Investigation of Parasitic Infection Rate in Stool Samples Submitted to Uludag University Parasitology Laboratory Between 2011-2015

Introduction: Intestinal parasitic infections are among the most significant causes of morbidity and mortality in undeveloped countries, particularly in children. These infections may cause loss in physical and mental progress of children in particular, and loss of work and labour force in adults. Materials and Methods: In this study, patients who applied with various gastrointestinal complaints to the clinics of the Uludag University Medical Faculty, were thoroughly investigated for the presence of intestinal parasites. A total of 8981 stool and 854 cellophane tape samples were parasitologically evaluated. All stool samples were prepared using formal-ethyl acetate concentration method for helminth ova and protozoan cysts, and examined in lugol preparations microscopically with 10x and 40x magnifications. Preparations were examined by using oil-immersion objectives (100x) following trichrome and modified Erlich-Ziehl-Nielsen staining for the diagnosis of intestinal and coccidian protozoa, respectively. For the detection of Entamoeba histolytica adezin antigen in stools, commercial ELISA kit (Wampole® E. histolytica II Test Kit; TechLab, USA) was used. Results: In this study, one or more parasites were found in 327 (3.6%) of the 8981 stool samples (including nonpathogenic protozoa). Enterobius vermicularis eggs were detected in 29 (3.4%) out of 854 samples by using the cellophane tape method. Of the parasite detected cases, 165 (50.5%) were female and 162 (49.5%) were male. Giardia intestinalis (0.9%) and E. vermicularis (3.4%) were the most frequently detected protozoon and helmint parasites, respectively. The parasites were detected mostly in summer months (26.3%). Conclusion: Although the prevalence rates of intestinal parasites were lower than those in the previous studies carried out in the city, it is seen that the presence of intestinal parasites is still a serious public health problem in our region

Synergistic antibacterial activity of ceftazidime–avibactam in combination with colistin, gentamicin, amikacin, and fosfomycin against carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae

Abstract Carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CPKP) infections seriously threaten global public health. The main objective of this study was to assess the in-vitro synergistic activity of ceftazidime–avibactam (CZA) in combination with colistin (COL), amikacin (AK), gentamicin (GEN), and fosfomycin (FOS) against CPKP isolates. The secondary goal was to determine the antibiotic susceptibility performance of BD Phoenix. OXA-48 (49.1%) was the predominant carbapenemase, followed by KPC (29.1%). We used the broth microdilution (BMD) method to determine the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of CZA, COL, AK, and GEN. Meanwhile, the MICs of FOS were determined by the agar dilution (AD) method. To examine the antibacterial activity of CZA, we conducted a checkerboard assay (CBA) with COL, AK, GEN, and FOS against CRKP isolates. We randomly selected three strains and performed synergy testing via time-kill assay (TKA). CRKP isolates were 89.1% susceptible to CZA, 16.4% to COL, 21.8% to GEN, and 29.1% to AK using BMD, 47.3% to FOS by AD. The most synergistic effects were observed in the combination of CZA-COL (78.2%) and CZA-FOS (63.6%). Given the limited therapeutic options for treating severe CRKP infections, combining CZA with COL and FOS may enhance in-vitro activity against clinical CRKP isolates

Investigation of the defective growth pattern and multidrug resistance in a clinical isolate of Candida glabrata using whole-genome sequencing and computational biology applications

Candida glabrata is increasingly isolated from blood cultures, and multidrug-resistant isolates have important implications for therapy. This study describes a cholesterol-dependent clinical C. glabrata isolate (ML72254) that did not grow without blood (containing cholesterol) on routine mycological media and that showed azole and amphotericin B (AmB) resistance. Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight (MALDI-TOF) and whole-genome sequencing (WGS) were used for species identification. A modified Etest method (Mueller-Hinton agar supplemented with 5% sheep blood) was used for antifungal susceptibility testing. WGS data were processed via the Galaxy platform, and the genomic variations of ML72254 were retrieved. A computational biology workflow utilizing web-based applications (PROVEAN, AlphaFold Colab, and Missense3D) was constructed to predict possible deleterious effects of these missense variations on protein functions. The predictive ability of this workflow was tested with previously reported missense variations in ergosterol synthesis genes of C. glabrata. ML72254 was identified as C. glabrata sensu stricto with MALDI-TOF, and WGS confirmed this identification. The MICs of fluconazole, voriconazole, and amphotericin B were.256,.32, and.32 mg/ mL, respectively. A novel frameshift mutation in the ERG1 gene (Pro314fs) and many missense variations were detected in the ergosterol synthesis genes. None of the missense variations in the ML72254 ergosterol synthesis genes were deleterious, and the Pro314fs mutation was identified as the causative molecular change for a cholesterol-dependent and multidrug-resistant phenotype. This study verified that web-based computational biology solutions can be powerful tools for examining the possible impacts of missense mutations in C. glabrata.IMPORTANCE In this study, a cholesterol-dependent C. glabrata clinical isolate that confers azole and AmB resistance was investigated using artificial intelligence (AI) technologies and cloud computing applications. This is the first of the known cholesterol-dependent C. glabrata isolate to be found in Turkey. Cholesterol-dependent C. glabrata isolates are rarely isolated in clinical samples; they can easily be overlooked during routine laboratory procedures. Microbiologists therefore need to be alert when discrepancies occur between microscopic examination and growth on routine media. In addition, because these isolates confer antifungal resistance, patient management requires extra care

Aspergillus infections in intensive care units: Before and after the COVID-19 pandemic

Introduction: Aspergillus species have begun to cause invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) with increasing frequency in patients with known risk factors in intensive care units (ICU). An international multicenter cohort study (AspICU) established criteria for diagnosis of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) in intensive care units. In our study, patients with Aspergillus spp. growth in deep tracheal aspirate (DTA) samples in ICU were evaluated according to AspICU criteria.Materials and Methods: This study is a retrospective study. DTA samples were collected from the Pandemic and Reanimation ICU and performed in the Medical Microbiology Laboratory by separated two periods; pre-pandemic (1 March 2019-31 December 2019) and post-pandemic (1 March 2020-31 December 2020). Cases with Aspergillus spp. growth in the DTA samples in the Pandemic ICU were evaluated as COVID 19 associated pulmonary aspergillosis (CAPA) according to AspICU criteria.Results: While Aspergillus spp. was grown in the DTA of three patients in 2019 and five patients in 2020 in the Reanimation ICU, and 11 patients in the Pandemic ICU. Growths belonging to one patient from both Reanimation (2019) and Pandemic ICUs were considered as colonization. Other growths were interpreted as IPA according to AspICU criteria. When the incidence rates according to 10000 patient days were compared, the incidence rate increased significantly in 2020 (19.1) (p< 0.001) compared to 2019 (3.4); In 2020, it was determined that it increased significantly in the Pandemic ICU (40.4) (p< 0.001) compared to Reanimation ICU (9.2).Conclusion: It should not be forgotten that intensive care patients are also at risk for IPA, especially after viral infections (such as COVID-19, Influenza). Although the incidence of IPA was not very high, it was observed that it tended to increase according to our study. The diagnosis of IPA is problematic, therefore it is necessary to increase awareness and sample diversity and to use biomarkers more widely other than hematology patients

An evaluation of a Stenotrophomonas maltophilia outbreak due to commercial arterial blood gas collection kit

Abstract Background Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is a gram-negative bacterium that can cause hospital infections and outbreaks within hospitals. This study aimed to evaluate an outbreak of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, caused by ready-to-use commercial syringes containing liquid lithium and heparin for arterial blood gas collection in a university hospital. Methods Upon detecting an increase in Stenotrophomonas maltophilia growth in blood cultures between 15.09.2021 and 19.11.2021, an outbreak analysis and a case-control study (52 patients for the case group, 56 patients for the control group) were performed considering risk factors for bacteremia. Samples from possible foci for bacteremia were also cultured. Growing bacteria were identified by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The genetic linkage and clonal relationship isolates were investigated with pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) in the reference laboratory. Results In the case-control study, the odds ratio for the central venous catheter [3.38 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.444, 8.705 ; p = 0.006)], for surgery [3.387 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.370, 8.373 ; p = 0.008)] and for arterial blood gas collection history [18.584 (95% confidence interval [CI]:4.086, 84.197; p < 0.001)] were identified as significant risk factors. Stenotrophomonas maltophilia growth was found in ready-to-use commercial syringes used for arterial blood gas collection. Molecular analysis showed that the growths in the samples taken from commercial syringes and the growths from blood cultures were the same. It was decided that the epidemic occurred because the method for sterilization of heparinized liquid preparations were not suitable. After discontinuing the use of the kits with this lot number, the outbreak was brought under control. Conclusions According to our results, disposable or sterile medical equipment should be included as a risk factor in outbreak analyses. The method by which injectors containing liquids, such as heparin, are sterilized should be reviewed. Our study also revealed the importance of the cooperation of the infection control team with the microbiology laboratory