Seroepidemiological Investigation of Toxocariasis in the Isparta Region of Turkey

Background: Toxocariasis is a common disease around the world. Our objective was to determine Toxocara seroprevalence in humans in the city of Isparta, Southwest Turkey, in respect of some determinants such as age, socio-economic level, residence in city center or rural area etc.Methods: Five hundred and thirty four individual participants from Isparta center and 85 from Asagi Gokdere village were included in the study. T. cati specific antibodies were ana­lyzed using excretory-secretory (ES)-enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method.Results: T. cati antibodies were detected as positive in 73 (13.6%) of 534 samples which were collected from subjects living in the city center and 24 (28.2%) of 85 samples from Asagi Gokdere village. Toxocara seropositivity was detected among 15.6% of whole study group. The seroprevalence of toxocariasis was significantly higher among subjects from vil­lage than in subjects from city center (P=0.001). While gender, high school education, source of the water which is used, family income and geophagia/eating nail behaviors were the fea­tures which were detected as being associated with toxocariasis seropositivity (odds ratios= 0.5; 6.52; 3.61; 0.43; 0.13 respectively), owning dogs or cats and hand washing were de­tected as being not associated with toxocariasis seropositivity (P > 0.05). Furthermore, Toxo­cara seropositivity was significantly higher among subjects in 0-10 than >40 year-old group (P=0.02).Conclusion: It can be suggested that untreated lost pet population, environmental contamination, and way of life have influence on the epidemiology of toxocariasis

Intraperitoneal drain placement and outcomes after elective colorectal surgery: international matched, prospective, cohort study

Despite current guidelines, intraperitoneal drain placement after elective colorectal surgery remains widespread. Drains were not associated with earlier detection of intraperitoneal collections, but were associated with prolonged hospital stay and increased risk of surgical-site infections.Background Many surgeons routinely place intraperitoneal drains after elective colorectal surgery. However, enhanced recovery after surgery guidelines recommend against their routine use owing to a lack of clear clinical benefit. This study aimed to describe international variation in intraperitoneal drain placement and the safety of this practice. Methods COMPASS (COMPlicAted intra-abdominal collectionS after colorectal Surgery) was a prospective, international, cohort study which enrolled consecutive adults undergoing elective colorectal surgery (February to March 2020). The primary outcome was the rate of intraperitoneal drain placement. Secondary outcomes included: rate and time to diagnosis of postoperative intraperitoneal collections; rate of surgical site infections (SSIs); time to discharge; and 30-day major postoperative complications (Clavien-Dindo grade at least III). After propensity score matching, multivariable logistic regression and Cox proportional hazards regression were used to estimate the independent association of the secondary outcomes with drain placement. Results Overall, 1805 patients from 22 countries were included (798 women, 44.2 per cent; median age 67.0 years). The drain insertion rate was 51.9 per cent (937 patients). After matching, drains were not associated with reduced rates (odds ratio (OR) 1.33, 95 per cent c.i. 0.79 to 2.23; P = 0.287) or earlier detection (hazard ratio (HR) 0.87, 0.33 to 2.31; P = 0.780) of collections. Although not associated with worse major postoperative complications (OR 1.09, 0.68 to 1.75; P = 0.709), drains were associated with delayed hospital discharge (HR 0.58, 0.52 to 0.66; P < 0.001) and an increased risk of SSIs (OR 2.47, 1.50 to 4.05; P < 0.001). Conclusion Intraperitoneal drain placement after elective colorectal surgery is not associated with earlier detection of postoperative collections, but prolongs hospital stay and increases SSI risk

Seroepidemiological investigation of toxocariasis in the is-parta Region of Turkey

Background: Toxocariasis is a common disease around the world. Our objective was to determine Toxocara seroprevalence in humans in the city of Isparta, Southwest Turkey, in respect of some determinants such as age, socio-economic level, residence in city center or rural area etc. Methods: Five hundred and thirty four individual participants from Isparta center and 85 from Asagi Gokdere village were included in the study. T. cati specific antibodies were analyzed using excretory-secretory (ES)-enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method. Results: T. cati antibodies were detected as positive in 73 (13.6%) of 534 samples which were collected from subjects living in the city center and 24 (28.2%) of 85 samples from Asagi Gokdere village. Toxocara seropositivity was detected among 15.6% of whole study group. The seroprevalence of toxocariasis was significantly higher among subjects from village than in subjects from city center (P=0.001). While gender, high school education, source of the water which is used, family income and geophagia/eating nail behaviors were the features which were detected as being associated with toxocariasis seropositivity (odds ratios=0.5; 6.52; 3.61; 0.43; 0.13 respectively), owning dogs or cats and hand washing were detected as being not associated with toxocariasis seropositivity (P > 0.05). Furthermore, Toxocara seropositivity was significantly higher among subjects in 0-10 than >40 year-old group (P=0.02).Conclusion: It can be suggested that untreated lost pet population, environmental contamination, and way of life have influence on the epidemiology of toxocariasis

Autoantibodies in Patients with Fasciolosis

"nBackground: Antiself humoral immune responses have been detected not only in classical autoimmune dis­eases, but autoantibodies have also been found in sera of patients suffering from chronic parasitic dis­eases. We aimed to investigate the role of fasciolosis as a trigger factor of autoimmune reactivity by searching some anti­bodies related to hepatobiliary systems, in patients with fasciolosis. "nMethods: Thirty-two patients (17 males, 15 females) with fasciolosis were included in this case-control study. Anti-nuclear antibodies (ANA) Screen (antigen mixture of dsDNA, histones, nRNP/Sm, Sm, SS-A, SS-B, Scl-70, Jo-1, ribosomal P-proteins, centromere) ELISA and single-antigen ELISAs for detection of some antibodies (dsDNA, Anti-M2, Anti- liver-kidney microsomes type 1 (LKM-1) and Myeloperoxidase (MPO) were carried out. "nResults: ANA-screen, M-2, LKM-1, MPO and anti-dsDNA positivity were detected with ELISA in 7, 7, 4, 2 and 2 of 32 patients with fasciolosis, consecutively. No statistically significant difference was de­tected for any of the autoantibodies' frequency between patients with fasciolosis and control group. How­ever, autoantibody positivity rate was significantly higher in patients with fasciolosis (50 %) than control group (12.5 %). Absorbance values of all autoantibodies in patients with fasciolosis were statistically sig­nificant higher than controls. "nConclusion: These results lent support to the role of fasciolosis as a trigger factor of autoimmune reactiv­ity by the breakdown of tolerance. In spite of the extensive knowledge that has accumulated, the specific relationship be­tween fasciolosis and autoimmunity is still obscure