Firdevs Aktas

Nosocomial fungemia due to Trichosporon asteroides: firstly described bloodstream infection

Trichosporon spp. are oppurtunistic yeasts that cause deep-seated, mucosa-associated, and superficial infections in immunocompromised patients. It is well known that Trichosporon asteroides is mainly responsible of superficial infections and does not cause systemic infections in humans so far. In this study, we present the first case of disseminated infection due to Trichosporon asteroides in an intensive care patient. Yeast colonies were isolated from the specimens of blood, urine, aspiration fluid of the endotracheal tube and catheter tip swabs of the patient. Conventional mycological studies were not adequate for the identification of the isolate to the species level. The genetic identification of the yeast isolate was performed and the DNA sequence of the isolate exactly matched the corresponding sequence of the Trichosporon asteroides rRNA gene from the GenBank DNA database (accession numbers: AB018017, AF075513). Therefore, our isolate was identified as Trichosporon asteroides as a causative agent of deep-seated fungemia.

Molecular investigation of a fungemia outbreak due to Candida parapsilosis in an intensive care unit

We investigated a nosocomial cluster of four Candida parapsilosis fungemia episodes that occurred in a neurological intensive care unit over a two-week period. The four infected patients had received parenteral nutrition through central lines, and all four had catheter-related candidemia. All of the isolates were susceptible to all of the antifungals tested, including amphotericin B, fluconazole, voriconazole, and caspofungin. They had strictly related fingerprints, based on randomly amplified polymorphic DNA analysis. Additional DNA sequencing data revealed that they were same strain. Although no isolate of Candida parapsilosis was recovered from other clinical, surveillance, or environmental samples, nosocomial spread of this yeast ceased, following the reinforcement of infection-control measures. Candida parapsilosis may require an intravascular foreign body to cause fungemia, but this outbreak shows that it can be transmitted nosocomially and can cause epidemics.

Age and duration of disease as factors affecting clinical findings and sacroiliitis in brucellosis.

Objective:Brucellosis may be seen in any age group, but it still involves young and middle aged adults more frequently. Our aim was to investigate the relationship between age and the duration of disease on clinical findings of brucellosis in adults in this study.Patients and Method:One hundred and sixty-three patients with brucellosis, treated in our hospital, between 1997 and 2003, were evaluated retrospectively.Results:Fever was found in 60.7% of the patients, and it was significantly higher when the duration of disease was less than one month (p = 0.03). Fever was significantly lower in the ≥ 65 age group (p = 0.01). Sacroiliitis was detected in 44.1% of patients. Sacroiliitis was significantly higher in the 15–35 age group (p = 0.03). There were no differences between age groups and other clinical and laboratory findings.Conclusions:Sacroiliac involvement was noted particularly in young adults who manifested lumbar pain and fever, but this might not be a major symptom of brucellosis in the elderly, or in patients showing symptoms for more than a month.

Emergence of carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella spp. infections in a Turkish university hospital: epidemiology and risk factors.

INTRODUCTION Risk factors for nosocomial carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella spp. (CRK) infections were analyzed in this study. METHODOLOGY The incidence, clinical characteristics, risk factors, antimicrobial susceptibility, and outcomes of CRK infections during a seven-year period (2004-2010) were retrospectively analyzed. RESULTS A total of 720 patients were included in the study. Carbapenem resistance among Klebsiella spp. were significantly increased between 2003 and 2007 (p<0.001). CRK strains were mostly isolated from ICUs (p<0.001). Use of imipenem and cefoperazone-sulbactam within prior three months, stay in ICU, receiving immunspressive therapy, receiving H2 receptor antagonists, tracheostomy, mechanical ventilation, hemodialysis, urinary catheter were found to be significant risk factors for carbapenem resistance Klebsiella spp. infections. In a multivariate analysis, prior use of imipenem (OR 3.35; CI 1.675-6.726, p<0.001), stay in ICU (OR 3.36; 95% CI 1.193-9.508; p=0.022), receiving H2 receptor antagonist (OR 4.49; 95% CI 1.011-19.951; p=0.048) were independently associated with carbapenem resistance. Respiratory tract infections were the most seen nosocomial infection. Attack mortality rate was significantly higher in patients infected with CRK strains (p<0.001). CRK strains showed significantly higher resistance rates to other antibiotics. CONCLUSIONS In conclusion, the emergence and rapid spread of CRK strains in our hospital is worrisome. The patients in ICU are most important risk group for the acquisition of CRK strains. High resistant rates to other antibiotics except than colistin and tigecycline limits therapeutic options, and increases mortality rates.

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever treated with ribavirin in a pregnant woman.

We report a case of Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) infection in a 36-week pregnant woman. She was treated with ribavirin. She did not transmit the disease to her baby. Her baby was the first known to survive being delivered by a woman with CCHF. The initialization of ribavirin treatment probably resulted in the survival of the mother and her baby.

Catheter-associated urinary tract infections in intensive care units at a university hospital in Turkey

In this study, urinary catheter utilization rates, the causative agents for catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) and their antimicrobial susceptibilities in intensive care units (ICUs) in 2009 were investigated at Gazi university hospital. We aimed to determine the causative agents and risk factors for CAUTIs, and antimicrobial susceptibilities of the pathogens; and also sensitivities of Candida spp. to antifungal agents with Microdilution and E-test. The most common etiological agents of CAUTIs were Candida spp. (34.7%). The most frequently isolated Candida spp. was C.albicans (52.4%). All C. albicans spp. were sensitive to fluconazole. Microdilution, used as a reference method to determine the sensitivity to antifungal agents, was compared with E test. E test was found to be sufficient to analyze sensitivity to amphotericin B, caspofungin, fluconazole and voriconazole, but inappropriate for itraconazole. E.coli and Klebsiella spp. were found to be causative agents for CAUTI in 20.6% and 9.9% of cases respectively. Pseudomonas spp. and Acinetobacter spp. were isolated in 14% and 8.2% of the cases, respectively. All E.coli and Klebsiella strains were found sensitive to carbapenems. Carbapenem sensitivity was found in 47.1% and 30% of the cases infected with Pseudomonas and Acinetobacter strains, respectively. According to our results, fluconazole therapy seems to be an appropriate choice for the treatment of CAUTIs caused by C.albicans. Third and fourth generation cephalosporins should not be used for empirical treatment because of the high prevalence of extended spectrum beta-lactamase production among E.coli and Klebsiella isolates.