The Struggle with Contagious Diseases In Turkey in The Early Republican Period (1923-1930)

Türkiye Cumhuriyeti kurulduğunda, uzun veyorucu savaşlar sonucunda harabe haline gelenAnadolu’da salgın hastalıklar adeta kolgeziyordu. Anadolu halkı büyük bir sefaletiçerisinde hastane ve ilaca ulaşamıyordu.Cumhuriyetin ilanıyla birlikte halk sağlığıhizmetlerine yoğun önem verildi. ErkenCumhuriyet Dönemi olarak adlandırılabilecekolan 1923-1930 yılları arasında sağlık alanındakimesainin tamamı salgın hastalıklarla mücadeleiçin sarf edildi. Bu dönemde en yoğun görülenhastalıklar; sıtma, frengi, çiçek, kızıl, trahom,difteri ve verem idi. Ülkenin orta ve kuzeykesimlerinde frengi, güneyinde trahomtamamında ise sıtma hastalığı görülüyordu.1923-1930 döneminde bulaşıcı hastalıklarlamücadele edebilmek için heyetler kuruldu.Vilayetlerden gelen salgın ihbarları dikkatealınarak hastalığın görüldüğü yerlere ilaç, aşı,serum ve doktor gönderildi. Mücadelede önemliyeri olan aşıların üretimi devlet eliyle yapıldı.Türkiye’de üretilemeyen ilaçlar ise yurtdışındanithal edildi. 1930 yılında saha çalışmalarındanelde edilen tecrübeler doğrultusunda UmumiHıfzıssıhha Kanunu çıkarıldı. Bulaşıcı ve salgınhastalıklarla mücadele bu düzenlemeyle yasalzemine oturtuldu.Bu çalışmada Türkiye’de 1923-1930döneminde görülen bulaşıcı hastalıklarla yapılanmücadele ele alınırken; arşiv belgeleri, gazetelertelif ve tetkik eserlerden yararlanıldı.When the Republic of Turkey was established,epidemics were almost running rampant inAnatolia, which had been ruined due to long andtiresome wars. In this great misery, Anatolianpeople did not have hospitals or medications. Withthe proclamation of the Republic, a particularimportance was given to public health services.Between the years of 1923 and 1930, which can becalled the Early Republican Period, all the effortsin the field of health were made for struggle withepidemics. The most encountered diseasesinflicting people in this period were malaria,syphilis, variola, scarlet fever, trachoma,diphtheria, and tuberculosis. Syphilis was mostlyobserved in the central and northern parts of thecountry, trachoma in the South, and malaria allaround.Committees were established to struggle withepidemics in the 1923-1930 period. Medications,vaccines, serum, and physicians were sentaccording to the reports of epidemics receivedfrom provinces. The production of vaccines, whichwere a critical part of this struggle, was carried outby the state. Medications which could not beproduced in Turkey were imported from abroad. In1930, based on the experiences gained from thefield works, the Public Health Law was enacted.With this law, the struggle with contagious andepidemic diseases gained a legal ground.Drawing on archival documents, newspapers,books, and reviews, the current study addresses thestruggle made with epidemics observed in the1923-1930 period in Turkey

Greek Occupation in Western Anatolia And Emigrants of Aydin (1919-1920)

Birinci Dünya Savaşı sonucunda İtilaf Devletleri ile imzalanan Mondros Mütarekesi gerekçe gösterilerek 15 Mayıs 1919'da İzmir, Yunan kuvvetleri tarafından işgal edildi. 27 Mayıs 1919'da ise Aydın, Yunan işgaline uğradı. İşgali takip eden günlerde Yunan askerleri İzmir ve Aydın çevresinde yaşayan Müslüman Türklere karşı büyük katliamlar yapmaya başladı. Katliamların en büyük amacı; bölgedeki Türk nüfus oranlarının Rumlar aleyhinde değiştirilmek istenmesinden kaynaklanıyordu. Savaşların en trajik sonuçlarının başında, savaş bölgelerinde yaşayan sivil halkın yaşadığı bölgeleri terk etmeleri yani göçler gelmektedir. Yunanlıların yaptıkları katliamlara karşı kayıtsız kalamayan bölge halkı iç bölgelere doğru göçe başladı. Bölgedeki idari ve askeri yetkililerin çabaları göçü engelleme noktasında yetersiz kaldı. Çoğunluğunu kadın, çocuk ve yaşlıların oluşturduğu muhacirler İtalyan işgal bölgelerine sığınmaya başladılar. Muhacirler güney ve kuzey mıntıkası olarak adlandırılan iki farklı bölgeye göç etmek zorunda kaldılar. Göç kafileleri Çine, Koçarlı, Afyonkarahisar ve Balıkesir'e kadar uzanan coğrafyaya ulaştı. İşgallere hazırlıksız yakalanan muhacirler üzerlerinde kıyafetleri; yanlarında erzakları olmadan yola çıkmışlardı. Göç kafilelerinin ulaştığı bölgelerde barınma, sağlık ve iaşe konularında ciddi sorunlar ortaya çıktı. İlk etapta ulaştıkları bölgelerdeki yerel idare ve ahali, muhacirlere sahip çıktı. İlerleyen süreçte, bölgeye gönderilen devlet görevlileri tarafından gerekli yardımlar yapıldı. Bu çalışmada; Aydın ve çevresinden göç etmek zorunda kalan yaklaşık 140 bin muhacirin yerleştikleri bölgeler, karşılaştıkları sağlık problemleri ve bu muhacirlere yapılan yardımlar ele alınacaktırizmir was occupied by Greek forces on 15 May 1919 on the pretext of the Armistice of Mudros that was signed with the Allied Powers in the end of World War I. Afterwards on 27 May 1919, Greeks occupied Aydın. On the days following the occupation, Greek soldiers began to massacre Muslim Turks living around İzmir and Aydın. The greatest goal of the massacres was to reduce Turkish population than the Greek population. One of the most tragic results of wars is that civilians living in war territories are obliged to leave their settlements, that is, migration. Due to these Greek massacres, population of the region began to emigrate towards interior areas. Efforts made by the administrative and military officials in the region were not sufficient in prevention of the emigration. Mostly consisting of women, children and elders, emigrants began to take refuge in the regions under Italian occupation. Emigrants had to go to two different regions named the southern and the northern territories. Some groups reached as far as Çine, Koçarlı, Afyonkarahisar and Balıkesir. Caught with occupations off their guards, emigrants had set off with insufficient clothing and supplies. Serious problems in terms of sheltering, health and food arose in the regions that the groups reached. They were helped by the local administrative officials and communities of the areas that they initially reached. In the following periods, they were helped by the government officials who were sent to the region. In connection with approximately 140 thousand emigrants who had to emigrate from around Aydın, this study addresses the areas they settled to, the health problems they suffered and the assistance they were provided wit

The Impact of CoronaVac Vaccination on 28-day Mortality Rate of Critically Ill Patients with COVID-19 in Türkiye

Background:Vaccines against coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) have been effective in preventing symptomatic diseases, hospitalizations, and intensive care unit (ICU) admissions. However, data regarding the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines in reducing mortality among critically ill patients with COVID-19 remains unclear.Aims:To determine the vaccination status and investigate the impact of the COVID-19 vaccine on the 28-day mortality in critically ill patients with COVID-19.Study Design:Multicenter prospective observational clinical study.Methods:This study was conducted in 60 hospitals with ICUs managing critically ill patients with COVID-19. Patients aged ≥ 18 years with confirmed COVID-19 who were admitted to the ICU were included. The present study had two phases. The first phase was designed as a one-day point prevalence study, and demographic and clinical findings were evaluated. In the second phase, the 28-day mortality was evaluated.Results:As of August 11, 2021, 921 patients were enrolled in the study. The mean age of the patients was 65.42 ± 16.74 years, and 48.6% (n = 448) were female. Among the critically ill patients with COVID-19, 52.6% (n = 484) were unvaccinated, 7.7% (n = 71) were incompletely vaccinated, and 39.8% (n = 366) were fully vaccinated. A subgroup analysis of 817 patients who were unvaccinated (n = 484) or who had received two doses of the CoronaVac vaccine (n = 333) was performed. The 28-day mortality rate was 56.8% (n = 275) and 57.4% (n = 191) in the unvaccinated and two-dose CoronaVac groups, respectively. The 28-day mortality was associated with age, hypertension, the number of comorbidities, type of respiratory support, and APACHE II and sequential organ failure assessment scores (p < 0.05). The odds ratio for the 28-day mortality among those who had received two doses of CoronaVac was 0.591 (95% confidence interval: 0.413-0.848) (p = 0.004).Conclusion:Vaccination with at least two doses of CoronaVac within six months significantly decreased mortality in vaccinated patients than in unvaccinated patients