Sensitivity of rapid influenza antigen tests in the diagnosis of pandemic (H1N1)2009 compared with the standard rRT-PCR technique during the 2009 pandemic in Turkey.

The real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) technique has been used as the reference technique for the diagnosis of pandemic (H1N1)2009 virus infections. However, rapid influenza diagnostics tests (RIDTs) have been considered in the diagnosis of pandemic (H1N1)2009 by some healthcare institutions in Turkey due to their ease of use and generation of fast results. Nevertheless, their low sensitivity has caused concern during the control of the pandemic. This study aimed to determine the sensitivity of 4 different rapid tests available on the market in Turkey in the diagnosis of pandemic (H1N1)2009 infections compared to the reference rRT-PCR technique. One hundred and four patient samples that tested positive and 88 samples that tested negative for pandemic (H1N1)2009 by rRT-PCR were tested with RIDTs available on the market. The sensitivity of the rapid tests ranged from 31.7% to 50% depending on the brand of RIDT. Specificity ranged from 97.7% to 100%. Currently available RIDTs are not sensitive enough and could lead physicians to delay the treatment of patients, adversely affecting control efforts to mitigate the pandemic. Therefore, these tests should only be used for screening, and negative results should not rule out influenza. More sensitive and rapid point-of-care techniques are needed to meet the demands of point-of-care testing.

Splenic complications in malaria: report of two cases from Turkey.

Malaria is still a major health problem in Turkey, where Plasmodium vivax malaria is endemic. Spontaneous rupture of the spleen is an important and life-threatening complication and occurs in up to an estimated 2 % of cases. Hence the small number of case reports suggests under-reporting or underdiagnosis. Review articles have reported only 18 malaria cases with spontaneous splenic rupture in the English language literature since 1960. Two cases of P. vivax malaria with splenic complications are reported here. One of them showed signs and symptoms of acute abdominal pain, then splenic rupture occurred.

Effect of relativistic many-electron interactions on photoelectron partial wave probabilities.

We obtain relative cross sections for the production of photoelectrons with specific angular momentum quantum numbers. These cross sections are obtained from the polarization analysis of the visible fluorescence of ions produced when circularly polarized vacuum ultraviolet radiation photoionizes ground state Ar. The ratio of cross sections for the production of photoelectrons with the same orbital angular momentum but different total angular momenta shows strong deviations from the statistical ratio, demonstrating the importance of relativistic interactions in many-electron photoionization dynamics.

Quantifying relativistic interactions from angular momentum partitioning measurements during photoionization.

We have measured the degree of helicity of fluorescent radiation from Ar+[3p4[3P]4p] 2P(o)1/2 formed by circularly polarized synchrotron radiation in the region of double excitations converging to Ar+3p4 nl satellite states. Angular momentum coupling allows the partitioning of the one unit of angular momentum brought into the system to be demarcated. We obtain a nonvanishing expectation value of the total spin of the residual ion-photoelectron system indicating significant relativistic interactions during the photoionization process.

Distribution of coagulase-negative staphylococci, including the newly described species Staphylococcus schleiferi, in nosocomial and community acquired urinary tract infections.

Four hundred and four coagulase-negative staphylococci were isolated from 4905 urine specimens obtained from 4192 inpatients and outpatients. The distribution of the strains was as follows: 193 Staphylococcus epidermidis (47.8%), 171 Staphylococcus saprophyticus (42.3%), 29 Staphylococcus haemolyticus (7.2%), 5 Staphylococcus warneri (1.2%), 3 Staphylococcus schleiferi (0.7%), 2 Staphylococcus hominis (0.5%) and 1 Staphylococcus simulans (0.2%). All three Staphylococcus schleiferi strains were isolated from inpatients: a 64-year-old female, a 68-year-old male and a 3-month-old male with colony counts of 468,000 cfu/ml, 324,000 cfu/ml and 764,000 cfu/ml respectively. These findings show that among coagulase-negative staphylococci, Staphylococcus schleiferi, a newly described species of coagulase-negative staphylococci not previously reported as a uropathogen, may also cause hospital acquired urinary tract infection.