The sixteen-year trend of syphilis in Turkey: data from blood donors.

This study was conducted in order to determine the prevalence and trends of antibodies to syphilis among Turkish blood donors (BDs) at the 22 National Blood Transfusion Service, Kizilay, between 1989 and 2004. Among the 6,240,130 BDs, a reactive result was obtained with the rapid plasma reagin test for 6864 donors (0.11%). A serious increasing trend was observed between 1989 and 1992 (41/100.000 versus 92/100.000 cases, P = 0.003, CI 95, 33-107), in 1998, the rates were observed to have increased approximately 4.01 times compared with that of 1989 (41/100,000 versus 168/000,000, P = 0.001, CI 95, 28-183). After 2002, syphilis seropositivity showed a marked decreasing trend (P = 0.002, CI 95, 36-118). However, as this survey shows, the rate of seropositive donors for syphilis has been greatly reduced but it is believed that a more thorough management strategy is necessary in order to cause a further reduction in Turkey.

Phylogenetic analysis of wild-type 1 polioviruses isolated during the final period of transmission in Turkey.

The last poliomyelitis case associated with a wild poliovirus in Turkey occurred in November 1998. This was the last known case of paralytic poliomyelitis caused by indigenous wild poliovirus in the World Health Organization's European Region. This study investigated the genetic relationships of wild-type 1 polioviruses at the latest period of transmission. A phylogenetic tree was constructed on the basis of the VP1/2A sequence from 14 wild-type 1 polioviruses isolated from Turkey in 1994-1998, along with those from other areas of the world. The Turkey isolates in the latest period of transmission were closely related to each other, forming a cluster distinct from other strains. The results showed that these viruses had been spreading indigenously in the eastern and south-eastern parts of Turkey, and ceased transmission there during 1998. This finding serves as a reference for future poliovirus surveillance both in Turkey and worldwide.

The comparison of antibody response to influenza vaccination in continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis, hemodialysis and renal transplantation patients.

BACKGROUND: The immune system in renal transplant (Tx), Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis (CAPD) and hemodialysis (HD) patients have been suppressed and antibody response to vaccination is weaker than that of the normal population. Additionally immune response to vaccination also differs from each other in aforementioned three groups resulting from different levels immunosuppression. In the present study, detection of antibody response to influenza vaccine as an indicator of the level of immunity in Tx, CAPD and HD patients was aimed PATIENTS AND METHODS: Forty-eight patients (17 Tx, 16 CAPD and 15 HD) and 10 healthy adults, as a control group were enrolled into the study. Purified, split-virus, commercial trivalent influenza vaccine (VAXIGRIP--Pasteur Merieux Connaught, single dose of 0.5 ml into the deltoid muscle) containing 15 microg of each hemagglutinin of A/Johannesburg/82/96 (H1N1), A/Nachang/933/95 (H3N2) and B/Harbin/07/94 (B) strains were administered to all subjects. Serum samples were collected before and 1 month after vaccination to determine antibody titers. Hemagglutination-inhibition test (HI) was applied for determination of antibody response. The antibody response against each strain was measured separately. In addition to measurement of antibody response, increments in antibody titer (n-fold increase in titer), proportion of patients with protective antibody levels and seroconversion levels were taken into account. Wilcoxon paired 2 test and Mann-Whitney U test were applied for statistical analysis. p < 0.05 was accepted as significance level. RESULTS: Significant increases in antibody titers for all three antigens were observed in the study groups after vaccination (p = 0.001). However, the increase in titer of H3N2 was lower in Tx, CAPD and HD patients than that of the control group (1.0-2.0 vs 5.00) (p = 0.01). The proportion of protective antibody titers and seroconvertions were increased after vaccination in all subjects. Proportions of patients with protective antibody titers after vaccination were lower in Tx, CAPD and HD groups in comparison to control group. CONCLUSION: Although antibody titers in Tx, CAPD and HD patients presented significant increases after vaccination, the proportions of patients with protective antibody titers were lower in comparison to control group. Tx, CAPD and HD patients should be vaccinated every year to be able avoid potential morbidity and mortality of the influenza infection. Trial of high dose vaccination protocols may be useful to increase the proportion of patients with protective antibody levels.