Bacteria causing hospital-associated infections continue to become resistant due to antibiotic resistance, which has become a global problem worldwide and accordingly, the antibiotic options used in the treatment of infectious diseases caused by these bacteria are limited. In the light of the data obtained from experimental studies on plants, it is thought that plant extracts may be a promising option in the treatment of infectious diseases. In this study, it was aimed to determine the antibacterial activity of Taraxacum officinale extracts on Bacteroides fragilis ATCC 25285 standard strain by broth microdilution method and to pioneer different studies that will investigate the antibacterial effects of plant extracts on resistant B.fragilis strains that cause hospital-acquired opportunistic infections after invasive interventions and trauma. In this study, the T.officinale plant collected as a result of field work was divided into root, leaf and flower parts and dried at 70 °C for 24 hours and then turned into powder. Dried plant samples were extracted in ethanol and methanol for 24 hours. The obtained extracts were stored at -80 °C to be used in the broth microdilution method. B.fragilis ATCC 25285 standard strain was used as the bacterial strain. As a result of the experiments performed with broth microdilution method, the MIC (minimum inhibitory concentration) value of root, leaf and flower extracts with ethanol was determined as 200 μg/ mL, the methanolic root extract as 100 μg/mL and the methanolic leaf and flower extracts as 200 μg/mL. As a result, ethanol and methanol plant extracts were found to be effective on B.fragilis strain.
Intravesical administration of Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine is used in the treatment of superficial bladder cancer. In clinical practice, intravesical BCG immunotherapy after transurethral tumor resection is a highly effective treatment option in preventing tumor recurrence and progression in medium and high risk superficial bladder tumors. Since patients are given live tuberculosis (TB) bacillus, serious side effects such as pneumonia, sepsis and even death can be seen. Lung involvement occurs in less than 1% of patients and most commonly presents as interstitial pneumonia or miliary TB. Miliary TB is difficult to diagnose and is usually based on high clinical suspicion, as Mycobacterium bovis is not isolated in most cases. Treatment is not completely standardized. However, in severe cases, a combination of antituberculosis drugs and corticosteroids is recommended. In this report, a case of miliary tuberculosis, a very rare complication after instillation of BCG into the bladder in a patient with a diagnosis of superficial bladder cancer, was presented. A 73-year-old male patient diagnosed with bladder tumor underwent transurethral resection of bladder tumor, and then weekly intravesical injection of BCG-MEDAC for six weeks had no adverse effects. Three weeks of intravesical BCG supplementation was planned for the patient who had no signs of recurrence when checked three months later by cystoscopy. Two hours after the first dose, the patient, who applied to the emergency department with the complaint of chills and shivering, was hospitalized for further follow-up and treatment. Afterwards, repeat cultures were taken from the patient whose fever continued on the seventh day of treatment with broad-spectrum antibiotics (meropenem and teicoplanin). In addition, when abdominal and thorax computed tomography (CT) were performed, multiple miliary nodular lesions were detected in both lungs and were evaluated in favor of miliary TB. With these findings, the patient was started on miliary TB therapy [isoniazid (INH), rifampicin (RIF), ethambutol (EMB) and streptomycin (STM)] targeting Mycobacterium bovis, since it was an infection that developed after BCG injection. In the third week of the treatment, the patient's fever was under control, and he was discharged on the 25th day of his hospitalization because of significant improvement in infection markers [C-reactive protein(CRP)-procalcitonin]. At the end of two months, there was clear regression of pulmonary abnormalities on control thorax CT. In conclusion, miliary TB developing after intravesical BCG instillation is a very rare condition, the cause of which is not fully understood, the etiology of fever can be easily missed, and the diagnosis is difficult. In addition, this case is presented to draw attention to a critical disease that requires long treatment and follow-up and requires attention.
The clinical spectrum of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) disease ranges from mild to fatal. Adult patients infected with the CCHF virus have a case fatality rate ranging from 3% to 30%. In order to measure the severity and mortality of CCHF disease, scoring systems comprised of laboratory data and clinical observations have been developed. In this study, it was aimed to develop a scoring system that was easy to use and reliable, with parameters that are often looked at in clinical practice to predict mortality in CCHF disease. For this purpose, a new scoring system that combines CURB-65 and bleeding (CURB-65+B) was developed. The mortality prediction performance of this score in CCHF disease was evaluated. This study was conducted as a retrospective, single-center study in patients diagnosed with CCHF in a tertiary care hospital in a region where CCHF is endemic between April 2016 and October 2022. Five hundred patients with verified polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and/or IgM positive for CCHF were included in the study. In the CURB-65+B score, variables believed to be related with mortality; such as confusion, elevated urea, tachypnea, hypotension, age 65 or older, and the presence of bleeding, were assessed. The CURB-65+B scores of the patients were calculated and evaluated at the time of admission to the hospital. The median age of the included patients was 48, and 302 (60.4% of the total) were male. Bleeding was observed in 136 (27.2%) and mortality was observed in 17 (3.4%) of the patients. At the time of hospital admission, a CURB-65+B score that was more than three points was found to be a significant factor in predicting mortality. Among the initially evaluated laboratory parameters, bleeding, CURB-65 and CURB-65+B scores, the indicator with the highest predictive power for mortality was the CURB-65+B score with a cut-off value of above 3 points. The sensitivity of the CURB-65+B score was 88.2%, and the specificity was 95.9%. The predictive power of the score for mortality was 0.972. It was observed that the CURB-65+B score has a high predictive power in CCHF disease mortality. If the CURB-65+B score was higher than three points, it was discovered that the Kaplan-Meier survival analysis would have resulted in a 25.57-times shorter survival time and considerably lower survival times. In addition it was observed that, there was no mortality observed in any of the patients who had a score of 0 on the CURB-65+B score. As a result, in our study, it was determined that the CURB65+B score could be a useful, reliable and practical tool to easily calculate the mortality of CCHF patients during hospital admission and to guide the referral processes related to patient triage.
Respiratory tract infections are a major cause of morbidity and mortality at all ages and are seen as a very important public health problem all over the world. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the effect of the pandemic on the epidemiological and seasonal characteristics of the agents by analyzing the respiratory viral infection agents, viral co-infections and associations with Coronavirus diseases-2019 (COVID-19) studied by multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test in the molecular microbiology laboratory in a three-year period, including the one-year period before the pandemic. Between March 2019 and December 2021, 8825 respiratory tract specimens accepted to the molecular microbiology laboratory with respiratory tract multiplex PCR test requests were included in the study. In addition, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS-CoV-2) PCR test results of the patients with positive results with respiratory tract multiplex PCR test, which were studied within ± 3 days, were evaluated retrospectively. Respiratory viral pathogens were detected using FTD Respiratory Pathogens 21 kit (Fast Tract Diagnostics, Siemens Healthineers Company). Two different kits based on real-time reverse transcription PCR were used for SARS-CoV-2 RNA detection in different periods. According to our results, at least one viral agent was detected in 2156 (24.4%) of a total of 8825 samples and a single agent was detected in 1843 (85.5%) of these. The distribution of viruses in the samples with a single agent was determined as RV, RSV A/B, HCoVs, AdV, flu A virus, MPV A/B, PIV 1-4, flu B virus, EV, BoV and PeV, in order of frequency. Multiple agents were found in 313 (14.5%) of these 2156 samples. They were found to be two agents in 291 samples, three in 21 samples and four in one sample. When the SARS-CoV-2 PCR test results of the patients who had positive results with respiratory tract multiplex PCR and who were studied within ± 3 days were evaluated retrospectively, SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected in 45 (3.5%) of 1277 samples in which at least one agent was detected. In four of these patients, SARS-CoV-2 was found together with multiple agents. Consequently, there was a sharp decrease in the prevalence of all viral agents during the pandemic period. It was evaluated that besides the COVID-19 infection, the restrictions applied during the pandemic period were also effective in this situation.
Although various bacteria and viruses have been identified in the etiology of acute respiratory tract infections (ARI), 90% of acute ARIs that develop in children are of viral origin. The aim of this study was to investigate the seasonal trends and interactions between infectious agents and to determine the risk factors associated with ARI in children aged 1-15 years admitted to the Pediatric Emergency Department of Manisa Celal Bayar University Hospital in the advancing periods of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic. To determine the bacterial and viral agents, samples were taken from 314 patients attending to the hospital with symptoms suggestive for ARI, between 06/01/2021 and 05/31/2022. Viral and bacterial agents were identified by multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and automated identification system, respectively. Demographic data of the participants and possible risk factors for ARI were recorded in the questionnaires. In the study, viral agents were detected in 77.3% of the children, and the most common infectious agent was rhinovirus/enterovirus (RV/EV) (36.3%), followed by influenza viruses (11.2%), and SARS-CoV-2 (10.5%). While RV/EV positivity was found to be higher in children with moderate and below average (p< 0.001) hand hygiene, influenza positivity was found higher in those attending school/preschool institution (p< 0.001) and whose mothers working full-time (p< 0.001). Respiratory syncytial virus positivity was associated with maternal smoking (p= 0.013) and home overcrowding (p= 0.014). Bacterial colonization was detected in 33 (11.6%) of 284 children whose swabs were taken for both bacterial and viral agents and the most frequently detected agents were Staphylococcus aureus (60.6%) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (15.2%). Having siblings (p= 0.008) and maternal smoking (p= 0.012) were found to be associated with the detection of bacterial agents. In this study, in the advanced period of the pandemic, the most detected agents and seasonal characteristics were found to be similar to the pre-pandemic period. It is thought that knowing the regional etiology and risk factors will contribute to taking the necessary local control and protective measures.
Pasteurella species are gram-negative bacilli found in healthy pets' oropharynx and gastrointestinal tract flora. In humans, skin and soft tissue infections develop most frequently with the bite or scratching of animals such as cats or dogs. At the same time, they cause infections in the respiratory tract, mainly in patients with chronic lung disease or immunosuppressive patients. In this case report, a rare case of pneumonia caused by P.multocida bacteria in a patient with bronchiectasis was presented. A young male patient was admitted to the emergency department of our hospital with complaints of hemoptysis, cough with phlegm, and weight loss. The patient's blood pressure was 140/82 mmHg and SO2= 94%. Rales and rhonchi were detected in the lower left lung during the examination. Standard thorax tomography revealed prominent cystic structures and pneumonic infiltrates in the left lower lobe. Laboratory findings were normal. The Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRt-PCR) test was found to be negative in the nasopharyngeal swab sample taken from the patient. Fiberoptic bronchoscopy was performed on the patient to investigate the presence of endobronchial lesion or foreign body aspiration. Culture and cytological evaluation was requested from the bronchial lavage taken. Gram-negative coccobacilli were seen among dense polymorphonuclear leukocytes in the Gram stain of the sample. Acid-fast bacilli were not detected with Ehrlich Ziehl Neelsen stain. In the lavage culture evaluated after 24 hours, colonies growing in blood and chocolate media were stained and gramnegative coccobacilli were observed. The isolate was identified as 96.0% P.canis with the automated Vitek 2 (Biomerieux, France) system. It was determined that the isolate was susceptible to levofloxacin, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, amoxicillin-clavulanic acid, penicillin, ciprofloxacin and cefotaxime in the antibiogram performed by disc diffusion test according to EUCAST v13.0 guideline criteria. Sequence analysis of the isolate obtained from the culture was performed on the ABI Prism 310 Genetic Analyzer (Applied Biosystems, USA). Sequence analysis of the isolate revealed 99.85% homology with P.multocida (GenBank accession no: NG_115137.1). Although Pasteurella multocida pneumonia is not commonly observed, the presence of underlying bronchiectasis in this patient facilitated the establishment of the bacteria. In order not to miss the diagnosis of pneumonia due to P.multocida, microbiological evaluation and molecular typing should be performed in the samples taken from the respiratory tract in patients with chronic respiratory diseases such as bronchiectasis.

