resistant (MRSA) and 230 (8.98%) were identified as methicillin-sensitive (MSSA). There was no resistance against vancomycin, teicoplanin, daptomycin, linezolid, and quinupristin-dalfopristin. No resistance to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (SXT) was detected in MSSA strains. Clindamycin, aminoglycosides and fusidic acid were also highly active against these strains, while other antibiotics were found to have resistance rates ranging from 10% to 57%. While the SXT resistance rate to MRSA strains was 3.1%, the resistance rates of the other antibiotics tested ranged from 43% to 91%. Conclusions: Uncontrolled use of antibiotics increases the development of resistance. High resistance was found to all antimicrobials in MRSA isolates and to fluoroquinolones in all S. aureus isolates. These show that antibiotic policy should be reviewed, awareness of rational antibiotic use should be established, and restricted use of some antibiotics should be implemented in the hospital.

ÖZStenotrophomonas maltophilia, hastane enfeksiyonu etkeni olarak giderek artan sıklıkla karşılaşılan fırsatçı bir patojendir ve geniş spektrumlu antibiyotiklerin çoğuna dirençlidir.Bu çalışmada, yaklaşık beş

Hepatitis C infection is a public health problem. The aim of this retrospective study was to determine the distribution of hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotypes in seven regions of Turkey, by evaluating 7002 patients with chronic HCV in a six-year period. During the 2009–2014 period, serum/plasma samples from 7002 new consecutive HCV RNA positive patients were collected. The female patients were 3867 (55.2%). The genotype distribution of HCV patiens was evaluated by ages and years. Statistical analysis was performed by using the Mann–Whitney test and the χ2 analysis. During the six-year period, genotype 1b was the most common genotype (67.7%) followed by untypeable genotype 1 (7.7%), genotype 4 (7.3%) and genotype 3 (6.7%). In 2014, genotype 3 was the second most common one (11.3%) and genotype 4 was the third most common one (9.8%). In the group with <25 years old patients, genotype 1b was most common (78.48%, 62/79) between the years of 2009 and 2011, whereas genotype 3 (34.8%, 86/247), between the years of 2012 and 2014. Genotype 1b was the most common in the groups between 26 and 35 years, 36 and 45 years, 46 and 55 years, 56 and 65 years. The rate of genotype 3 was increased from 4.78% to 10.06% and the rate of genotype 4 was increased from 1.3% to 3.84%, from 2009–2011 to 2012–2014. In recent years, genotypes 3 and 4 have gained importance. New therapeutic strategies and survey studies may be required for the modified HCV genotype pattern.

Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) caused by the Leishmania spp. parasites, is a disease characterized by nodulo-ulcerative lesions in the skin. CL is transmitted to humans by infected sandflies during blood sucking, and is endemic in about 98 countries over the world. The demonstration of amastigotes via microscopic examination, and the growth of promastigotes in NNN (Novy-MacNeal-Nicolle) medium are gold standard methods for laboratory diagnosis. The aim of this study was to compare the biphasic NNN medium that is frequently used in routine laboratories with the biphasic nutrient medium that can be prepared easily in microbiology laboratories, for the growth of promastigotes. In the study, the aspiration fluid sample was used as clinical sample which was obtained from the skin lesion of a 47-year-old female patient admitted to İzmir Katip Celebi Ataturk Education and Research Hospital dermatology outpatient clinic and pre-diagnosed as CL. The aspirate sample taken from the lesion was evaluated with microscopy, cultivation in two different media and real-time polymerase chain reaction (Rt-PCR) methods. In microscopic examination Leishmania amastigotes were observed in Giemsa-stained smears prepared from the aspiration fluid. In Rt-PCR performed by using specific primers and probes targeting ITS1 region of Leishmania parasite, a melting-curve compatible with L.tropica was detected. For cultivation, triple inoculations of the aspirate sample into NNN (NNN + RPMI 1640 + 10% fetal calf serum) and nutrient media (nutrient agar + nutrient broth + 10% fetal calf serum) were used. The cultures were incubated at 27°C for 10 days, and the number of propagated promastigotes were counted on the third, seventh and tenth days. The growth of Leishmania promastigotes was detected in both media on the third day. The number of promastigotes grown in NNN medium on the third, seventh and tenth days were 105/ml, 106/ml and 108/ml, respectively. Those values in nutrient medium were 106/ml, 107/ml and 108/ml on the third, seventh and tenth days, respectively. Although the number of promastigotes on the third and seventh days were higher in nutrient medium than NNN medium, the number of cultivated promastigotes were equal on the tenth day. As a result, nutrient medium is considered to have an impact in the diagnosis of CL, by providing an alternative to the routine medium used and can readily be available in microbiology and parasitology laboratories with long shelf-life. It was concluded that biphasic nutrient medium could be used as a supplementary medium for diagnosis in laboratories in the absence of NNN medium or can not be provided.

Objectives: Laboratory diagnosis of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is based on the detection of anti-HCV antibodies by enzyme immunoassay (EIA) or chemiluminescence immunoassay (CIA) techniques. However, a consensus related to the problem of low titer (Serum/Cut-off; S/C= 1.0) anti-HCV antibodies is still lacking. The study attempts to evaluate the clinical status of the patients with low titer anti-HCV antibodies detected by third generation anti-HCV tests during February 2013- May 2014 retrospectively. Methods: Serum samples were studied by Advia Centaur XP autoanalyser (Bayer-Siemens, Germany) for anti-HCV, and line immunoassay (Inno-LIATM HCV Score, Innogenetics, Belgium) for anti-HCV confirmatory test, Cobas AmpliPre/Cobas AMPLICOR HCV Test (Roche diagnostics, Switzerland) for HCV RNA. Results: A total of 55.631 serum samples were studied, and 55 of them were anti-HCV positive of which with low antibody levels (sample/cutoff [S/CO]). S/CO values ranged from 1.15 to 6.15. Seventeen (31%) of patients who have low antibody levels were defined as positive and 2 (4%) patients were intermittent and 36 (65%) patients were negative with line immunoassay. HCV-RNA was not detected in any of the samples. Conclusions: It is thought that antibody positivity must be verified in cases of recurrent reactivity when considering the cost-effectiveness of molecular tests. In the study was concluded that the use of molecular tests would be appropriate diagnosis, and the effectiveness of treatment if necessary after evaluation of patients with biochemical analysis. J Clin Exp Invest 2014; 5 (4): 553-556

Objective: Laboratory diagnosis of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is based on the detection of anti-HCV antibodies by enzyme immunoassay (EIA) or chemiluminescence immunoassay (CIA) techniques. However, a consensus related to the problem of low titer (Serum/ Cut-off; S/C= 1.0) anti-HCV antibodies is still lacking. The study attempts to evaluate the clinical status of the patients with low titer anti-HCV antibodies detected by third generation anti-HCV tests during February 2013- May 2014 retrospectively. Methods: Serum samples were studied by Advia Centaur XP autoanalyser (Bayer-Siemens, Germany) for antiHCV, and line immunoassay (Inno-LIATM HCV Score, Innogenetics, Belgium) for anti-HCV confirmatory test, Cobas AmpliPre/Cobas AMPLICOR HCV Test (Roche diagnostics, Switzerland) for HCV RNA. Results: A total of 55.631 serum samples were studied, and 55 of them were anti-HCV positive of which with low antibody levels (sample/cutoff [S/CO]). S/CO values ranged from 1.15 to 6.15. Seventeen (31%) of patients who have low antibody levels were defined as positive and 2 (4%) patients were intermittent and 36 (65%) patients were negative with line immunoassay. HCV-RNA was not detected in any of the samples. Conclusions: It is thought that antibody positivity must be verified in cases of recurrent reactivity when consider ing the cost-effectiveness of molecular tests. In the study was concluded that the use of molecular tests would be appropriate diagnosis, and the effectiveness of treatment if necessary after evaluation of patients with biochemical analysis. J Clin Exp Invest 2014; 5 (4): 553-556

AimIn this study, it was aimed to investigate the relationship between Blastocystis hominis infection and inflammatory bowel syndrome (IBS). Methods: In this study, the frequency of B. hominis in the stool samples of 52 patients applied to Microbiology laboratory and pre-diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome in January 2013-June 2013 was investigated, retrospectively. Microscopic investigations were evaluated after macroscopic examination. For this purpose, the stool samples of the diarrheal cases were investigated by trichrome staining after they were prepared by native-lugol and formol ethyl acetate concentration method. The results were compared with the examination of 2160 stool samples sent to our laboratory during the same period. Results: Stool samples of 52 patients pre-diagnosed with IBS were accepted to our laboratory in January 2013-June 2013. 13 of the patients were found as B. hominis positive. Weight loss and anorexia was identified only in one patient while abdominal pain, diarrhea and gas complaints were identified in all of the IBH and B. hominis positive patients. During the same period, parasites were detected in 96 (4.4%) of 2160 stool samples sent to our laboratory and the most common was B. hominis 48 (2.2%). 452 of these patients applied with diarrhea symptoms and B. hominis was detected in 36 samples (7.96%). Conclusion: The limited studies investigating the presence of B. hominis in patients with irritable bowel syndrome are far from illuminating the role of this agent in disease pathogenesis. We believe that further investigations should be performed. In this study, 25% of the patients were found as positive.

Objective: Infections of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter baumannii are one of the greatest concerns for hospitalized patients, particularly those in intensive care units (ICUs). The aim of this study was to determine the antimicrobial resistance percentages and to assess empirical treatment options for bloodstream infections due to P. aeruginosa and A. baumannii strains in ICU patients. Methods: Resistance percentages of strains isolated in January- December 2010 and January- December 2011 were separately analyzed and compared. The differences in resistance percentages between two intervals was statistically analyzed. Results: A statistically significant decrease was found in the resistance percentage of piperacillin-tazobactam, cefoperazone-sulbactam, ceftazidime, ciprofloxacin, gentamicin, amikacin and netilmicin in the second period compared with the first (p values were 0.0059, 0.0000, 0.0048, 0.00350, 0.0000, 0.0000, 0.0003, respectively) for P. aeruginosa strains. Whereas resistance percentage of aztreonam was increased (p value was 0.0155). Resistance percentage of imipenem was found similar. OZET Amac: Pseudomonas aeruginosa ve Acinetobacter

OZET Kutanoz Leishmaniasis (KL) deride uzun suren noduloulseratif yaralarla seyredip atrofik skatrisle iyilesen, Leishmania turu protozoon parazitlerin olusturdugu, 98 ulkede endemik olan hastalik tablosudur. Hastalik ulkemizde basta Sanliurfa olmak uzere ozellikle Guneydogu illerimizde sikca rastlanmaktadir. Leishmaniasisin endemik oldugu komsu ulkelerden son yillarda ortaya cikan savas nedeniyle insanlarin goc etmesi hastaligin giderek artmasina sebep olmaktadir. Bu calismada 2013 yili Haziran ayinda Izmir Katip Celebi Universitesi Ataturk Egitim Arastirma Hastanesi'ne basvuran, Suriye'den Izmir'e goc eden, sag koltuk alti bolgesinde KL'ye bagli ulsere lezyonu olan, lezyondan yapilan aspirasyon materyali yaymasi ve NNN kulturu ile tani konulup, real time PCR ile L. tropica alt turu oldugunu tespit ettigimiz 14 yasinda bir kiz cocuk olan KL olgusu tartisilmistir. Bizim bu yazimizdaki amacimiz, KL'in endemik oldugu bolgelerden gelen hastalar icin, hastaligin endemik olmadigi bolgelerde calisan hekimlerde bir farkindalik olusturmaktir.

Cutaneous Leishmaniasis (CL) is an endemic disease in 98 countries that causes long-term noduloulcerative scars on the skin by Leishmania spp.one of the protozoa parasites.The disease is very common especially in Şanlıurfa and Southeast provinces in our country.In recent years, the migration from neighbor countries because of the wars has led to an increase in cases.In this study, a CL case of 14-years old female patient with CL-associated ulcerative lesion on her right axillary cavity region, migrated from Syria and applied to İzmir Katip Celebi University Atatürk Training and Research Hospital is discussed.It was determined that the causative agent was Leishmania tropica subspecies by real-time PCR after diagnosis by aspiration material smear from lesion and NNN cultural method.It is aimed to create awareness among physicians working in non-endemic regions for the patients from CL endemic areas.

Background: According to our center's experiences familial/replacement donors (FRDs) frequently donate blood for the first time in their lives. Therefore, results of infection parameters are expected to be different voluntary donors (VDs), at similar rates to the population. The present study aimed to investigate if there were any difference in VDs and FRDs in terms of infection parameters.Objective: The blood donation records over 6 years (2004-2010) were reviewed, retrospectively. HBsAg, anti-HCV, anti-HIV screening tests were performed by ELISA and syphilis screening was performed by the RPR method.Material and Methods: Out of 71.217, 16.727 donors donated whole blood as FRD. Among the whole blood donated by FRD, the positives for HBsAg, anti-HCV and RPR were 1.23%, 0.37%, and 0.07%, respectively. Confirmed anti-HIV screening test was not observed in this group. Positivities for HBsAg, anti-HCV, anti-HIV and RPR in VD were 1.36%, 0.42%, 0.004%. and 0.04%, respectively.Results: When FRD and VD were analyzed statistically, HBsAg rates were significantly higher among FRD in the years 2004, 2007 and 2008, whereas they were significantly high among VD in year 2005. HBsAg rates stated in the years 2006-2009 were insignificant. Significantly high results were observed in HCV rates in the year 2005 among VD, whereas insignificant levels were observed in other years. HIV rates were insignificant among VD in the years 2004 and 2005, confirmed positivity was established in only one patient. Values in all years in RPR rates were statistically insignificant. Grouping donors as replacement and voluntary has no importance in infection parameters.Conclusion: Grouping donors as replacement and voluntary has no importance in infection parameters. Appropriate donor inquiries and screening of infection parameters by reliable proven tests preserve their significances. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Introduction: Aims: HPV-DNA testing is widely used throughout the world and today is an important part of cervical cancer screening programs. In this study, it was aimed the investigation of the presence and typing of HPV-DNA by using real time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in the cervical samples of women with risk factors in terms of HPV and the evaluation of compliance of identified HPV types with results of cervical smear.Methods: HPV-DNA results were analyzed between January 2009 and December 2012 retrospectively.Results: HPV-DNA detection rate was 48% at the cervical samples. The positive samples were described HPV-16 in 26.5%, HPV-18 in 5.5%, non-HPV-16-18 (HPV-31, HPV-35, HPV-59) in 40%, potential HR-HP V (HPV-66) in 1.5% and LR-HPV (HPV-6, HPV-11) in 27.5%. In the cytological examination, %15 (n: 54) samples were evaluated as positive for intraepithelial lesion. These was determined as ASCUS (Atypical Squamous Cells of Undetermined Significance) in 18% (n: 10), LSIL (Low-grade Intraepithelial Lesion) in 50% (n: 27), HSIL (High-grade intraepithelial lesion) in 30% (n: 16), squamous cell carcinoma in 2% samples. In the samples that intraepitelyal lesion was positive but undetermined HPV-DNA, 5 samples were identified as ASCUS and 13 samples were LSIL. Cytological abnormality was found in the 23.4% of 128 detected samples to HR-HPV and potential HR-HPV; in 12.2% of 49 detected samples to LR-HPV and in 9.3% of 194 undetected samples to HPV-DNA. In the samples with cytological abnormality, HPV types were listed HPV-16, non-HPV 16-18, LR-HPV, HPV-18 and potential HR-HPV, respectively, in the samples that cytological abnormality was not found, HPV types were non-HPV-16-18, LR-HPV, HPV-16, HPV-18 and potential HR-HPV.Coclusion: Non-HPV-16-18 were monitored as the most common type and HPV-16 was third of frequency in cytological abnormality negative group; non-HPV-16-18 and HPV-16 were monitored close proportions of each other in cytological abnormality positive group. These isolates were accompany to preinvasive lesions.

Aim: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a member of the Flaviviridae family and the RNA genome exhibit high genetic heterogeneity. Six major genotypes were determined phylogenetically. Each genotype contains different subtypes. The distribution of HCV genotypes varies geographically throughout the world. Determination of viral genotype has great importance in the selection of antiviral therapy, treatment duration and monitoring the response to treatment. The aim of this study was to determine the distribution of HCV genotypes in Izmir province located at the Western part of Turkey.Material and method: A total of 308 patients (16.5 females, 143 males mean age: 57,06 13,65 years) with chronic HCV infection who were admitted to Katip Celebi University Ataturk Training and Research Hospital Microbiology Laboratory during January 2010 and December 2013 period were included in the study. The patients were anti-HCV (ELISA; Advia Centaur XP, Germany) and HCV-RNA (Real time HCV assay, USA.) positive. HCV genotype analysis was determined by using an AN 7000 real-time PCR system provided (RealrTime HCV Genotype II assay. U.S.A.).Results: Genotype I was observed in 271 of the 308 patients (88%) with chronic HCV infection. Genotype 3 was determined in 15 patients (4.9% of all cases), mix genotype in 9 patients (2.9% of all cases); genotype 2 in 8 patients (2.6% of all cases), and genotype 4 in 5 patients (1.6% of all Cases). Of mix. genotype, 8 patients showed infection with genotype I + genotype 4 and one patient with genotype I + genotype 3.Conclusion: In conclusion, genotipl was observed, most frequently in patients with hepatitis C who were admitted to our hospital as similar to the results of other studies in our country. It was determined that genotype 3 and genotype 4 have more prevalence than the studies from Izmir and Turkey. Of our patients, 92.2% were infected with resistant types and HCV patients encountered with treatment failure, which is as a serious problem in our region.