The inactivation or down-regulation of the mgrB gene was shown to be a source of colistin resistance in K. pneumoniae. Interestingly, identical genetic events were identified among clonally unrelated isolates.

Previous studies showed a link between systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection. We sought to determine the features of serologic response to EBV in SLE patients and whether this response differs from those of systemic sclerosis (SSc) and primary antiphospholipid syndrome (PAPS) patients as well as healthy individuals. Sera from 198 consecutive SLE patients have been tested to detect IgG antibodies to EA/D, EBNA-1, VCA P18 and for comparison, cytomegalovirus (CMV) using commercially available ELISA kits (Trinity Biotech, USA). Forty-six SSc patients and 38 PAPS patients were enrolled as diseased control groups and sixty-five individuals as healthy controls. Significantly more SLE (54%, P = 0.001, OR 5.77, 95% CI 2.8-11.6), SSc (41.3%, P = 0.005, OR 3.4, 95% CI 1.4-8.2) and PAPS sera (36.8%, P = 0.023, OR 2.86, 95% CI 1.14-7.22) reacted against EA/D than healthy controls (16.9%). The mean age of anti-EA/D-positive SLE patients was significantly higher, and their disease duration was longer compared to anti-EA/D-negative SLE patients (41 ± 14 vs. 33.8 ± 10.8 years, P < 0.001 and 100 ± 73 vs. 71 ± 62 months, P = 0.003). In SLE patients, EA/D reactivity was associated with Raynaud's phenomenon and the presence of any anti-ENA antibodies. Although it did not reach a statistical significance, anti-EBNA-1 reactivity was slightly lower in patients with SLE. The frequency of anti-CMV Ig G positivity was found significantly higher in SLE patients (100%) when compared to patients with SSc (95.7%), PAPS (94.7%) and healthy controls (95.4%) (P = 0.035, P = 0.025 and P = 0.015 respectively). Our results support the proposed link between EBV and SLE. The finding that SSc and PAPS patients also have increased frequency of anti-EA/D response has revealed that this immune interaction may not be unique to patients with SLE, and there may be a common mechanism involving EBV in these autoimmune diseases.

No abstract

We report here the first identification of the worldwide spread of Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase-2-producing and carbapenem-resistant K. pneumoniae clone ST258 in Turkey, a country where the distantly-related carbapenemase OXA-48 is known to be endemic. Worryingly, this isolate was also resistant to colistin, now considered to be the last-resort antibiotic for carbapenem-resistant isolates.

We evaluated the incidence of Cyclospora cayetanensis in immunocompetent, diarrheic patients during the summers of 2006-2009 in Istanbul. Stools from 1876 patients were examined using microscopic techniques. Cyclospora oocysts were observed in wet preparations by light and epifluorescence microscopy and in fecal smears that were stained by Kinyoun's modified acid-fast stain. Characteristic Cyclospora oocysts were observed in 2 patients in 2006, 17 in 2007, and one in 2009. Samples positive for Cyclospora were further analyzed by a single step polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with Cyclospora-specific primers from the ITS-1 region of the genome.The majority of the Cyclospora positive cases (15) were clustered during about 15 days in June 2007, indicating an unusual incidence of cyclosporiasis in this time period. The climatic characteristics of 2007 could have played a role in this high occurrence rate.