Putative Bronchopulmonary Flagellated Protozoa in Immunosuppressed Patients

Flagellated protozoa that cause bronchopulmonary symptoms in humans are commonly neglected. These protozoal forms which were presumed to be “flagellated protozoa” have been previously identified in immunosuppressed patients in a number of studies, but have not been certainly classified so far. Since no human cases of bronchopulmonary flagellated protozoa were reported from Turkey, we aimed to investigate these putative protozoa in immunosuppressed patients who are particularly at risk of infectious diseases. Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid samples of 110 immunosuppressed adult patients who were admitted to the Department of Chest Diseases, Hafsa Sultan Hospital of Celal Bayar University, Manisa, Turkey, were examined in terms of parasites by light microscopy. Flagellated protozoal forms were detected in nine (8.2%) of 110 cases. Metronidazole (500 mg b.i.d. for 30 days) was given to all positive cases and a second bronchoscopy was performed at the end of the treatment, which revealed no parasites. In conclusion, immunosuppressed patients with bronchopulmonary symptoms should attentively be examined with regard to flagellated protozoa which can easily be misidentified as epithelial cells

Genotyping of Giardia Lamblia in A Cohort of Turkish Patients: A Search for A Relationship Between Symptoms and Genotypes

Recent surveys investigating the molecular biology of Giardia lamblia revealed two distinct assemblages with different clinical outcomes. However, there is not a universal compromise about the clinical effects of each assemblage, warranting further studies. Here, we report the results of the first analyses of the assemblages of G. lamblia in Manisa province located in western Turkey, together with their relationships with the symptoms and DNA sequence analyses of the PCR products. DNA samples were isolated from the stools of 63 patients infected with G. lamblia and 54 DNA samples, amplified successfully with PCR, were digested with the enzyme Xho I for RFLP. Thirty-eight of 54 samples (70.4%) were found to be in Assemblage A, while the remaining 16 samples (29.6%) were found to be in Assemblage B. The number of female patients was found significantly higher in Assemblage B (P=0.18). There was a statistically significant relationship between the occurrence of both abdominal pain and diarrhea and Assemblage B (chi-square, 10.52; P<0.05). No other statistically significant relationship was detected between the assemblages and neither with the symptoms nor with the age groups of the patients. The comparison of the DNA sequences of the PCR products from two assemblage B (one subtype B1 and one B) and one assemblage A samples both with each other and with other DNA sequences in the NCBI website by multialignment analyses, revealed specific regions for assemblages B (B1-B) and A on tpi gene region. Further studies with more patients are required to assess these initial results. Now, our aim is to design a probe for tpi gene region to set up a real-time PCR assay that is easier to conduct and requiring shorter time for the analyses.Wo

Okullarda Düzenli Aralıklarla Gerçekleştirilen Kontroller Saç Biti (Pediculus capitis) İnsidansını Düşürmekte Yeterli Olabilir mi?

In the present study, school children of similar age-groups from two villages of Manisa province, namely Osmancalı and Maldan, were examined in regular time periods to monitorize the changes in the incidence of head lice (Pediculus capitis). A total of 2091 children (1565 in Osmancalı and 526 in Maldan) were combed with a newly-designed lice comb (PDC;reg;, KSL Consulting, Helsinge, Denmark) four times in May and November in 2008 and 2009. The assessment of the results was conducted with SPSS;reg; v.15 program using CHAID and logistic regression analysis. The results of the periodic examinations of the children showed that the infestation rate of girls were found to be higher significantly compared to boys (P;lt;0.001), and the incidence of head lice infestation in boys from Osmancalı was found three times higher than the incidence in boys in Maldan (P=0.002). In addition, regular dry combing and treatment lowered the infestation rates among girls significantly (P=0.001). According to the results of the study, regular dry combing of school children with specially-designed lice combs may be essential for the control of this common infestation, especially in rural areasÇalışmamızda Manisa'nın Osmancalı ve Maldan köylerindeki ilköğretim okullarında aynı yaş grubundaki çocuklarda belirli aralıklarla saç biti (Pediculus capitis) taramaları yapılmış ve çocuklardaki bit varlığındaki değişimler izlenerek kaydedilmiştir. Bu bağlamda, 2008 ve 2009 yıllarının Mayıs ve Kasım aylarında o zaman için yeni geliştirilmiş bir bit tarağı (PDC®, KSL Consulting, Helsinge, Danimarka) kullanılarak yapılan düzenli taramalarda, (1565'i Osmancalı, 526'sı Maldan'dan) toplam 2091 çocuk çalışmaya dâhil edilmiştir. Sonuçların değerlendirilmesi SPSS® v.15 programının CHAID ve lojistik regresyon analizi kullanılarak yapılmıştır. Düzenli aralıklarla toplam 4 kez gerçekleştirilen taramalar sonucunda, kızlarda saç biti infestasyonunun erkeklerden çok daha yüksek düzeylerde olduğu (P0.001), Osmancalı'daki erkek öğrencilerdeki insidansın Maldan'daki erkeklerin yaklaşık 3 katı olduğu (P=0.002) gözlenmiştir. Ayrıca, düzenli tarama ve tedaviler sonucunda kızlardaki saç biti infestasyonunun anlamlı düzeyde azaldığı belirlenmiştir (P=0.001). Bu çalışmanın sonuçları, saç biti infestasyonunun kontrol altına alınmasında düzenli aralıklarla yapılan muayene ve tedavilerin özellikle kırsal kesimde başarılı olabileceğini göstermişti