Hasan Tezer

Multicenter Prospective Study on the Burden of Rotavirus Gastroenteritis in Turkey, 2005–2006: A Hospital-Based Study

Rotavirus is the main cause of gastroenteritis and dehydration requiring hospitalization among infants and children. Despite the high diarrhea-related mortality rate, there are limited studies describing the prevalence of rotavirus in Turkey. The disease burden of rotavirus gastroenteritis in Turkey was assessed by active, prospective surveillance conducted in accordance with a modified World Health Organization generic protocol from 1 June 2005 through 1 June 2006. A total of 411 children aged <5 years who were hospitalized for gastroenteritis in 4 centers were enrolled. Rotavirus was identified in 53% of samples from the 338 children tested; the range for individual centers was 32.4%-67.4%. Overall, 83.8% of rotavirus-positive children were aged <2 years. Rotavirus gastroenteritis occurred year-round but peaked in the winter. G1P[8] was the most widely prevalent strain (76% of strains), followed by G2P[4] (12.8%). G9P[8] was reported in samples from 3.9% of children. These data support the need for a rotavirus vaccine in Turkey.

Primary sternal osteomyelitis in a healthy child due to community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and literature review

Primary sternal osteomyelitis is a rare condition. Most of the recent cases have been reported in intravenous drug abusers. A 4-y-old male case of primary sternal osteomyelitis due to community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus with no apparent risk factors is reported. The diagnosis should be suspected in a young patient presenting with acute inflammatory swelling over the sternum. While bacteriological culture results are pending, antibiotic therapy with Staphylococcus aureus coverage should be initiated empirically and the possibility of community-acquired methicillin-resistant S. aureus must be borne in mind. In this report we also review the literature of paediatric primary sternal osteomyelitis.

Secondary attack rate of hepatitis A, varicella and mumps in household settings and reliability of family history to detect seronegative children for necessity of vaccination

Hepatitis A, varicella, and mumps are common in countries without universal immunization against these infections. Information about secondary household attack rates is limited. A prospective study was conducted in children <16 y of age who had household contact with the above infections. History for previous infections and vaccination was obtained from the parents. Specific antibodies in the sera during enrolment and at the end of the longest incubation periods were determined. A total of 113 children who had household contact with cases of varicella, hepatitis A, or mumps were enrolled. Secondary attack rate (SAR) was lower in hepatitis A (43.3%) than those for varicella (75.0%) and mumps (65.3%) (p<0.05). Rate of secondary asymptomatic infections was 25.6% in the hepatitis A group, 3.1% in the varicella group, and 16.6% in the mumps group. Positive predictive value (PPV) of the history was 100% for all 3 diseases and negative predictive value (NPV) was 85% for hepatitis A, 80.0% for varicella, and 56.2% for mumps. In conclusion, asymptomatic infections are important in the calculation of SARs in household contacts. PPV and NPV of medical history taken from parents might be useful when deciding the need for vaccination.

Household poisoning cases from mercury brought from school

Mercury has a number of unique and fascinating properties. It is present in the environment in several forms, both organic and inorganic. Each of these forms has somewhat unique properties that differentiate them from the other forms, but all are toxic to humans in one way or the others. Mercury has been proven to be a potential source of poisoning in children as a result of the inappropriate handling of a liquid mercury. The cases of metallic mercury vapor intoxication not associated with occupational exposure may occur in school science laboratories, from mercury dust and powders, from latex paint containing a mercury-based fungicide, and from normal wear or installation of dental amalgam fillings. Another source of toxic mercury exposure can be broken thermometers, barometers, or sphygmomanometers that may occur in the home, and children are often victims of environmental exposure. In this paper, we present three members of a family who were exposed to mercury brought home from school by a family member. Since the mercury exposure was not known, the initial presentation and clinical picture suggested a misdiagnosis, a contagious infectious disease, because the onset of symptoms occurred at different times in the same family members. A subsequent change to a diagnosis of mercury intoxication and chelation therapy with meso-2,3-dimercaptosuccinic acid was started.

The comparison of cultures, widal agglutination test and polymerase chain reaction as a diagnostic tool in typhoid fever

Typhoid fever caused by Salmonella typhi, paratyphi A and B, is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in many developing countries. A rapid and sensitive method for the detection of S. typhi is essential for early diagnosis of typhoid fever and effective therapy. In this study 45 febrile patients who were suspected to have enteric fever were enrolled, and the results of blood cultures, widal agglutination tests and Polymerase Chain Reaction in these cases were evaluated. Group I consisted of 11 patients with diseases other than salmonella infections, group II represented 6 patients with positive cultures, and group III represented 28 patients with negative blood cultures negative but who were clinically suspected cases that had a medical history of using variable antimicrobial agents. Two positive PCR results were present; one of them was in culture positive group (16,6%) and the other was in culture negative group (3,5%). In our study widal agglutination tests and cultures were found not to be helpful in differential dignosis. Although PCR based detection of S. typhi is reported to be a sensitive and specific test for the diagnosis of enteric fever, in our study the benefit of this method in the diagnosis of especially patients who were treated with antimicrobial therapy was not clearly determined. Other methods to increase sensitiviy and specificity to levels such as those of real time PCR should be developed and large-scaled studies should be done in endemic and non-epidemic regions.

Accentuated varicella exanthems due to cast application.

Abstract:u2002 We report a case of 14‐year‐old male with local augmentation of varicella zoster exanthems on the forearm on which cast application was performed. After 1 week, the first varicella zoster exanthems began to appear on the left forearm under the cast and trunk, while lesions on the other forearm and extremities were very rare. We postulated that the local pressure and heat increased the number of exanthems.