The aim of this study was to assess the safety and efficacy of colistin use in critically ill neonates. This was a case-control study that included newborn infants with proven or suspected nosocomial infections between January 2012 and October 2015, at two centers in Diyarbakir, Turkey. The clinical and laboratory characteristics and outcomes of patients who received colistin therapy were reviewed and compared to patients who were treated with antimicrobial agents other than colistin during the same period. Forty-seven cases who received intravenous colistin (colistin group) and 59 control patients (control group) were included. There were no significant differences between the groups regarding outcomes and nephrotoxicity, including acute renal failure. Colistin therapy was associated with significantly reduced serum magnesium (1.38 ± 0.39 mg/dL vs. 1.96 ± 0.39 mg/dL, p < 0.001) and hypokalemia (46.8% vs. 25.4%, p = 0.026). The patients who received colistin also had longer hospital stays (43 (32-70) days vs. 39 (28-55) days, p = 0.047), a higher rate of previous carbapenem exposure (40.4% vs. 11.9%, p = 0.001), and a higher age at the onset of infection (13 (10-21) days vs. 11 (9-15) days, p = 0.03). This study showed that colistin was both effective and safe for treating neonatal infections caused by multidrug-resistant gram-negative bacteria. However, intravenous colistin use was significantly associated with hypomagnesemia and hypokalemia.

There is substantial evidence that the detection of T cells specific for the proteins ESAT-6 and CFP-10 using the ex vivo enzyme-linked immunospot technique is a marked improvement on the existing tuberculin skin test (TST). This new technique, which detects γ-interferon-producing T cells, is now available as the commercial assay, T-Spot™.TB. We compared the T-Spot™.TB test with the TST for the diagnosis of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) in different groups of subjects. Significant accordance (85.7%) between the tests was found in subjects with active lung tuberculosis and in tuberculosis clinic and laboratory personnel (63.6%) but accordance was lowest and not significant amongst house contacts of tuberculosis patients (53.6%). We conclude that, in countries where vaccination is routinely performed, the T-Spot™.TB test is a useful diagnostic test for LTBI in high-risk groups when carried out either together with the TST and/or to confirm the TST result.

Amaç: Bu çalışmada; gebelerde, Toxoplasma gondii, Rubella virüs ve Cytomegalovirus infeksiyonlarının bölgemizdeki seroprevalanslarının belirlemesi amaçlanmıştır. Yöntemler: Bu çalışmada hastanemize Eylül 2016 ile Haziran 2018 tarihleri arasında kadın hastalıkları ve doğum polikliniklerine ilk prenatal vizite gelen 18-45 yaş arası gebeler dahil edildi. Bu hastalardan Toxoplasma gondii, Rubella ve Cytomegalovirus virüs serolojisi çalışılanların test sonuçları retrospektif olarak incelendi. Bulgular: Toxoplasma gondii antikorları açısından 8175 hastanın 2853’ inde (%34,9) anti toksoplazma gondii IgG antikorları, 91’ inde (%1,1) anti Toxoplasma gondii IgM antikorları pozitif olarak saptandı. Cytomegalovirus antikorları açısından 2797 hastanın 2775’ inde (%99,2) anti Cytomegalovirus IgG, 20’ sinde (%0,7) anti Cytomegalovirus IgM pozitif olarak saptandı.Rubella virüs antikorları açısından 8158 hastanın 7677’ sinde (%94,1) anti Rubellavirus IgG, 5’ inde (%0,1) anti Rubellavirus IgM pozitif olarak saptandı. Sonuç: Bu çalışmada hastanemize başvuran gebelerin çoğunun toksoplazma seronegatif (%65,1) olduğu tespit edildi.Rubella seroprevalansı (%94,1) Türkiye verileri ile uyumludur. Gebelerin Cytomegalovirus seroprevalansı için seropozitiflik oranı (%99,2) dünya verileri ile uyumludur.