Background/aim: The West Nile virus (WNV) is a mosquito-borne flavivirus causing different forms of infection among humans, varying from asymptomatic illness to fetal central nervous system infection. Turkey lies within an endemic region for WNV. Transfusion of infected blood products is another well-documented major route of transmission. The aim of our study was to investigate the presence of WNV viremia among a healthy donor population from the western part of the country. Materials and methods:A total of 438 healthy volunteer blood donors were included in the study. The presence of WNV RNA was investigated by quantitative real-time reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and anti-WNV IgG was detected by a commercial ELISA test.Results: Ages of volunteer donors were 18-62 years (mean: 34.7) and 34 (7.76%) were women. All samples were negative for WNV RNA by qRT-PCR. Eleven (2.51%) samples, 1 of which was borderline, were positive for anti-WNV IgG. All positive samples were from the western part of the country and 9 of them were from İzmir. Conclusion:Although all donor samples were negative for WNV RNA by qRT-PCR, the risk of WNV transmission via blood products should not be ignored in endemic regions.

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Objectives: This study aimed to analyze the antiretroviral drug resistance in antiretroviral treatment-naïve HIV-positive patients in the Aegean Region of Turkey from 2012 to 2019. Material and Methods: The study included 814 plasma samples from treatment-naïve HIV-positive patients. Drug resistance analysis was performed by Sanger sequencing (SS) between 2012-2017 and by next-generation sequencing sequencing (NGS) between 2018-2019. SS was used to analyze resistance mutations in the protease (PR) and reverse transcriptase (RT) gene regions using a ViroSeq HIV-1 Genotyping System. PCR products were analyzed with an ABI3500 GeneticAnalyzer (Applied Biosystems). The sequencing of the HIV genome in the PR, RT, and integrase gene regions was carried out using MiSeq NGS technology. Drug resistance mutations and subtypes were interpreted using the Stanford University HIV-1 drug resistance database. Results: Transmitted drug resistance (TDR) mutation was detected in 34/814 ( 4.1 %) samples. Non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI), nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI), and protease inhibitor (PI) mutations were identified in 1.4 % (n =12), 2.4 % (n =20), and 0.3 % (n = 3) of samples, respectively. The most common subtypes were B (53.1 % ), A (10.9%), CRF29_BF (10.6%), and B + CRF02_AG (8,2%). The most common TDR mutations were E138A (3.4%), T215 revertants (1.7%), M41L (1.5%), and K103N (1.1%). Conclusion: Transmitted drug resistance rate in the Aegean Region is compatible with national and regional data. Routine surveillance of resistance mutations may guide the safe and correct selection of initial drug combinations for antiretroviral therapy. The identification of HIV-1 subtypes and recombinant forms in Turkey may contribute to international molecular epidemiological data.

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