Epidemiological characteristics and molecular typing of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi during a waterborne outbreak in Eastern Anatolia.

In this study, we aimed to study the molecular and epidemiological characteristics of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi (S. Typhi) outbreak in Eastern Anatolia. Six hundred and thirty-seven patients from the same county with clinical diagnosis of typhoid fever were investigated with conventional methods from stool, urine and blood specimens. Antibiotic susceptibility tests and identifications were performed for positive specimens. Clonal relationships between the isolates were investigated using pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) method. A questionnaire was completed for the water consumption habits of patients. Of 91 culture positive specimens, 76 were blood, 13 were stool and 2 were urine. The isolates were resistant to ampicillin, ampicillin/sulbactam, chloramphenicol, cefuroxime, amikacin, gentamicin and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. Although there was a single band difference in some isolates, PFGE results indicated that this was an outbreak caused by single strain according to the Tenover criteria. This outbreak thought to be associated with the consumption of tap water contaminated with sewage represents a breakdown of the basic public health and civil engineering infrastructure. Appropriate public health measures should be taken in order to avoid such outbreaks in the future.

Role of GGT in diagnosis of metabolic syndrome: a clinic-based cross-sectional survey.

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study is to know if the liver function tests (LFT), especially gamma glutamyl transferase (GGT), have a predictive value in diagnosis of metabolic syndrome (MS). METHODS: A cross-sectional, single-center study was carried out with 908 subjects. Four hundred and forty two of these subjects were diagnosed with MS with IDF criteria; while other 466 were sex and age matched healthy control subjects. Blood pressure, liver function tests, fasting blood glucose levels and lipid profile of the subjects were recorded. RESULTS: The mean values of alanine amino transferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and GGT levels were statistically significantly higher in MS group. The mean values of liver enzymes, for female/ male subjects in MS group, AST; ALT and GGT respectively, were; 20.5/19.7 U/l; 25.9/28.5 U/l; 35.9/42.1 U/l. When the sample is divided into quartiles of the GGT levels, increase in GGT is positively correlated with increased MS prevalence. In ROC analysis GGT is as strongly associated with the IDF diagnostic components as is each individual IDF component, except elevated systolic blood pressure. In covariance analysis, there was significant relationship between elevated GGT levels and MS presence after adjustment for age, sex and MS diagnostic criteria; but not AST and ALT levels. In multivariance analysis, in MS group, a high GGT was positively associated with CVD prevalance (odds ratio: 2.011, 95% CI 1.10-4.57) compared to low GGT group independent of age, sex and smoking habits. INTERPRETATION & CONCLUSIONS: Elevated liver enzymes, although in normal ranges, especially at upper quartiles, play a central role in early diagnosis of fat overflow to the liver. Regarding the availability and simplicity of these tests in routine clinical practice, they, especially GGT, have potential to be considered in algorithms for metabolic syndrome.

A Turkish newborn infant with cerebellar agenesis/neonatal diabetes mellitus and PTF1A mutation.

Classical neonatal diabetes mellitus is defined as hyperglycemia that occurs within the first month of life in term infants. It can be either permanent or transient. Cerebellar agenesis and permanent neonatal diabetes has been previously reported as a new autosomal recessive disorder. Pancreas Transcription Factor 1 Alpha (PTF1A) mutations have been related with this constellation of abnormalities. Here we report a new case of cerebellar agenesis and neonatal diabetes mellitus whose parents are PTF1A mutation carriers.

Correlation of slime production investigated via three different methods in coagulase-negative staphylococci with crystal violet reaction and antimicrobial resistance.

This study investigated slime production by coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS) using the standard tube (ST), Congo red agar (CRA) plate and Christensen's tube (CT) methods, and compared the results with those of the crystal violet reaction (CVR) test. The potential correlation between slime production and antimicrobial resistance was also evaluated. In total, 205 CNS strains were isolated from biological samples: 92 (44.9%) were shown to produce slime by the ST method; 96 (46.8%) by the CRA plate method; 90 (43.9%) by the CT method; and 89 (43.4%) strains were CVR positive. Eighty-three (40.5%) CNS strains were positive for slime production by the ST, CRA and CT methods. The findings of the ST, CRA and CT test methods were consistent with each other but were not related to CVR positivity. Based on the ST method, rates of antibiotic resistance to several antimicrobial agents were higher in slime-positive strains than in slime-negative strains and, in some cases, this was statistically significant.

How fast can a naturopathic medicine cause skin burn? a case report of garlic burn.

This paper presents a case in which a chemical burn resulted from the use of garlic as a naturopathic medicine for knee pain.

Nous présentons une brûlure chimique causée par l'ail utilisé comme une médecine naturopathique antalgique du genou.

Epidemiological analysis of Staphylococcus aureus strains from nasal carriers in a teaching hospital.

The present study was conducted to assess the epidemiological relation of Staphylococcus aureus isolates from nasal carriers of hospital staff. Nasal swabs were taken from each of 327 personnel. After culturing on blood agar for overnight, probable staphylococcal isolates were identified and subjected to tube coagulase test. After a two-week interval, second nasal swabs were taken from the subjects whose first cultures were positive for S. aureus. Nasal carriage was defined in 58 (17.7%) personnel with positive culture for both sampling time. Antibiogram typing and arbitrarily-primed polymerase chain reaction (AP-PCR) with M13 primer were used for typing of the strains. Antibiotyping distinguished seven types and three subtypes, and 85% of the isolates were clustered in one group. AP-PCR, in contrast, identified 12 distinct patterns with 13 variants. A specific profile was not found among the isolates obtained from the personnel in a particular clinic. These results indicate that antibiotyping has poor discrimination power and heterogeneity among the nasal S. aureus strains in the hospital personnel screened is high.