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Background: Reduced bone mineral density (BMD) is a frequent comorbidity observed in people living with HIV (PLHIV). Objective: The aim of the study is to determine the prevalence and associated factors of reduced bone mineral density (BMD) among men with suppressed viral load taking antiretroviral therapy. Method: The study was conducted as a cross-sectional design between January to April 2019. 211 patients were included in the study. Z-score at either body site between -1.0 and -2.0 or -2 or less was defined as osteopenia or osteoporosis, respectively. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the factors affecting the development of reduced BMD. Results: The mean age of the patients involved in the study was 34.8 ± 7.6. Osteoporosis was detected in 21.4% and osteopenia in 44.5% of the patients. There was a significant relationship found between HIV diagnosis time, ART usage duration, tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) use, TDF use in the past, total TDF usage time and decreased BMD. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the likelihood of reduced bone marrow density was 67% lower among those with regular milk or dairy product intake compared to those without (OR=0.330; 95% CI = 0.12-0.92, p=0.033). Conclusion: There is a high prevalence of reduced BMD among PLHIV aged under 50, which is mainly confounded by HIV diagnosis time, ART usage duration and TDF usage. Although virological control has been achieved, these patients should be followed up, considering that they may have decreased BMD.

Objectives: Elvitegravir/cobicistat/emtricitabine/tenofovir alafenamide (E/C/F/TAF) is a recommended and widely used regimen for HIV infection. In this study, we aimed to determine the efficacy and safety of E/C/F/TAF in people living with HIV (PLWH), who are either treatment-naïve or switched from any tenofovir disoproxil fumarate-containing regimen. For switched patients, we aimed to determine the impact of switching from tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) to TAF on lipid profile and kidney functions. Methods: ACTHIV-IST Study Group produced a database, and five dedicated HIV centres in Istanbul entered data of PLWH who switched from any TDF-containing regimen to E/C/F/TAF and treatment-naïve patients who were initiated with the E/C/F/TAF regimen between January 2017 and December 2019. Clinical findings, viral parameters, lipid studies, renal function tests, adverse events and adherence to the treatment were recorded in this prospective observational study. Results: The study included a total of 614 switched and treatment-naïve patients. Of 430 treatment-experienced patients, 89% (382) were men, and the mean age was 42 ± 12 years. Among them, 47% (181/382) self-identified as men who have sex with men (MSM). The median duration of HIV diagnosis was 54 ± 29 months. The median duration of E/C/F/TAF use was 20 ± 36 months and that of previous treatment was 23 ± 18 months. HIV-RNA was undetectable at baseline and month 12 in 84.1% (360/428) and 86.1% (328/381) of patients, respectively ( p > 0.05). Mean CD4 counts were 708 ± 287 cells/µL and 802 ± 305 cells/µL at baseline and month 12, respectively ( p < 0.001). Serum creatinine levels remained stable during the treatment period. Mean total cholesterol levels at baseline and month 12 were 172 and 211 mg/dL ( p < 0.01), LDL-cholesterol 104 and 138 mg/dL ( p < 0.01), HDL-cholesterol 39 and 49 mg/dL ( p < 0.01) and triglycerides 134 and 174 mg/dL ( p < 0.01), respectively. The treatment was generally well tolerated. Eight patients discontinued the therapy (drug interaction: 3; lost to follow-up: 1; pregnancy: 1; pulmonary tuberculosis: 1; side effect: 1; patient’s decision: 1). Of 184 treatment-naïve patients, 88% (162) were men, and the mean age was 36.5± 12 years. Among them, 50% (81/162) self-identified as MSM. The mean duration of HIV infection was 21.6 ± 17.1 months. The mean duration of E/C/F/TAF use was 16 ± 4 months. HIV-RNA was undetectable at baseline and month 12 in 1% and 89.1% of patients, respectively. Mean CD4 counts at baseline and month 12 were 469 ± 223 cells/µL and 740 ± 298 cells/µL, respectively. During the treatment period, creatinine levels remained stable. Total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, triglyceride and also HDL-cholesterol levels increased. Mean total cholesterol levels at baseline and month 12 were 167 and 211 mg/dL ( p < 0.01), LDL-cholesterol 108 and 143 mg/dL ( p < 0.01), HDL-cholesterol 41 and 47 mg/dL ( p < 0.01) and triglycerides 136 and 172 mg/dL, respectively ( p < 0.01). The treatment was generally well tolerated. Three patients discontinued the therapy (drug interaction: 1; non-responder: 1; patient’s decision: 1). Conclusion: Starting with or switching to E/C/F/TAF in PLWH effectively suppresses HIV infection, is associated with an increase in CD4 cell count and is well tolerated in a real-life setting. Renal functions remained stable during the treatment. E/C/F/TAF use was associated with an increase in LDL-cholesterol and triglyceride levels along with an increase in HDL-cholesterol levels.

Bu çalışma, 14-17 Eylül 2016 tarihleri arasında Lizbon[Portekiz]'de düzenlenen 19. Meeting of the European Society for Clinical Virology'de bildiri olarak sunulmuştur. Background: Because of their similar modes of transmission, the simultaneous infection of viral hepatitis and human immunodeficiency virus are increasingly seen as a big problem related to human health. Aims: To determine the drug mutations in hepatitis B virus and/or hepatitis C virus co-infected human immunodeficiency virus-1 patients in Turkey. Study Design: Retrospective cross-sectional study. Methods: The present study was conducted between 2010 and 2017. HBsAg, anti-hepatitis C virus, and anti-human immunodeficiency vim were tested with ELISA. All anti-human immunodeficiency virus positive results by ELISA were verified for anti-human immunodeficiency virus positivity by a Western blot test, and Antihuman immunodeficiency virus positive patients with HBsAg andior anti-hepatitis C virus positivity were included in the study. Subtyping and genotypic resistance analyses were performed by population sequencing of the viral protease and reverse transcriptase regions of the human immunodeficiency virus-1 pol gene. Results: We detected 3896 human immunodeficiency virus-1 positive patients whose sera were sent from numerous hospitals across the country to our polymerase chain reaction unit for detection of drug resistance mutations and whose molecular laboratory tests were completed. Viral hepatitis co-infections were detected in 4.3% (n=170) of patients. Hepatitis B virus and hepatitis C virus co-infection were observed in 3.2% and 0.5% of all human immunodeficiency virus-I infected patients, respectively. The major human immunodeficiency virus-1 subtype detected was group M, subtype B (62.9%). However, 13.5% of drug resistance mutation motifs were found in human immunodeficiency virus-1 genomes of patients included in the study. Conclusion: Due to similar transmission routes, HIV1 patients are at risk of hepatitis B and C virus co-infection. However, antiretroviral drug resistance mutation model is similar to patients with hepatitis negative. European Society for Clinical Virology

Background: Efficacy of elvitegravir/cobicistat/emtricitabine/tenofovir disoproxil (E/C/F/TDF) in treatment-naïve and experienced patients with HIV infection was demonstrated in phase 3 trials. The primary objective of this study was to evaluate effectiveness and safety of E/C/F/TDF in real world settings. Methods: Retrospective, observational data collected by the Turkish ACTHIV-IST study group between May 2015 and December 2016 were analysed. Results: A total of 387 patients were prescribed E/C/F/TDF; 210 patients with available data at 6th month were eligible; 91.5% were male, and mean age was 35.2 (SD: 10.8) years; 54.0% of males identified themselves as MSM. Sixty-three percent (133) of the study population were treatment-naïve patients, and 37% (77) were treatment experienced. HIV RNA level was below 100 copies/mL in 78.9% of treatment-naïve patients and 89.9% of treatment experienced patients at month 6. Median increase in CD4 T lymphocyte count was 218 copies/mL in treatment-naïve patients and remained stable or increased in treatment experienced patients. Adverse events were observed in 15% of the patients, and the regimen was discontinued in only six patients. Conclusion: Real world data on the effectiveness and safety of E/C/F/TDF is comparable with the phase 3 trial results Adverse events are uncommon and manageable. Keywords: Elvitegravir/cobicistat/emtricitabine/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate; HIV; effectiveness; safety.

Aims: The COVID-19 pandemic has substantially changed lives and presented several barriers to health services. HIV care continuum needs a high rate of diagnosis, effective treatment, and sustained suppression of viral replication. The COVID-19 pandemic has affected these three steps of HIV care. This study investigated the characteristics of newly diagnosed patients living with HIV/AIDS (PLWH) during the COVID pandemic and compared them with those before the pandemic. Methods: All newly diagnosed patients in three HIV healthcare centers, in Istanbul, Turkey, were included in the study. The pandemic period included April 1, 2020, to April 1, 2021, and the prepandemic period included March 1, 2019, to March 1, 2020. Results: 756 patients were diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. In the pandemic period, this figure was 58% less: 315. Patients in the pre-pandemic and pandemic period had comparable age and gender distributions. PLWH diagnosed in the pandemic period had higher rates of low CD4 cells: low CD4 ( Conclusion: A low number of newly diagnosed PLWH can be explained by less HIV testing, less admission to health care, or an actual decrease of HIV prevalence during the pandemic. Sexual behaviors may have changed during the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to HIV transmission restriction. Lower CD4 counts among the newly diagnosed PLWH suggest that admittance to health care is late and a significant portion of PLWH remain undiagnosed.

OBJECTIVES The liver biopsy is the gold standard for determining the level of fibrosis in chronic hepatitis B infection (CHBI). Nonetheless, it is possible to predict liver fibrosis through some noninvasive methods such as noninvasive scoring (NIS) of some serum biomarkers obtained from routine blood tests. We aimed to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of nine NIS for detecting advanced fibrosis in CHBI. PATIENTS AND METHODS We reviewed the hospital records of CHBI cases with liver biopsy between January 2011 and December 2016 retrospectively. Using Ishak scoring method, we classified fibrosis stage 1-2 as mild and 3-6 as advanced fibrosis. We calculated the NIS by considering the age, platelet count, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, gamma-glutamyltransferase, platelet, and international normalized ratio values at the time of the biopsy. RESULTS The mean age of 202 patients was 37.69± 11.33 years. In cases with advanced fibrosis, the age, gammaglutamyltransferase, and international normalized ratio values were higher and platelet count was lower (P < 0.05). Mean platelet volume was not different between the two groups (P = 0.499). The median values of γ-glutamyl peptidase-platelet ratio (GPR), FibroQ, Goteborg University Cirrhosis Index, fibrosis-4 (FIB-4), aspartate aminotransferase-platelet ratio index, age-platelet index, and King scoring were significantly higher in the advanced fibrosis group. The highest area under the curve value was in GPR [AUC = 0.731 (0.639-0.788); P = 0.000] in the receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. Cirrhosis Discriminant Score and Aspartate aminotransferase-to-alanine aminotransferase ratio tests were not valuable in detecting advanced fibrosis. FIB-4 had the highest (0.678) diagnostic accuracy rate. CONCLUSION We found that the calculation of NIS before liver biopsy, especially GPR and FIB-4, may be useful for predicting advanced fibrosis in cases with CHBI.

INTRODUCTION Sustained virologic response in the treatment of chronic hepatitis C can be achieved with direct-acting antivirals (DAA) in recent years. Monitoring virologic and histologic response to treatment is essential and noninvasive methods are preferred. In our study, we aimed to determine the regression of fibrosis following DAA treatment with serum fibrosis indices constituting a noninvasive method. METHOD Patients with chronic hepatitis C to whom DAA treatment is started between January 2016 and January 2018 in our clinic are evaluated retrospectively. The fibrosis scores [fibrosis 4 index (FIB-4), aminotransferase platelet ratio (APRI), Fibro QKing score, age platelet index, Goteburg University Cirrhosis Index (GUCI), aspartate transaminase/alanine transaminase ratio (AAR)] are calculated with routine biochemical and hematologic tests of DAA-treated patients before treatment, at the end of treatment, and in the 12th and 24th weeks of treatment. In total, the course of seven scores calculated at four separate times including baseline was recorded and compared. RESULTS In total 91 patients are included in the study. The average age was 51.16 ± 13.78 and 59.3% (n = 54) of patients were women. According to the baseline FIB-4 values, the patients were grouped as cirrhotic or noncirrhotic, and 11 of them were cirrhotic (12.1%). Statistically significant regression in APRI, FIB-4, GUCI and King scores is seen in all groups regardless of their cirrhotic status, treatment experience or genotype (P

Background: This study aimed to evaluate cognitive functions and the factors affecting them in naive HIV-positive patients by Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) test before and after the initiation of combination antiretroviral therapy. Method: HIV-positive, treatment-naive patients monitored between January-June 2017 were included in the study. MoCA test was performed at the beginning and the 6th month of the treatment.Findings: Forty male patients were included in the study. The mean age was calculated as 29.1±4.0. When the factors affecting the MoCA score were examined, there was a significant relationship between the education level and the MoCA score. Smoking ,alcohol and substance did not have a meaningful impact on baseline MoCA values. A significant correlation was found between CD4 count and HIV RNA level and attention function. There was a significant increase in the total MoCA score and the MoCA subgroup scores at the end of the 6th month of the treatmentConclusion: MoCA test is one of the practical tests that can be applied in a short time period and it was found useful in evaluating the changes in the cognitive functions of HIV positive patients during antiretroviral treatment.

Background Although Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is one of the major pathogens of healthcare associated infections, we had only sporadic cases in our intensive care unit (ICU) for years. Aims To investigate the sudden increase in the number of MRSA cases in ICU. Study design Descriptive study. Methods From the 5th December 2016 to 26th January 2017, we detected 11 new MRSA cases in ICU. Screening of 73 ICU healthcare workers (HCWs) and screening of 13 patients was performed for outbreak investigation. Nine clinical isolates available in stocks and eight screening MRSA isolates were included in molecular studies. PFGE, spa-mecA-mecC-PVL in-house multiplex PCR assay and spa typing, SCCmec typing were performed for all isolates. Sequence type of the representative strain was determined by Multi-Locus Sequence typing (MLST). Results All strains were mecA positive, PVL negative, and have the same antimicrobial susceptibility pattern except for two strains. All clinical, two patient screening and three nasal isolates of HCWs showed the same pulsotype, named clone A. The spa type of outbreak isolates is t030 and the SCCmec type is SCCmecIII; the MLST type of representative strain is ST239 (PFGE pulsotype A, ST239-SCCmecIII-t030). Unrelated three isolates had PFGE pulsotype B-SCCmecI-t030, PFGE pulsotype C-SCCmecIII-t459, PFGE pulsotype D-SCCmecIII. Conclusion Molecular typing techniques are the cornerstones for the investigation of outbreaks. Infection control measures, such as enhancing cleaning procedures, promoting hand hygiene, should be enforced in the ICU unit. All patients, including those who have already been discharged to other departments, must be put on contact isolation. HCWs carrying the MRSA strains could be offered decolonization.

Background: Carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative bacteremia (CR-GNB) is seen with increasing frequency and result in high mortality. The aim of this study was to compare the risk factors and results of carbapenem-resistant and carbapenem-susceptible Gram-negative bacteremia and to determine the factors related to mortality. Methods: The study was conducted as a retrospective observational comparative case series between June 2016 and November 2017 in Şişli Hamidiye Etfal Training and Research Hospital. The patients were divided into two groups as carbapenem-susceptible and carbapenem-resistant according to antibiotic susceptibility data of blood cultures. The risk factors for the development of carbapenem resistance, length of hospital stay, mortality rates, and mortality related factors were investigated between these two groups. Results: Two hundred and eleven cases were included in the study. Of these cases, 54 were resistant to carbapenem and 157 were susceptible to carbapenem. Mortality occurred in 60 (28.4%) patients. The 14 and 28 day mortality rates of patients with carbapenem resistance were significantly higher than those without carbapenem resistance. There was no statistically significant difference between two groups in length of stay in the hospital after bacteremia. Pittsburgh bacteremia score, cardiovascular disease, urinary catheterization, and inappropriate empirical antibiotic therapy were the most significant risk factors for mortality. Conclusions: Carbapenem resistance is associated with increased mortality and inappropriate empirical antibiotic treatment increases mortality. Therefore, patients should be evaluated for risk factors in predicting CR-GNB and treatment for resistant pathogens should be applied in appropriate patients.

Cancer is responsible for elevated human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-related mortality but there are insufficient data about cancer in HIV-positive patients in Turkey.We aimed to investigate the prevalence and mortality of cancer among people living with HIVand AIDS patients in Istanbul, Turkey.Between January 1998 and December 2016, people living with HIVand AIDS patients were enrolled in this study by the ACTHIV-IST Study Group, which consists of 5 centres to follow-up HIV-positive patients in Istanbul. The cancer diagnoses included AIDS-defining cancers (ADCs) and non AIDS-defining cancers (NADCs).Among 1872 patients, 37 (1.9%) were diagnosed with concurrent cancer. Eleven patients were diagnosed during follow-up; the prevalence of cancer among people living with HIVand AIDS patients was 2.6%. Among 48 cancer patients, 35 patients had ADCs, and 32 of them were diagnosed at their first hospital admission. There were 1007 late presenters and 39 of them had cancer (29 were ADCs). The most prevalent NADCs were gastrointestinal, genitourinary, and pulmonary cancers. NADCs were mostly diagnosed during follow-up of patients. The mortality of this group was significantly higher than that of patients with ADCs (53.9% vs 22.9%).These results indicate the importance of cancer screening at diagnosis and during follow-up of HIV infection. A detailed physical examination contributes to diagnosis of the most prevalent ADCs (Kaposi's sarcoma and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma), especially in late presenters. For NADCs, individual risk factors should be considered.انتشار السرطان بين مرضى فيروس العوز المناعي البشري/الإيدز والوفيات الناجمة عنه: دراسة أترابية في تركيا.أوزليم آيدين، آلبير غندوز، فاطمة سارجن، بلجول ميتي، حياة كاراعثمان أوجلو، ديلك سيفجي، مجاهد يامزن، بولنت دوردو، إلياز دوكميتاش، فهمي تاباك، مجموعة دراسة ACTHIV-IST¹.يُعد السرطان مسؤولاً عن ارتفاع نسبة الوفيات المقترنة بفيروس العوز المناعي البشري، ولكن لا تتوافر معلومات كافية بشأن السرطان في صفوف المرضى المصابين بفيروس العوز المناعي البشري في تركيا.هدفت الدراسة إلى الاستقصاء بشأن انتشار السرطان بين مرضى فيروس العوز المناعي البشري/الإيدز والوفيات الناجمة عنه في إسطنبول، تركيا.في الفترة بين يناير/كانون الثاني 1998 وديسمبر/كانون الأول 2016، سجلت مجموعة دراسة ACTHIV-IST (العمل من أجل مكافحة فيروس العوز المناعي البشري في إسطنبول) المرضى المصابين بفيروس العوز المناعي البشري في هذه الدراسة، التي تشمل 5 مراكز لمتابعة المرضى المصابين بفيروس العوز المناعي البشري في إسطنبول. وتضمن التشخيص أنواع السرطان التي تحدد مرض الإيدز، وأنواع السرطان التي لا تحدد مرض الإيدز.من بين 1872 مريضاً، شُخِّص 37 مريضاً منهم (1.9٪) بالسرطان المُصاحب لفيروس العوز المناعي البشري. وشُخص أحد عشر مريضاً خلال المتابعة؛ وبلغت نسبة انتشار السرطان بين مرضى فيروس العوز المناعي البشري/الإيدز 2.6٪. ومن بين 48 مريضاً بالسرطان، كان لدى 35 مريضاً أنواع السرطان التي تحدد مرض الإيدز، وشُخص 32 مريضاً منهم عند دخولهم المستشفى أول مرة. وتأخر 1007 من مُقدمي البيانات، منهم 39 شخصاً مصاباً بالسرطان (وكان لدى 29 منهم أنواع السرطان التي تحدد مرض الإيدز). ومن بين أنواع السرطان التي لا تحدد مرض الإيدز الأكثر انتشاراً: سرطان المَعِدة والأمعاء، وسرطان الجِهَاز البَوليّ التَّناسُليّ، وسرطان الرئة. وكانت أنواع السرطان التي لا تحدد مرض الإيدز تُشخص أثناء متابعة المرضى. ومعدل الوفيات في هذه الفئة أعلى بكثير عنه في المرضى المصابين بأنواع السرطان التي تحدد مرض الإيدز (53.9٪ مقابل 22.9٪).توضح هذه النتائج أهمية تحري الإصابة بالسرطان عند التشخيص بعدوى فيروس العوز المناعي البشري وأثناء متابعة المرضى المصابين به. ويساعد إجراء فحص بدني مُفصل في تشخيص أكثر الأمراض انتشاراً من أنواع السرطان التي تحدد مرض الإيدز (ساركومة كابوزي ولمْفُومة هودجكين)، خاصة في صفوف مُقدمي البيانات المتأخرين. أما أنواع السرطان التي لا تحدد مرض الإيدز، فينبغي أن تؤخذ بعين الاعتبار عوامل الخطر الفردية.(العمل من أجل مكافحة فيروس العوز المناعي البشري في إسطنبول).¹.Prévalence et mortalité du cancer chez les personnes vivant avec le VIH et les patients atteints de sida : étude de cohorte à grande échelle en Turquie.Le cancer est responsable d’une mortalité élevée liée au virus de l’immunodéficience humaine (VIH), mais les données relatives au cancer chez les personnes séropositives en Turquie sont insuffisantes.Étudier la prévalence et la mortalité du cancer chez les personnes vivant avec le VIH et les patients atteints de sida à Istanbul (Turquie).Entre janvier 1998 et décembre 2016, des personnes séropositives ont été recrutées comme sujets pour la présente étude par le groupe d’étude ACTHIV-IST, qui se compose de cinq centres de suivi des personnes séropositives pour le VIH à Istanbul. Les diagnostics de cancer incluaient les cancers classant sida et les cancers non classant sida.Sur 1 872 malades, 37 (1,9 %) ont reçu un diagnostic de cancer concomitant. Onze patients ont été diagnostiqués en phase de suivi post-thérapeutique. La prévalence du cancer chez les personnes vivant avec le VIH et les patients atteints de sida était de 2,6 %. Sur 48 patients cancéreux, 35 avaient un cancer classant sida, parmi lesquels 32 avaient été diagnostiqués lors de leur première hospitalisation ; 1 007 personnes se présentaient à un stade avancé de l’infection, et 39 d’entre elles avaient un cancer (29 avaient un cancer classant sida). Les cancers non classant sida les plus prévalents étaient les cancers gastro-intestinal, uro-génital et pulmonaire. Ces cancers avaient principalement été diagnostiqués chez les patients en phase de suivi post-thérapeutique. Dans ce groupe, la mortalité était considérablement plus élevée que celle des patients de cancers classant sida (53,9 % contre 22,9 %).Ces résultats soulignent l’importance du dépistage du cancer lors du diagnostic et du suivi post-thérapeutique des infections à VIH. Un examen clinique détaillé contribue au diagnostic des cancers classant sida les plus prévalents (sarcome de Kaposi et lymphome non hodgkinien), en particulier chez les patients se présentant à un stade avancé. Concernant les cancers non classant sida, les facteurs de risque individuels devraient être pris en compte.

Maintaining optimal adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) is essential for optimizing the management of HIV infection. The aim of this study is to explore ART adherence rates in Turkey. Included in this study were a total of 263 HIV-infected patients followed up by the ACTHIV-IST (ACTion against HIV in Istanbul) Study Group affiliated with four tertiary hospitals. The study population included patients 18 years of age or older who were on ART for over 12 months. Adherence was assessed by the medication possession ratio (MPR) calculated for each patient using data (a list of all drugs dispensed within the previous year for that patient) obtained from pharmacy medication records. In addition, patients completed a self-report questionnaire addressing missed doses and the AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG) adherence questionnaire. The study was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of Cerrahpasa Medical Faculty. Patient ages ranged from 19 to 71 years. Two hundred and thirty-one patients were male (88%). Two hundred and twenty-four patients (85%) had optimal adherence (MPR ≥95%). During the course of ART, 236 patients (90%) reported no missed doses in the past 4 days of their treatment, whereas 206 patients (78%) reported no missed doses in the past month. Simply forgetting was the most common reason for nonadherence. MPR was associated with virologic rebound. Major factors affecting adherence were being female, taking antituberculosis drugs, having an opportunistic infection, being able to take all or most of the medication as directed, and being aware of the need to take medication exactly as instructed to prevent the development of drug resistance. Adherence to ART measured by MPR and self-report surveys is relatively high in Turkey when compared with other countries, which probably led to high ART success rates.

The prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is low but it is steadily increasing in Turkey. In the current study, we aimed to assess the status of HIV infection management with the proposed 90–90–90 targets in a large HIV cohort in Istanbul, Turkey. The cohort included 2382 patients (2082 male, 300 female, mean age was 36.3 ± 11.3 years). Mean CD4 cell count was 399 cells/mm3and HIV-RNA level was 576,235 copies/ml. According to the modeling by the Modeling tool of European Center for Diseases Control Software, 72 and 74% of all HIV patients had been diagnosed in 2016 and 2017, respectively (the first target). Among 2382 patients, 2191 (92%) were on antiretroviral therapy (the second target). The third target of virally suppressing those on treatment was achieved among 70.2% of the patients. The current study suggests that both the fraction of those living with undiagnosed HIV and the proportion of those on treatment who are virally suppressed should be targeted to sustain optimal HIV care. Efforts should continue to surpass the targets of 90–90–90.

Background Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is a common sexually transmitted infection and it is associated with development of intraepithelial lesions and cancers. Among HIV patients, men who have sex with men (MSM) are at highest risk of anal intraepithelial neoplasia and cancer. In this study, we aimed to determine the prevalence of anogenital HPV infection in HIV-infected MSM patients. Methods Totally 121 MSM, newly diagnosed HIV positive and treatment-naive patients were enrolled. All of them were screened for HPV infection. For all the patients an anal swap sample was obtained and was studied for HPV by real-time PCR. Results Anal swabs of the patients remained negative for HPV in 44 (36.4%), while were positive in 77 (63.6%). Age, education level, alcohol, and illicit drug use were not different between the HPV-positive and –negative groups. Among 77 patients with HPV infection, 33 were typed. Type 16 was the leading one (n=18) followed by type 18 (n=7), both type 16 and type 18 (n=4), and other types (n=4). Conclusion HIV-infected MSM patients had considerably high rate of HPV infection with high-risk types. This represents a challenge for anal cancer development. These patients should be regularly checked for the early diagnosis of precancerous lesions. Disclosure No significant relationships.

Mete, Bilgul/0000-0001-9091-6087 WOS:000471741500006 PubMed ID: 30700656 We aimed to assess the 24-week virological and immunological success of the treatment of treatment-naive and treatment-experienced patients included in the Action against HIV in Istanbul (ACTHIV-IST) database. The ACTHIV-IST database was screened retrospectively from January 2012 to January 2014. The data for these patients such as age, sex, treatment-naive or treatment-experienced status, date of diagnosis, date of commencing antiretroviral therapy, antiretroviral therapy regimen, CD4+ cell count, and viral load before and after therapy were analyzed. In the 24th week of antiretroviral therapy, there were 40 (17.9%) and 29 (14.1%) virological and immunological failures, respectively. Virological failure (VF) was associated with a baseline viral load > 100,000 copies (p = 0.004). A CD4+ cell count lower than 200 cells/mu l was not found to be associated with VF (p = 0.843). Immunological failure was substantially rare in patients with a baseline CD4+ cell count > 200 cells/mu l (p = 0.005). Although an HIV-RNA 100,000 copies/ml, VF was 3.2 times more likely to occur. Baseline VF was the most predictive parameter to estimate 24th week virological success and VF. VF is an important prognostic parameter resulting in CD4+ cell depletion, AIDS-related events, and increased mortality.

The pathophysiology of an early and accelerated atherosclerotic process is complex and multifactorial in HIV-infected men compared with HIV-non-infected men. Several biomarkers have been well studied in the detection of the early stage of atherosclerosis, but studies are limited in HIV-infected men. The objective of this study was to investigate the association between serum pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A (PAPP-A) and carotid intima-media wall thickness (CIMT) in asymptomatic HIV-infected men. This a case–control study group comprising 118 HIV-infected men and 60 age-matched and gender-matched HIV-non-infected men. Serum PAPP-A was measured using an ELISA kit and carotid IMT was evaluated by Doppler ultrasonography in all subjects. Statistical analysis included receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, Pearson correlation and logistic regression analysis. Serum PAPP-A level was significantly higher in HIV +CIMT+ group compared with HIV +CIMT group and HIV–CIMT- group. We found a positive correlation between PAPP-A and increased CIMT (r=0.737, p3.70 µg/mL were associated with subclinical atherosclerosis in HIV+ men with a specificity of 100% and a sensitivity of 71% (area under the curve: 0.949, 95% CI 0.875 to 1.000, p

The safety of vaccines, access to health care, the level of community's knowledge and the attention of physicians play a critical role in the rate of adult vaccination. This study aims to determine the immunization rate of pneumococcal, influenza and tetanus vaccines among the patients and their knowledge and attitudes in the hospital. The study is a cross-sectional point prevalence survey. The patients who agreed to participate in the study were interviewed using a questionnaire. Patients' gender, occupation, educational status, income level and risk factors (immunosuppressed and over 65 years old) were compared with the knowledge and attitudes about vaccinations. Of the 251 participants, 51.4% were female and 48.6% were male. The self-reported vaccination rate was 3.5% for pneumococcal, 8.6% for influenza and 26.6% for tetanus. Most of the patients have knowledge about influenza vaccination (90.3%). Patients with the high education level have significantly higher knowlege about tetanus vaccination and higher rate of tetanus vaccine compared to those with low education level (p = 0.04; p = 0.006). It was found that those with higher income levels had the more pneumococcal vaccination, more knowledge on tetanus vaccination, and more attitude that tetanus vaccine is necessary compared to those with lower income level (p < 0.05). Patients without risk factors have a higher rate of tetanus vaccination compared to those with risk factors (p < 0.001). It was inferred that the high level of education and income have a positive effect on the patients vaccination rates and their knowledge and attitude.

Mete, Bilgul/0000-0001-9091-6087 WOS:000490537600010 PubMed ID: 31580559 Objective: Late presentation of the patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is associated with less favourable treatment responses, more accelerated clinical progression, and a higher mortality risk. Although HIV prevalence is low in Turkey, it is steadily increasing and the information about late presentation among HIV-positives is limited. We aimed to analyze the status of late presentation among HIV-positive patients in Turkey. Methods: All newly diagnosed HIV/AIDS patients from 2003 to 2016 were enrolled in this study by five dedicated centres in Istanbul, Turkey. Demographic data, CD4+ counts, and HIV RNA were collected from medical records and were transferred to a HIV database system. Late presentation was defined as presentation for care with a CD4 count

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) presents an important public health problem. Liver biopsy is currently the gold standard for assessing the degree of intrahepatic inflammation and for staging liver fibrosis. However, the value of liver biopsies is limited by sampling errors, understaging and interobserver variability in interpretation. There is, therefore, a need to identify novel, non-invasive serologic biomarkers for the development of new predictive models of fibrosis. We enrolled patients with chronic hepatitis B infection (CHB) and examined the relationships between serum soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR) and interferon-induced protein-10 (IP-10), and the results of liver biopsies. Healthy volunteers with normal aminotransferase levels and negative serological results for HBV, hepatitis C virus and human immunodeficiency virus were recruited as controls. Mean platelet volume, serum suPAR and IP-10 were significantly elevated in patients with CHB compared with controls. Median serum suPAR and IP-10 levels were significantly higher in patients with liver fibrosis compared with patients with mild fibrosis. There was no significant difference in mean platelet volume or aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index scores between patients with mild and significant fibrosis. suPAR and IP-10 were able to distinguish between significant and mild fibrosis with good sensitivity and specificity, and may thus represent useful biomarkers for identifying patients with significant fibrosis.

Background/aim: This study was undertaken to identify subjects with human immunodeficiency virus and tuberculosis (HIV/TB) coinfection in a group of HIV-positive patients followed at five different healthcare centers, and to determine the demographic and clinical characteristics of these subjects as well as the predictors of mortality. Materials and methods: A database search for subjects with TB coinfection was performed among 1475 HIV-positive adult patients and a total of 66 individuals were identified with HIV/TB coinfection. Results: There were 66 patients (4.5%) with TB coinfection. Twenty-one percent (n = 14) of the patients with TB coinfection died during the study period and these patients had significantly lower baseline CD4 counts at the time of TB diagnosis (P = 0.005). None of the patients with CD4 count of ≥200 cells/mm3 died during follow-up and a low CD4 count at the time of TB diagnosis (

WOS: 000458773500011 Objective: We aimed to determine the seroprevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in a penal institution campus in Turkey, and to query its risk factors. Methods: Participants were selected randomly from blocks of residents who were under judgement process in a penal institution campus. All participants were males aged >= 18 years in this cross-sectional study. Questionnaire conducted on participants included the following: age, marital status, living location, education, income, use of cigarette, use of alcohol, use of illicit drugs, having tattoo, collective personal materials of hygiene, blood transfusion, sexual orientation, use of condom. Blood specimens of participants were tested for anti-HIV antibodies. Results: Among 495 prisoners on remand, three were HIV-positive. Prevalence of HIV infection was determined as 0.61%. All HIV-positives were married and lived in Istanbul. Two of them were primary school graduates, and one of them was a high school graduate. Two of them had yearly income less than 400 USD. All denied use of illicit intravenous drugs. They have extramarital sex, and were not using condoms. Conclusions: It was remarkable that prevalence of HIV infection among prisoners on remand was almost 60-fold higher than those of the general population. Giving information about HIV infection and its routes of transmission to prisoners and screening them on a routine basis on admission to penal institutions are the primary steps to control HIV infection.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a health problem worldwide. Current treatment options for chronic hepatitis B (CHB) are nucleoside or nucleotide analogues and pegylated interferons. Tenofovir and entecavir are much more commonly used as they have better efficacy, tolerability, and high genetic barriers to resistance.The aim of this study was to assess the efficacies of tenofovir and entecavir in previously untreated CHB patients in a treatment cohort.We included CHB patients in a cohort including previously untreated HBeAg-positive and HBeAg-negative patients from 10 centers in Istanbul, Turkey. The patients were compared in terms of baseline characteristics, decrease in alanine transaminase (ALT), decrease in HBV-DNA to undetectable levels, HBeAg loss and anti-HBe development (among baseline HBeAg-positive patients), interventions to therapy because of lack of efficacy, side effects, severe side effects, and side effects that required change in treatment.The study included 121 patients who were administered tenofovir and 130 patients who were administered entecavir. The majority of patients were men, with mild to moderate histology in both treatment groups. The mean duration of follow-up was 18 and 20 months for tenofovir and entecavir, respectively. Patients receiving both drugs showed comparable rates of HBeAg loss, rates of undetectable HBV-DNA levels, rates of ALT normalization, ALT decrease, and decrease in HBV-DNA. Both drugs were well tolerated.This study shows that although the baseline characteristics did not match, tenofovir and entecavir sustained comparable virological efficacies. More patients discontinued entecavir during follow-up. Both drugs provided effective viral control, with few side effects.

Urinary tract infections with extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBL) are an increasing public health concern. We evaluated our experience with the use of ertapenem for complicated urinary tract infections (cUTI) caused by ESBL- producing bacteria. Sixty-four patients aged >18 years who had a cUTI caused by ESBL- producing microorganisms that were treated with ertapenem at Sisli Etfal Training and Research Hospital, from January 1st, 2010 to December 31st, 2011, were included in this study. Data on patients demographic, clinical and laboratory results were collected. The median age was 65.8 years (range, 30 to 95). All patients had at least one risk factor complicating factor except two of them. The most common underlying problem was prior antibiotic exposure. The pathogens isolated from urine samples were ESBL-producing E. coli in 49, ESBL-producing K. pneumoniae in 12 and ESBL-producing K. oxytoca in 2 patients. All were susceptible to ertapenem in vitro. The average duration of ertapenem therapy was 14+/-4 days for upper UTI and 11+/-2 days for lower UTI. All patients achieved clinical cure and bacteriological eradication in urine. One patient had relapse and six of them had reinfection. Only one case had diarrhea which did not require discontinuation of therapy. Our results demonstrate that ertapenem is suitable for the treatment of cUTI cause by ESBL-producing bacteria. [Dis Mol Med 2014; 2(1.000): 7-11]

Although a decreasing trend of tuberculosis (TB) was reported in Turkey, higher proportion of extrapulmonary tuberculosis (EPT) was revealed.In this retrospective study, clinical and laboratory data of 141 EPT patients were evaluated for a seven-year period by using descriptive statistics, and parametric and non-parametric tests where appropriate.The most frequent types of EPT were meningeal TB (23%) and TB lymphadenitis (21%), respectively. Other types of EPT were skeletal, miliary, peritoneal, abscess, genitourinarial, cutaneous and gastrointestinal involvement which ranged between 18% and 1%. Mean age was 42 and female/male ratio was almost equal. All patients were born in Turkey. Although all of them were permanent residents of Istanbul, 73% of the patients came from East and Southeast Region of Turkey. For the patients, being older than 40 years old (p0.01), having miliary TB (p0.05) and high CRP levels (p0.05) were found to be associated with mortality.EPT still remains as a significant morbidity and mortality reason in lower income populations and developing countries. In our study, although all patients were residents of Istanbul approximately two thirds of them have migrated from East and Southeast parts of the country. The relatively high prevalence of tuberculosis cases in Istanbul may be due to the permanent migration from other parts of the country. Early diagnosis and initiation of appropriate treatment are the keys for reducing morbidity and mortality in patients with EPT, particularly in the cases of older ages.

Background Hepatitis A virus (HAV) is a food and water-borne virus causing clinical (mainly hepatitis) and subclinical disease in humans. It is important to characterize circulating strains of HAV in order to prevent HAV infections using efficacious vaccines. The aim of this study was the detection and characterization of the circulating strains of HAV in Turkey by performing serology, RT-PCR, sequencing and phylogenetic analysis. Methods In this study, 355 HAV suspected cases were analysed by ELISA for the presence of antibodies to HAV. RNA was extracted from 54 HAV IgM positive human sera. None of the suspect cases were vaccinated against HAV and they never received blood transfusions. Samples found positive by RT-PCR using primers targeting the VP1/VP2A junction and VP1/VP3 capsid region of HAV, were subjected to sequencing and phylogenetic analyses. Results IgM type antibodies to HAV were detected in 54 patients. Twenty one of them were students. The age of IgM positive cases was between 3 and 60 years. IgM positivity differed in age groups and was higher in the age group 3 to 10 years. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the majority of HAV strains detected in this study belong to the “HAV 1B” cluster. In addition, the HAV sub-genotypes IA (KT874461.1) and IIIA (KT222963.1) were found in 2 children. These sub-genotypes were not previously reported in Turkey. The child who carried sub-genotype IIIA travelled to Afghanistan and presented with abdominal pain, icterus and vomitus. He was positive for anti-HAV IgM and IgG but negative for hepatitis B and C. Liver enzymes like aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, gamma-glutamyl transferase and lactate dehydrogenase were severely elevated. Bilirubin levels were also increased. White blood cells, neutrophils and hemoglobin were decreased while lymphocytes and monocytes were increased. Similar clinical signs and laboratory findings were reported for the child infected with sub-genotype IA but aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase were not severely elevated. Conclusions The results indicate that molecular studies determining the HAV genotype variation in Turkey are timely and warranted. The majority of IgM positive cases in 3–10 year old patients indicate that childhood vaccination is important. Sub-genotype IB is the most prevalant genotype in Turkey. Surprisingly, sub-genotype IA and IIIA are also present in Turkey; future diagnostic efforts need to include diagnostic methods which can identify this emerging HAV genotypes. Our results also show that one important risk factor for contracting hepatitis A virus is international travel since genotype IIIA was detected in a child who had travelled to Afghanistan.

Objectives: This study aimed to examine the changes in HIV demographics over time in an exceptionally low prevalence population, with particular emphasis on men who have sex with men (MSM). Methods: A total of 1292 newly diagnosed HIV-positive patients registered in the ACTHIV-IST Study Group database between 2000 and 2014 were included. The changes occurring over time in the characteristics of patients at the time of initial admission were examined retrospectively. Results: A gradual increase in the total number of newly diagnosed patients was evident during the study period; however, it was not possible to show an increase in the proportion of MSM within the study population (p = 0.63). There was a male predominance throughout the study (85% vs. 15%), with further increases in the proportion of males in recent years. The mean age was lower at the end of the study (p

Sayan, Murat/0000-0002-4374-7193; Gunduz, Alper/0000-0001-9154-844X; ULCAY, ASIM/0000-0003-0531-0668 WOS: 000375126200003 PubMed: 27125365 Objectives: Integrase strand transfer inhibitor (INSTI) is a new class of antiretroviral (ARV) drugs designed to block the action of the integrase viral enzyme, which is responsible for insertation of the HIV-1 genome into the host DNA. The aim of this study was to evaluate for the first time INSTI resistance mutations in Turkish patients. Methods: This study was conducted in Turkey, between April 2013 and April 2015 using 169 HIV-1-infected patients (78 ARV naive patients and 91 ARV-experienced patients). Laboratory and clinical characteristics of ARV naive and ARV-experienced patients were as follows: gender (M/F): 71/7 and 80/11, median age: 38 and 38.4; median CD4+ T-cell: 236 and 216 cells/mm3, median HIV-1 RNA: 4.95+ E5 and 1.08E+ 6 copies/ml. Population-based seqeunces of the reverse transcriptase, protease, and integrase domains of the HIV-1 pol gene were used to detect HIV-1 drug resistance mutations. Result: INSTI resistance mutations were not found in recently diagnosed HIV-1-infected patients. However, ARV-experienced patients had major resistance mutations associated with raltegravir and elvitegravir; the following results were generated: F121Y, Y143R, Q148R and E157Q (6/91 - 6.6%). Conclusions: The prevalence of INSTI resistant mutations in ART-experienced patients suggested that resistance testing must be incorporated as an integral part of HIV management with INSTI therapies.

Purpose: Acinetobacter was known as a saprophytic colonizer, yet it is considered an important etiologic agent which is isolated from hospital-acquired infections. In this study, we aimed to investigate fatality rates, factors for fatality of Acinetobacter infections and relationship between combination therapies and survival. Patients and Methods: We evaluated patients with Acinetobacter infection in ICU for demographic and clinical characteristics, combination therapies and adverse effects of these therapeutic options, retrospectively. Results: Ninety-one patients with proved Acinetobacter infection were included in this study. We found that the fatality rate of Acinetobacter infection in ICU was 56%. Advanced age, carbapenem resistance and Acinetobacter isolation from respiratory secretions were significantly related with fatality. We found that carbapenem resistance increased steadily during a 5 year period, fatality rates significantly decreased with combination therapies including aminoglycosides. There wasn’t significant relation between colistin therapy and survival in patients with Acinetobacter infections. Conclusion: The patients should be well-assessed in terms of fatality risk factors in case of Acinetobacter infections that occur in the intensive care units. The empirical antibiotic treatment started earlier based on such risk factors may decrease fatality. The antimicrobial combinations including aminoglycoside may be considered more in order to the local resistance data.

WOS: 000373481300007, PubMed: 27026760, Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate compliance with guidelines in surgical prophylaxis (SP) procedures in Turkey. Materials and Methods: A point prevalence study involving 4 university, 5 education and research and 7 public hospitals was performed assessing compliance with guidelines for antibiotic use in SP. Compliance was based on the "Clinical Practice Guidelines for Antimicrobial Surgery (CPGAS) 2013" guideline. Results: Sixteen centers were included in the study, with 166 operations performed at these being evaluated. Parenteral antibiotic for SP was applied in 161 (96.9%) of these. Type of antibiotic was inappropriate in 66 (40.9%) cases and duration of use in 47 (29.1%). The main antibiotics used inappropriately in SP were ceftriaxone, glycopeptides and aminoglycosides. No significant difference was observed between secondary and tertiary hospitals in terms of inappropriate selection. Duration of prophylaxis was also incompatible with guideline recommendations in approximately half of surgical procedures performed in both secondary and tertiary hospitals, however statistical significance was observed between institutions in favor of tertiary hospitals. Conclusion: Antibiotics are to a considerable extent used in a manner incompatible with guidelines even in tertiary hospitals in Turkey. It must not be forgotten that several pre-, intra- and postoperative factors can be involved in the development of surgical site infections (SSI), and antibiotics are not the only option available for preventing these. A significant improvement can be achieved in prophylaxis with close observation, educational activities, collaboration with the surgical team and increasing compliance with guidelines. All health institutions must establish and apply their own SP consensus accompanied by the guidelines in order to achieve success in SP.

Dilek Yildiz Sevgi, Alper Gunduz, Ahmet Şanlı Konuklar, Murat Musluman, Feyzullah Tuncer, Okan Derin, Banu Bayraktar, Nuray Uzun The best therapeutic options for serious infections due to daptomycin nonsusceptible Enterococcus faecium (DNSE) remain unclear. We report the use of daptomycin for the treatment of DNSE bacteremia. To our knowledge, it is the fırst case of DNSE infection which successfully treated with daptomycin monotherapy in the literature., Daptomisine duyarlı olmayan Enterococcus faecium (DNSE)’a bağlı ciddi enfeksiyonlarda en iyi tedavi seçeneği belirsizdir. Burada DNSE bakteriyemisi olan bir olguda daptomisin kullanımı tecrübemizi paylaştık. Bildiğimiz kadarı ile literatürde daptomisin monoterapisi ile başarılı tedavi edilen ilk olgudur

Geyik, Mehmet Faruk/0000-0002-0906-0902; demirdal, tuna/0000-0002-9046-5666; KARABAY, OGUZ/0000-0003-1514-1685; Karabay, Oguz/0000-0003-0502-432X; Gunduz, Alper/0000-0001-9154-844X WOS: 000352106600012 PubMed: 25500658 Introduction: Although pegylated interferons (pegIFNs) alpha-2a and alpha-2b have been used in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) treatment for many years, there are few studies concerning predictors of sustained virologic response (SVR) to pegIFN therapy. In this study, we aimed to investigate the predictors of response to pegIFN treatment in cases with HBeAg-negative CHB infection. Methodology: Seventeen tertiary care hospitals in Turkey were included in this study. Data from consecutively treated HBeAg-negative CHB patients, who received either pegIFN alpha-2a or alpha-2b, were collected retrospectively. SVR is defined as an HBV DNA concentration of less than 2,000 IU/mL six months after the completion of therapy Results: SVR was achieved in 40 (25%) of the 160 HBeAg-negative CHB patients. Viral loads in patients with SVR were lower compared to those with no SVR, beginning in the third month of treatment (p < 0.05). The number of cases with a decline of 1 log(10) IU/mL in viral load after the first month of treatment and with a serum HBV DNA level under 2,000 IU/mL after the third month of treatment was higher in cases with SVR (p < 0.05). The number of patients who had undetectable HBV DNA levels at week 48 among responders was significantly greater than among post-treatment virological relapsers (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Detection of a 1 log(10) decline in serum HBV DNA level at the first month of treatment and a serum HBV DNA level < 2000 IU/mL at the third month of therapy may be predictors of SVR.

The aim of the study was to report the epidemiological profile of HIV-1 positive patients from, Istanbul, Turkey, which has one of the lowest HIV-1/AIDS prevalences in Europe. The patients were followed by ACTHIV-IST group which was established by the Infectious Diseases Departments of five teaching hospitals (three university hospitals and two public hospitals) in Istanbul, Turkey. The HIV-1positive patients were added to the standard patient files in all of the centers; these files were then transferred to the ACTHIV-IST database in the Internet. A total of 829 naiv-untreated HIV-1 positive patients were chosen from the database. The number of male patients was 700 (84.4%) and the mean age of the patients was 37 years (range, 17-79). In our study group 348 (42%) of the patients were married and 318 (38.7%) of the patients were single. The probable route of transmission was heterosexual intercourse in 437 (52.7%) patients and homosexual intercourse in 256 (30.9%) patients. In 519 (62.6%) patients the diagnose was made due to a screening test and in 241 (29.1%) patients, the diagnose was made due to an HIV-related/non-related disease. The mean CD4+ T cell number in 788 of the patients was 357.8/mm(3) (+/- 271.1), and the median viral load in 698 of the patients was 100,000 copies/mL (20-9,790,000). In Turkey, the number of HIV-1 positive patients is still low and to diagnose with a screening test is the most common way of diagnostic route.

Background: The fatality attributed to pandemic influenza A H1N1 was not clear in the literature. We described the predictors for fatality related to pandemic influenza A H1N1 infection among hospitalized adult patients. Methods: This is a multicenter study performed during the pandemic influenza A H1N1 [A(H1N1) pdm09] outbreak which occurred in 2009 and 2010. Analysis was performed among laboratory confirmed patients. Multivariate analysis was performed for the predictors of fatality. Results: In the second wave of the pandemic, 848 adult patients were hospitalized because of suspected influenza, 45 out of 848 (5.3%) died, with 75% of fatalities occurring within the first 2 weeks of hospitalization. Among the 241 laboratory confirmed A(H1N1) pdm09 patients, the case fatality rate was 9%. In a multivariate logistic regression model that was performed for the fatalities within 14 days after admission, early use of neuraminidase inhibitors was found to be protective (Odds ratio: 0.17, confidence interval: 0.03-0.77, p = 0.022), nosocomial infections (OR: 5.7, CI: 1.84-18, p = 0.013), presence of malignant disease (OR: 3.8, CI: 0.66-22.01, p = 0.133) significantly increased the likelihood of fatality. Conclusions: Early detection of the infection, allowing opportunity for the early use of neuraminidase inhibitors, was found to be important for prevention of fatality. Nosocomial bacterial infections and underlying malignant diseases increased the rate of fatality.

WOS: 000329981700003, PubMed ID: 24211227, Background: The aim of this study was to delineate mortality indicators in pneumococcal meningitis with special emphasis on therapeutic implications. Methods: This retrospective, multicenter cohort study involved a 15-year period (1998-2012). Culture-positive cases (n = 306) were included solely from 38 centers. Results: Fifty-eight patients received ceftriaxone plus vancomycin empirically. The rest were given a third-generation cephalosporin alone. Overall, 246 (79.1%) isolates were found to be penicillin-susceptible, 38 (12.2%) strains were penicillin-resistant, and 22 (7.1%) were oxacillin-resistant (without further minimum inhibitory concentration testing for penicillin). Being a critical case (odds ratio (OR) 7.089, 95% confidence interval (CI) 3.230-15.557) and age over 50 years (OR 3.908, 95% CI 1.820-8.390) were independent predictors of mortality, while infection with a penicillin-susceptible isolate (OR 0.441, 95% CI 0.195-0.996) was found to be protective. Empirical vancomycin use did not provide significant benefit (OR 2.159, 95% CI 0.949-4.912). Conclusions: Ceftriaxone alone is not adequate in the management of pneumococcal meningitis due to penicillin-resistant pneumococci, which is a major concern worldwide. Although vancomycin showed a trend towards improving the prognosis of pneumococcal meningitis, significant correlation in statistical terms could not be established in this study. Thus, further studies are needed for the optimization of pneumococcal meningitis treatment. (C) 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of International Society for Infectious Diseases. All rights reserved.

We aimed to investigate whether mean platelet volume (MPV) and platelet distribution width (PDW) are variables determining the severity of liver fibrosis in patients with chronic HBV infection. Patients were divided into two groups with fibrosis scores of 0–2 and 3–6 (according to Ishac scoring system). Whether MPV and PDW were independent variables determining the severity of liver fibrosis score or not was investigated by comparing these groups. Of the 111 cases, 74 (66.7 %) were male (mean age 37.7 ± 11.6 years). Twenty-two of the cases (19.8 %) were HBeAg-positive. Fibrosis scores of 42 cases (37.8 %) were ≥ 3 and the remaining 69 cases had fibrosis scores

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) characterized by a high genetic variability includes two genotypes namely HIV-1 and HIV-2. A major proportion of the infections worldwide is caused by HIV-1 which includes four groups (M, N, O and P). Group M being responsible for the HIV pandemic is further divided into nine genetically distinct subtypes (A, B, C, D, F, G, H, J, and K). Additionally, more than 49 circulating recombinant forms (CRFs) have been recognized up to now. The aim of this study was to determine the subtype characterization and prevalence of HIV strains isolated from patients inhabiting in Istanbul, Turkey. The study was carried out between June 2009 and June 2012 and a total of 72 patients [58 male, 14 female; age range: 20-57 (median: 37) years; CD4+ T cell count range: 3-813 (median: 243)/mm3; HIV-RNA load range: 1.5+E3-1.0+E7 (median: 5.8+E5) IU/ml] were included in the study. Fortysix of the patients (64%) have acquired the infection via heterosexual and 23 (32%) via homosexual contact. Of the patients 57 were newly diagnosed and antiretroviral (ARV) therapy-naive patients, while 15 were under different ARV therapies. For HIV-1 subtyping the most widely known algorithm (HIVdb-Stanford University Genotypic Resistance Interpretation Algoritm) was used. The population-based sequencing of the reverse transcripta ise region (pol) of HIV-1 indicated that CRFs (36/72; 50%) were the most commonly identified strains, followed by subtype B (31/72; 43%) among Turkish patients. Sub-subtypes A1 (3/72; 4.2%) and F1 (2/72; 2.8%) were also detected as low prevalent. The recombinant forms of HIV-1 circulated in Istanbul, Turkey were found as follows, respectively; CRF02_AG [%25 (18/72), West Africa, Central Africa and Middle East/North Africa origin], CRF12_BF [%12.5 (9/72), South America origin], CRF03_AB [%9.7 (7/72), Eastern Europe and Central Asia origin] and CRF01_AE [%2.8 (2/72), South-East Asia, East Asia and Central Africa origin]. Since molecular epidemiologic studies are important tools for tracking the transmission and spread patterns, and for the control of the HIV infections, HIV molecular studies should be expanded in HIV-1 infected Turkish patients. Furthermore, the determined subtypes and CRFs of HIV-1 in Turkey may be expected to contribute to global HIV surveillance systems.

The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic in Turkey reveals a slow progression and at the end of November 2015, the total official number was reported to be 11,109 cases. Approximately 90% of HIV patients develop some type of skin disease. Especially patients with psoriasis and HIV infection often present with more severe and treatment-refractory cutaneous disease. Herein, we describe a case of a patient with previously known psoriasis worsened by HIV infection. A 37-year-old housewife was admitted to our clinic with previously known psoriasis worsened during the last two years with conversion to erythrodermic psoriasis which was not controlled even by PUVA, methotrexate and systemic cyclosporine. The patient had positive HIV antibody test. HIV RNA viral load was 120.000 copy/ml and CD4 count 88/ mm3 . She also had oral candidiasis and Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia. The patient received antiretroviral treatment including tenofovir/emtricitabine and lopinavir/ritonavir. Symptoms resolved gradually within one month with almost complete impovement of her erythrodermic psoriasis. . Four years later the patient was still on tenofovir/emtricitabine and lopinavir/ritonavir without concomitant spesific psoriasis treatment. Psoriasis manifestations can be severe in AIDS patients. Clinicians face diagnostic and therapeutic difficulties when psoriasis coexists with HIV infection. The HIV test should be considered in patients affected by severe erythrodermic psoriasis and resistant to conventional and biological treatments. [Dis Mol Med 2015; 3(4.000): 43-45]