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Objective: Parvovirus B19 causes a range of diseases and morbidity in humans and is transmissible by transfusion of blood, blood components and plasma derivatives. The objective of the study was to investigate the prevalence and quantity of B19 DNA among blood donors., Method: Totally 1053 samples were collected from March to July 2016 at a blood bank for detection of Parvovirus B19 DNA and serological status of blood donors. Testing of the presence of viral DNA was performed by a quantitative real-time PCR with a 101 copies/ml detection limit. All DNA positive and randomly selected 267 samples were tested for the presence of anti-B19 IgM and IgG by ELISA., Results: Age distribution of donors was between 18-64; mean age was 27 and median was 23. Among the 1053 samples, 5 (0.47%) had PB19 DNA. All PB19 DNA positive donations had both B19 IgM and IgG antibodies. The DNA level for positive donations were between 0.9 × 102 to 3.1 × 104 copies/ml. IgG and IgM were present in 59.9% (160/267) and 0,74% (2/267) respectively among the healthy donors without PB19 DNA., Conclusion: Detected DNA concentration was less than 105 copies/ml. The presence of IgM in low level PB19 DNA positive donors may indicate that there might be a risk in transmission of PB19 to particularly immunosuppressed recipients. The clinical follow-up of blood donation with low level of PB19DNA should be considered to answer the questions about blood safety., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Bloodstream infections are one of the major causes of healthcare-associated morbidity and mortality. The present study aims to investigate the prevalence of the microorganisms isolated from blood cultures and to evaluate susceptibilities to antimicrobial agents in a tertiary center, Gulhane Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey., Methods: Blood cultures (BCs) were incubated in BACTEC/9050 (Becton Dickinson, USA) (2007 - 2015) and BacT/ALERT (bio-Merieux, France) (2014 - 2016) automated systems. PhoenixTM 100 system (Becton Dickinson, USA) (2007 - 2014), MALDI-TOF MS (Bruker, USA) (2015 - 2016) and conventional techniques were used for the identification of isolated microorganisms. According to CLSI (2007 - 2014) and EUCAST (2015 - 2016) criteria, Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method, PhoenixTM system, and broth microdilution were applied for antimicrobial susceptibility testing. Two five-year periods were statistically compared regarding antibiotic resistance., Results: From the overall evaluated 31,380 BCs, 7,367 cultures (23.5%) were positive, excluding 503 BCs (6.4%), which were interpreted as contamination. Of 7,367 isolated microorganisms, 3,680 (50.0%) were gram-negative, 3,303 (44.8%) were gram-positive bacteria, and 384 (5.2%) were fungi. Coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) were predominantly isolated (n = 2,075; 28.2%) among gram-positives. E.coli (n = 978; 13.3%) was the most frequently isolated gram-negative species. Between the first and the last five-year period, three genera (Enterococcus spp., Acinetobacter spp., Streptococcus spp.) showed significant differences when isolated, and only Enterococcus spp. showed increased isolation rates. In total, 90.3% of CoNS and 32% of S. aureus were methicillin-resistant. Only 75 strains of Enterococcus spp. (12.1%) were vancomycin-resistant. ESBL was detected in 40.6% of E. coli and 30.7% of Klebsiella spp. isolates. Carbapenem resistance showed a significant increase, particularly in K. pneumoniae (> 20%)., Conclusions: The findings suggest that there was a threatening condition in antimicrobial resistance rates, especially for some antimicrobials between two periods. Although antimicrobial resistance is usually associated with MRSA, carbapenem resistance, ESBL, and VRE, the problem is far beyond these definitions, consisting of not just medicine, but also commercial companies, food industry, veterinarians, and other areas.

Carbapenems are the choice of treatment in infections caused by multidrug resistant Enterobacteriaceae. In recent years carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae isolates due to carbapenemases have been increasingly reported worldwide. Multicenter studies on carbapenemases are scarce in Turkey. The aim of this study was to determine the distribution of carbapenemases from different parts of Turkey as a part of the European Survey of Carbapenemase Producing Enterobacteriaceae (EuSCAPE) project. Beginning in November 2013, carbapenem-resistant isolates resistant to at least one of the agents, namely imipenem, meropenem, and ertapenem were sent to the coordinating center. Minimum inhibitory concentrations for these carbapenems were determined by microdilution tests following EUCAST guidelines. Production of carbapenemase was confirmed by combination disk synergy tests. Types of carbapenemases were investigated using specific primers for VIM, IMP; NDM, KPC and OXA-48 genes by multiplex polymerase chain reaction. In a six month period, 155 suspected carbapenemase-positive isolates were sent to the coordinating center of which 21 (13.5%) were E.coli and 134 (86.5%) were K.pneumoniae. Nineteen (90.5%) strains among E.coli and 124 (92.5%) strains among K.pneumoniae were shown to harbour at least one carbapenemase gene by molecular tests, with a total of 92.3% (143/155). Carbapenemases were determined as a single enzyme in 136 strains (OXA-48: 84.6%; NDM: 6.3%; VIM: 2.8%; IMP: 1.4%) and as a combination in seven isolates (OXA-48 + NDM: 2.1%; OXA-48 + VIM: 2.1%; VIM + NDM: 0.7%). KPC was not detected in any of the isolates. According to the microdilution test results, resistance to imipenem, meropenem and ertapenem in OXA-48 isolates were 59.5%, 52.9% and 100%, respectively. The combination disk synergy test was 100% compatible with the molecular test results. As most of the OXA-48 producing isolates were susceptible to meropenem but all were resistant to ertapenem, ertapenem seems to be the most sensitive agent in screening carbapenemases in areas where OXA-48 is prevalent and phenotypic combination tests can be useful in centers where molecular tests are not available.

Background: The isolation of Brucella species from blood may be achieved by using classic culture techniques, but detection of the organism is difficult due to its slow growth. The time-to-detection of Brucella can take up to 30 days using the Castaneda blood culture method. Automated blood culture systems have reduced the growth time of Brucella., Material/methods: In this report we would like to contribute our experience on detection time in the isolation of Brucella species from 33,039 blood culture sets using BacT/ALERT between 1995 and 2000 (13 isolates) and thereafter using both the BACTEC and BacT/ALERT systems (17 isolates)., Results: Thirty Brucella spp. (17 by both systems and 13 by BacT/ALERT only) were isolated from 33,039 blood culture sets between 1995 and 2002. Brucellae were recovered between 1.8 and 3.7 days (mean: 2.5 days) in the BacT/ALERT blood culture system and between 2.1 and 3.8 days (mean: 2.8 days) in BACTEC 9240 system., Conclusions: We concluded that the mean time-to-detection could be

We describe the first case of Neisseria meningitidis W135 meningitis in Turkey. The strain was genotypically unrelated to the clone (W)ET-37, isolated from Hajj pilgrims in 2000.

The aim of this study was to determine the in vitro antimicrobial activity of recently licensed quinupristin/dalfopristin and linezolid which have not yet been in clinical use in Turkey against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) strains isolated from various clinical specimens by using the Etest. The results showed that all MRSA strains were fully susceptible to both the new compounds. All strains were inhibited by 1 mg/l quinupristin/dalfopristin (mode MIC 0.38 mg/l) and by 3 mg/l linezolid (mode MIC 1.5 mg/l). Four strains of Enterococcus faecium showed an increase of resistance of 2-3 mg/l to quinupristin/dalfopristin (susceptible mode MIC 0.38 mg/l). With linezolid, all strains except two fell within the range 0.75-2.0 mg/l.

Unlabelled: The frequency of resistance to erythromycin of group A beta-haemolytic streptococci in the last 7 years was determined in three medical centres in Ankara. While all group A beta-haemolytic streptococci strains were susceptible to penicillin, a gradual increase in resistance to erythromycin until 1992 was observed. However, a substantial increase in erythromycin resistance occurred in 1993 when newer macrolides became available and were widely used in the latter part of 1992., Conclusion: The data show that frequent testing for resistance to erythromycin of group A beta-haemolytic streptococci is required for the use of this antibiotic in our country.