A case of chronic hepatitis B with primary adefovir resistance [Adefovire primer dirençli bir kronik B hepatiti olgusu]

PubMed ID: 17682718Implementation of antiviral therapy leads to the emergence of mutant strains during the treatment in chronic hepatitis B. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) with primary antiviral resistance may be rarely encountered. In this report, a chronic hepatitis B case who had never received adefovir dipivoxil but had primary adefovir resistance, was presented. HBeAg positive 25-year-old male patient was treated with interferon (IFN)-alpha (thrice a week 10 MU) and lamivudine (100 mg/daily) combination for one year. At the end of this treatment although HBV-DNA was under the detectable limit and ALT levels returned to normal, anti-HBe antibodies did not develop. During the course of lamivudin treatment on the third year virus was found to be resistant to lamivudin [FLM+YMDD+YIDD+YVDD (Inno-LiPA HBV DR, Innogenetics Ghent, Belgium)] and adefovir was added to the lamivudin therapy. At the end of eight months of combination therapy, ALT levels did not return to normal and HBV-DNA was still in detectable levels. On the 11th month resistance to adefovir was analysed and rtA181T mutation was found by DNA sequence analysis (Big Dye Terminator Cycle Sequencing kit, Applied Biosystems, USA). Since there had been no response to adefovir from the initiation of the therapy, primary adefovir resistance was suspected. Primary adefovir resistance was confirmed by the detection of the same mutation in pre-adefovir treatment serum sample of the patient. Lamivudin was re-added to the therapy, however, HBV-DNA still remained positive on the third month of this combination therapy. The patient got out of routine follow-up after this period

Evaluation of the knowledge of hospital cleaning staff about prevention of nosocomial infections

Aims: Detection of risk groups and infection sources and awareness of the routes of transmission of infections are important for prevention of hospital infections. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the knowledge level and the behavior models of hospital cleaning staff about nosocomial infections. Materials and Methods: A 21-item questionnaire about nosocomial infections was administered to the hospital cleaning staff. Results: Out of 290 hospital cleaning staff, 240 (82.7%, 122 male, 118 female, aged 36.2±8.7) were included in the study. When evaluated according to their educational status, 55.4% had graduated from primary school. Fifty-four percent of the staff had been working in the hospital for more than three years. Mean knowledge level was 18.15±3.97 (maximum 24). Their knowledge level was not associated with gender, educational status, duration of employment or receipt of formal education about hospital-acquired infections before starting their jobs (P > 0.05); however, mean knowledge level of the staff working in the clinics was found higher than that of the staff working in administrative sections (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Education of the hospital staff and improvement of their knowledge may be a beneficial strategy for prevention of nosocomial infections. © TÜBITAK

Hodgkin's lymphoma mimicking chronic osteomyelitis

[No abstract available

Evaluation of 694 tuberculous lymphadenitis cases reported from Turkey between 1997-2009 period by pooled analysis method [Türki·ye'de 1997-2009 yillari arasinda yayinlanan 694 tüberküloz lenfadeni·t olgusunun havuz anali·z yöntemi· i·le degerlendi·ri·lmesi·]

PubMed ID: 21063988Tuberculosis which mainly involves the lungs, can also cause infection in almost all other organs and tissues in the body. One of the most common forms of extrapulmonary tuberculosis is tuberculous lymphadenitis. In this study, tuberculous lymphadenitis cases reported from Turkey in national and international journals in the last 12 years, were reviewed systematically with pooled-analysis method. Related articles were retrieved by search of three national (Ulakbim Turkish Medical literature databases, http://www. turkishmedline.com, http://medline.pleksus.com.tr) and two international databases [PubMed and Science Citation Index (SCI)]. Between the years 1997-2009, tuberculous lymphadenitis cases have been published in a total of 44 articles (13 international, 31 national data base). These articles included a total of 694 tuberculous lymphadenitis cases (62.4% women, 37.6% men; mean age 37.5 years). The distribution of the lymph nodes involved was determined in 528 cases and the most commonly involved areas were cervical (61.4%), mediastinal (20.5%) and axillary (6.4%) areas. The most common complaints of patients were fever (15.8%), weight loss (14.5%), malaise-fatigue (13.1%) and sweating (12.4%). Tuberculous lymphadenitis was identified in 10.6% (51/479) of the cases by direct microscopical examination, in 15.9% (65/408) by culture and in 648 cases from whom biopsies were taken, by histopathologlcal examination. Tuberculin skin test positivity was detected in 78.9% (377/478) cases. History of contact with active tuberculosis patients was determined in 24.2% (88/364) of the patients. Coexisting lung tuberculosis was detected in 7.8% (54/694) of the cases. The total number of cases that had died was four; two cases due to malignancy, one due to sepsis and one due to central nervous system tuberculosis that have developed four years following the diagnosis of tuberculous lymphadenitis. Since microbiological diagnosis is difficult in tuberculous lymphadenitis and not available in all centers, evaluation of the patients' history and clinical findings are of great importance. This pooled analysis which enabled the evaluation of a large number of tuberculous lymphadenitis cases, indicated that in countries where tuberculosis is widespread, careful evaluation of clinical findings and a good microbiological and histopathological investigation will provide valuable support for diagnosis and treatment of tuberculous lymphadenitis

Prevalence and seasonal distribution of respiratory viruses in patients with acute respiratory tract infections, 2002-2014 [Akut Solunum Yolu Enfeksiyonu Olan Hastalarda Solunum Viruslarinin Prevalansi ve Mevsimsel Da?ilimi, 2002-2014]

PubMed ID: 26167819The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and seasonal distribution of respiratory viruses in pediatric and adult outpatients and inpatients who were admitted to hospital with the symptoms of upper and lower respiratory tract infections, during a 12-year period. A total of 5102 clinical samples (4372 nasopharyngeal swabs, 316 bronchoalveolar lavages, 219 transtracheal aspirates, 163 nasopharyngeal aspirates, 20 sputum, 10 nasal swabs) examined in our laboratory between January 1st 2002 and July 17th 2014, were evaluated retrospectively. Of the specimens, 1107 (21.7%) were obtained from outpatients and 3995 (78.3%) from hospitalized patients. Of the patients, 2851 (55.9%) were male and 2251 (44.1%) were female, while 1233 (24.2%) were adults and 3869 (75.8%) were children (age range: 1 day - 93 years; median: 3 years). Respiratory samples were investigated for the presence of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), influenza virus type A and B (INF-A, INF-B), adenovirus (AdV), parainfluenza viruses (PIV types 1-4), human rhinoviruses (HRV), human coronaviruses (HCoV), human metapneumovirus (HMPV) and human bocavirus (HBoV). All specimens were tested by both direct immunofluorescence antibody (DFA) and shell vial cell culture (SVCC) methods. In DFA assay the samples were initially screened by fluorescent-labeled polyclonal antibodies, and the positive ones were typed by using monoclonal antibodies (Light Diagnostics, Merck Millipore, USA). In SVCC, HEp-2, MDCK, A-549 and Vero cell lines were used for the isolation of viruses. In addition to these methods, real-time multiplex PCR methods (RealAccurate®, Respiratory RT PCR, PathoFinder, Netherlands and Seeplex® RV15 ACE Detection, Seegene, South Korea) were used for the detection of respiratory viruses in samples (n= 2104) obtained from 2007 to 2014. Respiratory viruses were detected in a total of 1705 (33.4%) patients, of them 967 (19%) were male and 738 (14.4%) were female. Three hundred and eighteen (18.6%) of the 1705 patients were infected with multiple respiratory viruses. The most frequently observed co-infections were RSV+INF-A (40/318; 12.6%), and RSV+PIV (33/318; 10.4%). The rate of positivity for the respiratory viruses in pediatric and adult groups were 35.4% (1369/3869) and 27.3% (336/1233), respectively (p&lt; 0.000). The most frequently detected virus in pediatric group was RSV (336/1369;24.5%), followed by influenza viruses (314/1369;22.9%), PIV (197/1369;14.4%), HRV (118/1369;8.6%), AdV (75/1369;5.5%) and the others (49/1369;3.6%). On the other hand the most frequently detected virus in adult group was influenza viruses (181/336; 53.8%) followed by AdV (37/336; 11%), RSV (24/336; 7.1%), PIV (24/336; 7.1%), HRV (23/336; 6.8%) and the others (9/336; 2.7%). The rate of multiple virus infections in pediatric and adult groups were 7.2% (280/3869) and 3% (38/1233), respectively. Most of the coinfections (280/318; 88%) were detected in children. Respiratory viruses were detected positive in 40.2% (445/1107) of outpatients, and in 31.5% (1260/3995) of inpatients (p&lt; 0.000). The most frequent viruses detected in pediatric outpatients and inpatients were HRV and RSV, respectively, while influenza viruses were the first in line among both adult outpatients and inpatients. During the study period, a PIV-3 outbreak (n= 96) have emerged between December 2004-April 2005, and an influenza A (H1N1)pdm09 outbreak (n= 207) between November 2009-January 2010. When the seasonal distribution was considered, the isolation rates of 1705 respiratory viruses in winter, spring, summer and autumn were 44.4%, 27%, 8.3% and 20.3%, respectively. RSV was most frequently detected from December to March, influenza viruses from November to March, HRV from December to June, and mixed infections from January to February. In conclusion, the data of our study obtained in about 12-year period indicated that the prevalence of respiratory viruses in acute respiratory infections is 33.4%, and they typically active during the months of winter and early spring in our region

A rare cause of catheter-related bacteremia: Rhizobium radiobacter [Nadir bir katetere bagl? bakteriyemi etkeni: Rhizobium radiobacter]

PubMed ID: 18697434Rhizobium spp. (R.radiobacter, R.rhizogenes, R.rubi, R.vitis) are aerobic, motile, non-spore forming, oxidase-positive, gram-negative bacilli. Although they are mostly plant pathogens, R.radiobacter may cause human infections. The aim of this report was to present a case of R.radiobacter bacteremia treated with levofloxacin. Twenty-seven year old male patient had fever after receiving chemotherapy due to osteosarcoma. The infection focus could not be detected in the initial physical examination. Blood cultures were obtained from peripheral veins and central catheter and levofloxacin (500 mg/day) was started as empirical therapy. His fever resolved on the next day. Meanwhile cultures of blood (Bact/Alert automated systems, bioMerieux, Durham, NC) obtained from peripheral veins and central catheters yielded bacteria which were identified as R.radiobacter by VITEK 2 (bioMerieux Inc, Mercy L'etoil, France). The strain was resistant to amikacin and sensitive to ceftazidime, ciprofloxacin, imipenem, meropenem and piperacillin/ tazobactam. The patient was diagnosed as catheter-related bacteremia and the treatment was continued for 14 days. His catheter was not removed since subsequent cultures did not reveal any bacterial growth. In conclusion this case suggests that R.radiobacter may cause infections especially in immunocompromised patients with catheters or prosthetic devices. To our knowledge this is the first R.radiobacter case reported from Turkey and the first case of R.radiobacter bacteremia reported to be treated with levofloxacin in the literature