Hepatitis B infection is still a global concern progressing as acute-chronic hepatitis, severe liver failure, and death. The infection is most widely transmitted from the infected mother to a child, with infected blood and body fluids. Pregnant women, adolescents, and all adults at high risk of chronic infection are recommended to be screened for hepatitis B infection. The initial analysis includes serological tests that allow differentiation of acute and chronic hepatitis. Molecular assays performed provide detection and quantification of viral DNA, genotyping, drug resistance, and precore/core mutation analysis to confirm infection and monitor disease progression in chronic hepatitis B patients. All patients with chronic hepatitis B should be treated with antiviral medications and regularly monitored for efficient treatment. The current treatment is based on nucleos(t)ide analogs and pegylated interferons that save lives by decreasing liver cancer death, liver transplant, slow or reverse the progression of liver disease as well as the virus infectivity.

Introduction: Mobile phones are dynamic source of microorganisms in households and professional settings. The aim was to determine the prevalence of bacterial contamination of the mobile phones, identify bacterial isolates, assess their antimicrobial susceptibility patterns and define the efficiency of using disinfectant. Methodology: This study included 233 dental students from Near East University, Faculty of Dentistry. Swab samples taken from mobile phones before and after disinfection were inoculated onto 5% sheep blood medium and eosin methylene blue medium and incubated aerobically at 37°C for 24-48 hours. Mold-growing mix cultures were sub-cultured on the sabouraud dextrose medium and allowed to grow at room temperature. Conventional microbiological techniques and VITEK 2 automated identification system were used for bacterial identification and antimicrobial susceptibility testing. Antibiotic susceptibility tests were verified by Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion technique according to the European Antimicrobial Susceptibility Test Committee criteria. Mold colonies were identified macroscopic and microscopically according to their phenotypic properties using lacto-phenol cotton blue stain. Results: Microbial contamination of mobile phones was 81% (120.953 cfu/ml) in swab samples taken without using alcohol-based wipes however, microbial contamination in swab samples taken after one-time disinfection was determined to be 21% (201 cfu/ml). The most common microorganisms isolated were coagulase negative Staphylococci (69%) and Aspergillus niger (13%). All of the isolated bacteria were susceptible to all antibiotics used. Conclusions: This study represents the first data on the rate of microbial contamination on mobile phones in Northern Cyprus and the efficiency of the use of alcohol to disinfect the mobile phones.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection remains a major public health threat in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Phylogenetic analysis of HBV can be helpful to study the putative transmission links and patterns of inter-country spread of the virus. The objectives of the current study were to analyze the HBV genotype/sub-genotype (SGT) distribution, reverse transcriptase (RT), and surface (S) gene mutations and to investigate the domestic transmission of HBV in the MENA. All HBV molecular sequences collected in the MENA were retrieved from GenBank as of 30 April 2021. Determination of genotypes/SGT, RT, and S mutations were based on the Geno2pheno (hbv) 2.0 online tool. For the most prevalent HBV SGTs, maximum likelihood phylogenetic analysis was conducted to identify the putative phylogenetic clusters, with approximate Shimodaira–Hasegawa-like likelihood ratio test values ≥ 0.90, and genetic distance cut-off values ≤ 0.025 substitutions/site as implemented in Cluster Picker. The total number of HBV sequences used for genotype/SGT determination was 4352 that represented a total of 20 MENA countries, with a majority from Iran (n = 2103, 48.3%), Saudi Arabia (n = 503, 11.6%), Tunisia (n = 395, 9.1%), and Turkey (n = 267, 6.1%). Genotype D dominated infections in the MENA (86.6%), followed by genotype A (4.1%), with SGT D1 as the most common in 14 MENA countries and SGT D7 dominance in the Maghreb. The highest prevalence of antiviral drug resistance was observed against lamivudine (4.5%) and telbivudine (4.3%). The proportion of domestic phylogenetic clustering was the highest for SGT D7 (61.9%), followed by SGT D2 (28.2%) and genotype E (25.7%). The largest fraction of domestic clusters with evidence of inter-country spread within the MENA was seen in SGT D7 (81.3%). Small networks (containing 3-14 sequences) dominated among domestic phylogenetic clusters. Specific patterns of HBV genetic diversity were seen in the MENA with SGT D1 dominance in the Levant, Iran, and Turkey; SGT D7 dominance in the Maghreb; and extensive diversity in Saudi Arabia and Egypt. A low prevalence of lamivudine, telbivudine, and entecavir drug resistance was observed in the region, with almost an absence of resistance to tenofovir and adefovir. Variable proportions of phylogenetic clustering indicated prominent domestic transmission of SGT D7 (particularly in the Maghreb) and relatively high levels of virus mobility in SGT D1.

Background: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) can be transmitted from mothers to their babies during pregnancy, delivery through vaginal fluids or breastfeeding. As false positivity anti-HIV results due to pregnancy could be detected and no relevant study have been reported in Northern Cyprus so far, we aimed to estimate the false anti-HIV positivity rate in pregnant women. Methods: A total of 11.977 women admitted to Near East University Hospital between 2015 and 2018 were involved. The fourth generation anti-HIV-1/2 ELISA test was carried out by chemiluminescence enzyme immunoassay. Positive results were confirmed by real-time polymerase chain reaction (rt-PCR). SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) Demo Ver 22 program was used for statistical analysis and significance (p<0.05) was measured by Person Chi-Square and Fisher's Exact tests. Results: Anti-HIV-1/2 ELISA test was positive in 7 (0.3%) of pregnant and 11 (0.1%) of non-pregnant women. HIV RNA was not detected in any pregnant however, was detected in 2 (0.02%) of non pregnant. S/Co titer of pregnant and non pregnant who have positive anti-HIV-test without viral load was x̄=2.68±1.64 (1.34-5.20) and x̄=8.63±7.68 (1.56-20.98) respectively. False positivity was significantly higher in pregnants compared to non-pregnants (p=0.033). Conclusion: False positivity can be encountered during pregnancy therefore, positive anti-HIV-1/2 ELISA results should be confirmed with molecular techniques before initiating antiretroviral treatment.

The diagnosis of new variants and monitoring their potential effects on diagnosis, therapeutics, and vaccines by genomic sequencing is essential to manage global public crises. In the current study, spike-genome next-generation sequencing was generated from 492 SARS-CoV-2 isolates to evaluate the mutations in Turkey from April 2021 to February 2022. The variant analysis was performed using (Coronavirus Antiviral and Resistance Database (CoV-RDB) by Stanford University). We revealed that the lineages Alpha (B.1.1.7), Beta (B.1.351), Delta (B.1.617.2), Eta (B.1.525), variant of interest (VOI), lota (B.1.526), Zeta (P.2), Omicron (B.1.1.529), and Omicron BA.1 (B.1.1.529.1) were in the circulation in Turkey during the given period. The most common lineages were B.1.1.7, B.1.617.2, B.1.1.529, and B.1.1.529.1 SARS-CoV-2 variant circulation in Turkey seems highly heterogenetic; however, quite similar to the global epidemiologic analysis. The existence of globally circulating variants in the same chronological order in Turkey can be a guide for precautions, treatment, and vaccine options to be taken in the future.