The first serological detection of West Nile virus infection among residents living in northern Turkey.

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES: West Nile virus (WNV) is transmitted by a mosquito-borne virus whose natural reservoir is birds. Humans and horses are considered accidental hosts. Even if the vast majority of WNV infections in humans have asymptomatic or mild disease settings, serious neurological disorders with lethal outcomes can also be observed in around 1% of the cases. We aimed to serologically investigate the presence of WNV in humans living in Black sea of Turkey, and to obtain epidemiological data that will contribute to the implementation of public health policies to control and prevent potentially other life-threatening arboviral infections. METHODS: In the current study, a total of 416 human sera were collected from native patients of Samsun and its boroughs attending Samsun Training and Research Hospital; these sera were tested for WNV with pooling method, using anti-IgM and IgG ELISA commercial kits. All pools that were found positive for both IgM and IgG were individually retested for the detection of positive WNV sera. After that, all positive samples were tested using real-time PCR to detect the presence of WNV-RNA particles. RESULTS: Total seropositivity rates of WNV in terms of IgM and IgG were found as 0.96% and 0.72%, respectively. No presence of WNV-RNA could be detected in positive samples. INTERPRETATION & CONCLUSION: According to the data, further studies should be conducted to better understand the epidemiological dynamics of WNV in Turkey. It is recommended that other antigenically related flaviviruses which can give cross-reaction with WNV should also be investigated.

Atypical Teratoid Rhabdoid Tumor in a Newborn: Can IVF Be a Risk Factor?

BackgroundIn recent years, with the widespread use of assisted reproductive technologies, questions have arisen regarding the possible relationship between these infertile parents with assisted conception procedures and childhood cancers. Case report: We present a 23-day-old newborn conceived by in vitro fertilization (IVF) with a 53 × 46 × 38 mm intracranial mass detected by magnetic resonance imaging on the 15th postnatal day. The mass, removed on 23rd postnatal day, was an Atypical Teratoid Rhabdoid Tumor (ATRT), WHO grade 4. Conclusions: As far as we know, this is the only neonatally detected ATRT. Further studies are needed to investigate whether there is a causal relationship between IVF and childhood cancers.