Status of Pandemic Influenza Vaccination and Factors Affecting It in Pregnant Women in Kahramanmaras, an Eastern Mediterranean City of Turkey

BACKGROUND: Pregnant women are a target group for receipt of influenza vaccine because there appears to be an elevated mortality and morbidity rate associated with influenza virus infection in pregnant women. The goal of this study is to determine the factors affecting the decisions of pregnant women in Turkey to be vaccinated or not for 2009 H1N1 influenza. METHODOLOGY: We enrolled 314 of 522 (60.2%) pregnant women who attended to the antenatal clinics of the Medical Faculty of Kahramanmaras Sutcuimam University's Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics between December 23, 2009, and February 1, 2010. We developed a 48-question survey which was completed in a face-to-face interview at the clinic with each pregnant woman. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Of the 314 pregnant women, 27.4% were in the first trimester, 33.8% were in the second trimester, and 38.8% were in the third trimester. Twenty-eight pregnant women (8.9%) got vaccinated. Of all the women interviewed, 68.5% stated that they were comfortable with their decisions about the vaccine, 7.3% stated they were not comfortable, and 24.2% stated that they were hesitant about their decisions. The probability of receiving the 2009 H1N1 vaccine was 3.46 times higher among working women than housewives, 1.85 times higher among women who have a child than those who do not, and 1.29 times higher among women with a high-school education or higher than those with only a secondary-school education and below. Correct knowledge about the minimal risks associated with receipt of influenza vaccine were associated with a significant increase in the probability of receiving the 2009 H1N1 vaccine. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The number of pregnant women in the study group who received the 2009 H1N1 vaccine was very low (8.9%) and two-thirds of them stated that they were comfortable with their decisions concerning the vaccine. Our results may have implications for public health measures to increase the currently low vaccination rate among pregnant women. Further studies are required to confirm whether our findings generalize to other influenza seasons and other settings

Serratia Ficaria isolated from sputum specimen

Serratia ficaria was first described in 1979 as a Gram-negative facultative anaerobic rod. S. ficaria was found in figs, but also isolated from human specimens in a few cases. We now report an isolate of S. ficaria from sputum specimen.A 46-year-old man was suffering from a chronic renal failure of five years, four months of peritoneal dialysis and one week of fever due to respiratory tract infection, accompanied by cough. Sputum culture yielded a Gram-negative rod. It was identified as S. ficaria and the antibiotic susceptibility test was performed by automated Vitek II (bioMerieux). The tested S. ficaria strain was susceptible to amikacin, gentamicin, cefepime, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, imipenem, meropenem, tigecycline and ciprofloxacin. This strain was resistant to ampicillin, amoxicillin-clavulanic acid, cephalothin, cefoxitine, cefuroxime and ceftriaxone. The patient was treated successfully (80 mg trimethoprim/400 mg sulfamethoxazole twice daily for 7 days)S. ficaria is an opportunistic pathogen responsible for intestinal colonization or serious infections such as septicaemia, gall bladder empyema in immunocompromised patients. The fig tree and fig play an important role in human colonization. It should be remembered that S. ficaria infections may be encountered frequently especially in fig tree culture zones

MEDICAL FACULTY AND SCHOOL OF HEALTH STUDENT KNOWLEDGE OF AND BEHAVIOR REGARDING SWINE FLU AND VACCINE, IN KAHRAMANMARAS, TURKEY

This study was carried out to determine Medical Faculty and School of Health student knowledge of and behavior regarding swine flu and vaccine. The study was carried out at Kahramanmaras Sutcuimam University School of Health among the medical faculty and students. All 296 students of the Kahramanmaras Sutcuimam University School of Health and 76 students of the Faculty of Medicine were supposed to participate in the study. Ninety-six point one percent of the students in the study know high fever was one of the symptoms of swine flu, 91.8% said it was spread directly by sneezing or coughing and 95.5% knew washing hands with soap and water especially after coughing and sneezing, should be done to reduce the risk of infection. Sixty-five point four percent of students knew fatigue and body aches were adverse effects of the swine flu vaccine. Only 9.6% of students received the pandemic flu vaccine. Their knowledge regarding symptoms and methods of spread was low, but regarding measures taken for prevention was high. Both swine flu knowledge and vaccine knowledge were higher in those who received the flu vaccine than in those who did not receive it. In pandemic situations, training should be given immediately to medical, midwifery and nursing students who are models for society

Recurrent herpes labialis among health school students in Kahramanmaraş, Turkey: A cross-sectional survey

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the epidemiologic characteristics of, and the treatments used for, recurrent herpes labialis (RHL) in health students. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with the participation of 333 nursing and midwifery students. Data on the sociodemographic characteristics of the participants, their history of RHL, and the treatments were collected by means of a standard self-reported questionnaire form. Results: The point prevalence of RHL was 3.9%, the annual prevalence was 44.7%, and the lifetime prevalence was 52.5%. These prevalences were not related to the participants' place of residence, level of income, school, gender, marital status, or smoking status (p > 0.05). RHL was frequently seen on the right side of the lower lip (17.9%). One third of the students who experienced RHL stated that they had applied treatment to the lesion. However, only 20.1% stated that they had used antiviral therapy. Treatment was recommended by a physician for only 16.1% of the subjects. Conclusions: The prevalence of RHL was high among the health students, who were considered to represent young adults. Although they were students in a school of health, they lacked knowledge about RHL