Publications by authors named "Alpay Azap"

A male patient presented with fever, cytopenia, and hepatosplenomegaly. The patient's tube agglutination test was positive at titers 1:640. Due to the lack of response to brucellosis treatment, additional tests were performed.

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Background: Surgical site infections (SSIs) are among the most significant concerns in healthcare settings, presenting challenges in patient management and healthcare outcomes. The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has further complicated the landscape of infectious disease epidemiology, impacting the distribution and resistance characteristics of pathogens responsible for SSIs. Understanding these dynamics is essential for improving infection prevention and treatment strategies.

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Over the past few decades, the rising incidence of herpes zoster (HZ) rates appears to have been a global phenomenon. In Türkiye, there is a lack of comprehensive studies addressing the HZ burden of disease, risk factors, and clinical characteristics. The aim of the VARICOMP-Adult study was to evaluate the clinical and demographic findings of adult patients with HZ.

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Background: Durable mechanical circulatory support (DMCS) infections remain a serious challenge. Ventricular assist device (VAD)-specific driveline infections (DLIs) are the most common type; however, no consensus exists on their surgical management. We aimed to define the incidence, risk factors, and microbiology of DLIs and discuss the surgical treatment modalities.

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Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a leading cause of lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI) and a major health threat especially for children and older adults. Epidemiological data reveal that RSV-associated global mortality rates in individuals aged ≥ 70 years exceeded those in children aged < 5 years in 2019. Although effective interventions have decreased RSV-related deaths in children aged < 5 years over time, RSV appears increasingly significant issue for the elderly and adults with underlying health conditions.

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Purpose: Infective endocarditis (IE) is a evolving disease with a shifting epidemiology and disease burden over time. This study aimed to compare the epidemiological and clinical aspects of IE over three time periods across eleven years.

Methods: This was a retrospective cohort, multicenter study conducted in Türkiye, comparing three periods: 2013-2016, 2017-2020, and 2021-2023.

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Endocarditis is the most common cause of death from brucellosis. The information used to guide the management of cases with Brucella endocarditis has relied on case reports/series. Risk factors related to death and other adverse outcomes in patients with Brucella endocarditis were identified by an individual-patient data analysis of all reported Brucella endocarditis cases in the literature.

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Background: This study aimed to determine the frequency of compliance with surgical antimicrobial prophylaxis (SAP) in Turkey and to identify the causes for noncompliance.

Methods: This multicenter, prospective, point prevalence study was conducted in 8 hospitals from different regions of Turkey. Patients over 18years who underwent SAP in all hospital surgical units were included.

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Article Synopsis
  • Latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) screening is essential for solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients, but many centers in Turkey are not adequately performing these screenings.
  • In a study involving 766 SOT patients, 46.9% tested positive for LTBI, but only about half of those treated were registered, and there was a low completion rate of treatment.
  • The findings highlight the need for better TB risk assessment and adherence to national guidelines to improve pre-transplant care for SOT recipients in Turkey.
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Introduction: Despite antifungal advancements, candidaemia still has a high mortality rate of up to 40%. The ECMM Candida III study in Europe investigated the changing epidemiology and outcomes of candidaemia for better understanding and management of these infections.

Methods: In this observational cohort study, participating hospitals enrolled the first ten consecutive adults with blood culture-proven candidemia.

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Introduction: The aim of this national, multicenter, cross-sectional, retrospective chart review study was to determine the proportion of patients in Turkey who received hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment after receiving positive anti-HCV results during HCV screening.

Methodology: Data related to patients' demographics, laboratory results, time interval from obtaining a positive anti-HCV result to treatment initiation, specialty of the physician requesting anti-HCV screening, and type of hospital were analyzed.

Results: Among 1,000 patients who received a positive anti-HCV result, 50.

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Objective: Besides its morbidity and mortality all over the world, SARS-CoV-2 infection maintains its importance with prolonged symptoms after acute disease. The post-infectious period including a heterogeneous group of symptoms is named . This study aimed to describe persisting symptoms three months after COVID-19 and risk factors associated with .

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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigated the vaccination status and risk factors for ICU support among inpatients with breakthrough COVID-19 infections, categorizing them as fully or partially vaccinated.
  • A total of 516 patients were analyzed, revealing that hypertension, diabetes, and coronary artery disease were common comorbidities, with fully vaccinated patients showing a significantly lower need for ICU support.
  • The findings suggest that older age, specific health conditions, and incomplete vaccination increase the likelihood of requiring ICU care, highlighting the need for ongoing monitoring and booster vaccinations for at-risk populations.
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Objective: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) can cause hypoxic respiratory failure; long-term oxygen therapy (LTOT) duration is unknown.

Material And Methods: The aim was to investigate which patients would need LTOT after COVID-19 pneumonia. This single-center, prospective study was conducted at the Ankara University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Chest Diseases, between May 2021 and December 2021.

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Pertussis, caused by Bordetella pertussis, remains one of the most widespread, contagious, and vaccine-preventable diseases. It results in notable morbidity and mortality as well as severe medical, social, and economic burden. Despite high global vaccine coverage, pertussis continues to be a significant epidemiologic problem, with outbreak episodes every few years just as in the pre-vaccination era.

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Introduction: Herpes zoster (HZ), or shingles, is caused by the reactivation of varicella zoster virus (VZV) and typically presents as an acute, painful dermatomal rash, but can lead to long-term, distressing complications such as postherpetic neuralgia (PHN). Increasing trends in HZ cases are evident globally among the aging population; however, reviews investigating the epidemiology and clinical management of HZ in Turkey are lacking. Therefore, a literature review of local studies in Turkey was conducted to identify the data available and identify gaps in the literature.

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We evaluated neutralizing antibodies against the Omicron variant and Anti-Spike IgG response in solid organ (SOT) or hematopoietic stem cell (HSTC) recipients after a third dose of BNT162b2 (BNT) or CoronaVac (CV) following two doses of CV. In total, 95 participants underwent SOT ( = 62; 44 liver, 18 kidney) or HSCT ( = 27; 5 allogeneic, 22 autologous) were included from five centers in Turkey. The median time between third doses and serum sampling was 154 days (range between 15 to 381).

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After the devastating earthquake in Türkiye and Syria in February, 2023, the long-term failure to meet the need for shelter, unfavourable living conditions in tent settlements, poor access to clean drinking water, water suitable for personal hygiene, and sanitary facilities, as well as interruptions in provision of primary health-care services, have emerged as the most important risk factors contributing to the spread of infectious diseases. 3 months after the earthquake, most of these problems persist in Türkiye. Data on the control of infectious diseases are scarce according to the reports prepared by medical specialist associations based on observations of health-care providers working in the region and statements made by the local health authorities.

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Article Synopsis
  • Cefiderocol is effective against carbapenem-resistant bacteria, but its susceptibility varies based on different interpretive criteria from EUCAST and CLSI.
  • Researchers tested 254 CRK blood isolates and found significant differences in resistance rates to cefiderocol when applying EUCAST versus CLSI criteria.
  • High cefiderocol resistance rates were especially noted among NDM producers using EUCAST guidelines, leading to the recommendation that these criteria should be prioritized for testing until more clinical data is available.
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Coronavirus Disease-19 (COVID-19) is a highly contagious infectious disease caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The development of rapid antigen tests has contributed to easing the burden on healthcare and lifting restrictions by detecting infected individuals to help prevent further transmission of the virus. We developed a state-of-art rapid antigen testing system, named DIAGNOVIR, based on immune-fluorescence analysis, which can process and give the results in a minute.

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Article Synopsis
  • Aminoglycosides are important for treating infections caused by carbapenemase-producing bacteria (CPK), but resistance to these antibiotics is rising, primarily due to 16S rRNA methyltransferases (RMTs) often found alongside NDM genes.
  • In a study of 181 invasive CPK isolates, 60% were resistant to amikacin, gentamicin, and tobramycin, with most of the resistant isolates carrying RMTs, particularly ArmA and RmtC.
  • The study found that the resistance is largely linked to specific clonal types, particularly ST2096 and ST14, which are associated with certain carbapenemases and other resistance genes, suggesting that clonal spread is a
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Article Synopsis
  • The CoronaVac vaccine, which was the first COVID-19 vaccine given in their country, was shown to be safe in trials.
  • Researchers wanted to find out how common allergic reactions were among healthcare workers who got the vaccine.
  • They discovered that allergic reactions were very rare (only 0.56% of doses) and mostly mild, with a few severe cases of anaphylaxis that were managed quickly.
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Objective: Highly contagious character of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and the lack of specific drugs have led many scientists worldwide to re-evaluate the molecules currently in use for other diseases/viruses. Thus, high-throughput screening with docking studies has the rationale to identify potential therapeutics from existing drug molecules. Conflicting results of the studies, including SARS-CoV-2 and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) coinfected population, suggested a possible preventive effect of antiretroviral regimens they have been receiving.

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Ceftazidime-avibactam exhibits good in vitro activity against carbapenem resistant Klebsiella carrying OXA-48-like enzymes. We tested two hundred unique carbapenem resistant Klebsiella blood stream isolates (71% with single OXA-48-like carbapenemases, including OXA-48, n = 62; OXA-232, n = 57; OXA-244, n = 17; OXA-181, n = 5) that were collected as part of a multicentre study against ceftazidime-avibactam using Etest (bioMérieux, Marcyl'Étoile, France), 10/4 μg disc (Thermo Fisher) and Sensititre Gram Negative EURGNCOL Plates (Lyophilized panels, Sensititre, Thermo Fisher) with the aim of comparing the performances of the Etest and disc to that of Sensititre. Ceftazidime-avibactam MIC was 2/>16 mg/L for the entire collection and was 2/4 mg/L for single OXA-48-like producers.

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A prospective, multicentre observational cohort study of carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella spp. (CRK) bloodstream infections was conducted in Turkey from June 2018 to June 2019. One hundred eighty-seven patients were recruited.

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