These results suggested that B. hominis may be pathogenic, especially when it is present in large numbers, and TMP-SMX is highly effective against this organism. Although there are some anecdotal reports, to our knowledge this is the first study examining the effect of TMP-SMX on B. hominis in humans.

Finding lice can be difficult in head louse infestation. We compared a new louse detection comb with visual inspection. All children in two rural Turkish schools were screened by the two methods. Those with lice were offered treatment and the results monitored by detection combing. Children with nits only were re-screened to identify latent infestations. Using visual inspection we found 214/461 children (46%) with nits but only 30 (6.5%) with live lice. In contrast detection combing found 96 (21%) with live lice, of whom 20 had no nits. Detection combing was 3.84 times more effective than visual inspection for finding live lice. Only 10/138 (7.2%) children with nits and no lice were found to have active infestation by day 16. We found that the detection comb is significantly (P<0.001) more effective than visual screening for diagnosis; that nits are not a good indicator of active infestation; and that treatment with 1% permethrin was 89.6% effective.

Recent surveys investigating the molecular biology of Giardia lamblia revealed two distinct assemblages with different clinical outcomes. However, there is not a universal compromise about the clinical effects of each assemblage, warranting further studies. Here, we report the results of the first analyses of the assemblages of G. lamblia in Manisa province located in western Turkey, together with their relationships with the symptoms and DNA sequence analyses of the PCR products. DNA samples were isolated from the stools of 63 patients infected with G. lamblia and 54 DNA samples, amplified successfully with PCR, were digested with the enzyme Xho I for RFLP. Thirty-eight of 54 samples (70.4%) were found to be in Assemblage A, while the remaining 16 samples (29.6%) were found to be in Assemblage B. The number of female patients was found significantly higher in Assemblage B (P=0.18). There was a statistically significant relationship between the occurrence of both abdominal pain and diarrhea and Assemblage B (chi-square, 10.52; P<0.05). No other statistically significant relationship was detected between the assemblages and neither with the symptoms nor with the age groups of the patients. The comparison of the DNA sequences of the PCR products from two assemblage B (one subtype B1 and one B) and one assemblage A samples both with each other and with other DNA sequences in the NCBI website by multialignment analyses, revealed specific regions for assemblages B (B1-B) and A on tpi gene region. Further studies with more patients are required to assess these initial results. Now, our aim is to design a probe for tpi gene region to set up a real-time PCR assay that is easier to conduct and requiring shorter time for the analyses.

Bağırsak parazit bakısı için beş yıllık süreçte başvuran hastalarda en sık Blastocystis spp., G. intestinalis ve D. fragilis görülmüştür. Bulgularımız bağırsak parazitlerinin önemli bir halk sağlığı sorunu olduğunu göstermiştir.

SummaryRecent surveys investigating the molecular biology of Giardia lamblia revealed two distinct assemblages with different clinical outcomes. However, there is not a universal compromise about the clinical effects of each assemblage, warranting further studies. Here, we report the results of the first analyses of the assemblages of G. lamblia in Manisa province located in western Turkey, together with their relationships with the symptoms and DNA sequence analyses of the PCR products. DNA samples were isolated from the stools of 63 patients infected with G. lamblia and 54 DNA samples, amplified successfully with PCR, were digested with the enzyme Xho I for RFLP. Thirty-eight of 54 samples (70.4%) were found to be in Assemblage A, while the remaining 16 samples (29.6%) were found to be in Assemblage B. The number of female patients was found significantly higher in Assemblage B (P=0.18). There was a statistically significant relationship between the occurrence of both abdominal pain and diarrhea and Assemblage B (chi-square, 10.52; P<0.05). No other statistically significant relationship was detected between the assemblages and neither with the symptoms nor with the age groups of the patients. The comparison of the DNA sequences of the PCR products from two assemblage B (one subtype B1 and one B) and one assemblage A samples both with each other and with other DNA sequences in the NCBI website by multialignment analyses, revealed specific regions for assemblages B (B1-B) and A on tpi gene region. Further studies with more patients are required to assess these initial results. Now, our aim is to design a probe for tpi gene region to set up a real-time PCR assay that is easier to conduct and requiring shorter time for the analyses. Keywords: Giardia lamblia, Diagnosis, PCR, Genotyping, SymptomBir Türk Hasta Kohortunda Giardia lamblia Genotiplendirilmesi: Semptomlar ile Genotipler Arası İlişkinin Araştırılması ÖzetGiardia lamblia ile yapılan moleküler düzeydeki çalışmalar iki farklı genotipin farklı klinik belirtilere sahip olduğunu ortaya çıkarmıştır. Bununla birlikte, hangi genotipin ne tür klinik belirtilere neden olduğuna dair henüz kesin bulgular elde edilmiş değildir. Bu araştırmada Türkiye'nin Manisa yöresinden elde edilen G. lamblia izolatları polimeraz zincir reaksiyonu (PZR) ve sonrasında DNA dizi analizi yöntemleriyle araştırılmış ve saptanan genotipler ile hastalardaki klinik semptomlar arasındaki ilişkiler incelenmiştir. Toplam 63 hastadan DNA örnekleri izole edilmiş ve bunların 54'üne Xho I restriksiyon enzimi kullanılarak RFLP analizi uygulanmıştır. Sonuçlar incelendiğinde, 54 örneğin 38'inin (%70.37) A, 16'sının ise (%29.63) B genotipine ait olduğu belirlenmiştir. Kadın hasta sayısının B genotipinde anlamlı düzeyde daha fazla olduğu (p=0.18), ayrıca hastalarda birlikte bulunan karın ağrısı ve ishal yakınması ile G. lamblia B genotipi arasında istatistiksel olarak anlamlı bir ilişki olduğu tespit edilmiştir (ki-kare testi, 10.52; P<0.05). Hastaların yaşı ya da yakınmaları ile G. lamblia genotipleri...