Objective: The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence rate of the Rickettsiae infection during the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus SARS-CoV-2 pandemic according to years. Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out during 2016 to 2020. Weil-Felix test is based on cross-reactions which occur between antibodies produced in acute rickettsial infections with antigens of OX (OX 19, OX 2, and OXK) strains of Proteus species. On a lam surface, a small 100 μL of the patient's serum is placed. A single drop of the desired antigen (OX19, OX2 ve OXK) is added, and the resulting suspension is mixed and then rotated for one minute. Visible agglutination is indicative of a positive result and corresponds roughly to a titer of 1:20. Statistical analysis of the data obtained was conducted with SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) Demo Ver 22.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) program.

The incidence of Brucella canis (B. canis) in humans is unknown in Northern Cyprus. In this study, we investigated the prevalence of B. canis and Brucella abortus (B. abortus) infection in human sera and evaluated the results obtained by agglutination-based techniques using standardized antigens made from B. canis comparatively. All of the subjects were negative in terms of Rose-Bengal plate test. Undiluted serum samples were initially screened by RSAT (rapid slide agglutination test), and those which were found positive were retested in the dilution of 1/25-1/200. Confirmation of the positive results was performed by using 2-mercaptoethanol SAT. The test antigen was prepared from the less mucoid M (-) variant of B. canis, and 1/1048 titered dog antiserum was used as positive control. In serum samples taken 225, 3.6% (8/225) was positive by B. canis M (-) RSAT, 4.4 % (10/225) positive by B. canis M (-) indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (iELISA). 5.3% (12/225) positive by B. abortus S99 RSAT and 9.8% (22/225) positive by B. abortus S99 iELISA. Nine samples were positive both B. abortus M (-) RSAT and B. abortus M (-) iELISA. Seven samples were positive both B. canis M (-) RSAT and B. canis M (-) iELISA. One patient was positive all methods. It is important to evaluate patient samples with RSAT and iELISA. Until the notification system gives better results to the Ministry of Health, in order to reach the real data for Northern Cyprus, multicenter prevalence determination studies should be done for future.

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Introduction: A vaccine against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is critically needed for older adults because of the increased morbidity and mortality rates. Methodology: In this prospective study, we analysed the titre magnitude of the IgG antibodies directed against the SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein S1 (S1-RBD) antigen in both CoronaVac and Pfizer-BioNTech groups. The samples were tested to detect antibodies that bind to the receptor-binding domain of the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 using the Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) technique with SARS-CoV-2 IgG II Quant. The cut-off value was > 50 AU/mL. GraphPad Prism software was used. Statistical significance was defined at p < 0.05. Results: The CoronaVac group (12 females, 13 males) had a mean age of 69.64 ± 1.38 years. The Pfizer-BioNTech group (13 males, 12 females) had a mean age of 72.36 ± 1.44 years. The anti- S1-RBD titre decrease rate from the 1st to the 3rd month for CoronaVac and Pfizer-BioNTech groups was 74.31% and 86.48%, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference in the antibody titre between the 1st month and 3rd month for the CoronaVac group. However, there was a significant difference between the 1st and 3rd month in the Pfizer-BioNTech group. In addition, there was no statistically significant difference in the genders between the 1st and 3rd month of the antibody titres for both the CoronaVac Pfizer-BioNTech group. Conclusions: The levels of anti-S1-RBD, the preliminary outcome data of our study, represents one piece of the puzzle of humoral response and duration of vaccination protection.

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