Seroprevalence of Q fever in a district located in the west Black Sea region of Turkey.

Q fever is a worldwide zoonosis caused by Coxiella burnetii. In Turkey, it has been reported from the late 1940s that Q fever is endemic in humans and animals. Our objective was to evaluate the seroprevalence in Samsun Tekkeköy (north Turkey), where an outbreak of Q fever occurred in 2002. In this cross-sectional study, subjects were selected by the random proportional sampling method. All subjects were healthy with no specific symptoms and tested by the microimmunofluorescent antibody test. In total, we tested 407 subjects; 33 (8.1%) of them were identified as past evidence of infection and 22 (5.4%) were considered as evolutive form of Q fever (17 acute and five chronic forms). The seroprevalence was significantly higher among people over 30 years of age, hunters, and slaughters than the others (p = 0.001, p = 0.034, and p = 0.006, respectively). We found 13.5% seropositivity among healthy subjects, confirming that Q fever is prevalent in our region and is often asymptomatic.

Evaluation of pertussis immunity status in schoolchildren immunized with whole-cell vaccine.

It has recently been reported that the worldwide increase in the number of pertussis cases is a result of the waning of whole-cell vaccine-induced immunity. Thus, in this study, we aimed to investigate the pertussis immunity status of primary and secondary school students in a district of Ankara, Turkey. A total of 997 healthy students, aged 9-17 years, who had been immunized with four doses of whole-cell pertussis vaccine were included in the study. The subjects were divided into two age groups: 9-14 and 15-17 years. To determine the immune status, serum levels of IgG anti-pertussis toxin (aPT) antibody were tested by in-house ELISA and arbitrarily evaluated as non-immune [< 10 ELISA units (EU)/ml], immune (10-100 EU/ml), and recent infection (> 100 EU/ml). Serum samples of 997 students (559 females, 438 males) aged between 9 and 17 years (mean 13.02 +/- 2.25, median 13 years) were tested. Non-immune, immune and recent infection levels of aPT were found in 27.3%, 59.3% and 13.4% of individuals, respectively. The immune group did not have statistically significant differences between males and females (P = 0.68). In the 9-14 and 15-17 years age groups, serum aPT antibody levels 10 EU/ml were 73.1% and 72.2%, respectively, which did not represent any statistical difference (P = 0.81). Students aged 15-17 years had a higher immunity rate than the 9-14 years group, and the percentage of students with recent infection in the 9-14 years group was higher than the 15-17 years group (P < 0.001). The peak age of non-immunized subjects was 9 years (47.0%), and decreased to a minimum at age 12-13 years, and began to increase again from age 13-14 years. In contrast, the ratio of recent infection was least at age 9-10 years, began to increase, and reached a peak at 12 years, and then decreased. On the other hand, it was observed that household size and monthly income were not associated with the immunity status (P = 0.65, P = 0.37, respectively). The results of the present study show that levels of antibody against pertussis decreased in the younger age groups and, as a result, there is an increase in the number of pertussis cases. Thus, in order to decrease the incidence of pertussis and protect infants, we recommend the application of booster doses at regular intervals.

[The effect of the inoculum concentration on the in vitro sensitivity of Pseudomonas aeruginosa]. / Pseudomonas aeruginosa'ya karsi in vitro antibiyotik hassasiyet çalismalarinda inokulum konsantrastrasyonunun etkisi.

Using a broth microtiter dilution method, the minimum inhibitory concentrations of antipseudomonal antibiotics were determined against 19 P. aeruginosa isolates. Two different concentration of inoculum, 10(5) and 10(8), were used to show the inoculum concentration effect of in vitro antibiotic susceptibility tests. On the basis of the MIC values and using Howard B.J. (1) breakpoints, the effect of inoculum density was most prominent for amikacin and aztreonam, intermediate for mezlocillin, ticarcillin, piperacillin, cefotaxime, cefoperazone, netilmicin, tobramycin, gentamicin, and least apparent for ciprofloxacin and carbenicillin respectively.