Determination of the distribution of rotavirus genotypes is essential for understanding the epidemiology of this virus responsible for nearly half a million of deaths in patients with gastroenteritis worldwide. In the present study, we aimed to genotype the rotavirus strains isolated from diarrheal stool samples in children under 5 years old. A total of 1297 fecal samples were collected, and rotavirus antigen was detected in 73 of these samples. Antigen-positive samples were transferred to the Public Health Agency of Turkey, Molecular Microbiology Research Laboratory, and were tested for determination of genotypes G and P using semi-nested multiplex polymerase chain reaction method performed with consensus- and genotype-specific primers. Twelve specimens were found to be negative for rotavirus in genotyping method. All the positive-strains were in G1-4, G8-9, P(4), P(8), and P(9) genotypes. The most frequent GP genotype combinations were found to be G9P(8) in 21 strains (34.4%), G2P(4) in 14 strains (23.0%), and G1P(8) in 12 strains (19.7%). We found 10 distinct genotypes amongst a total of 61 strains. Among the strains isolated and genotyped in our study, 90.2% (55/61) and 67.2% (41/61) have already been included in the two existing commercial vaccines. In conclusion, these findings implicate the necessity of development of region-specific vaccines after evaluation of the local genotype distribution. Further studies on the large number of rotavirus strains would contribute to this process.

Amaç: Bu çalışmanın amacı çocuklarda tekrarlayan pnömoni sıklığını ve altta yatan predispozan nedenleri belirlemekti. Gereç ve Yöntemler: Uludağ Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi, Çocuk Sağlığı ve Hastalıkları Kliniğinde 1 Ocak 1998 ve 31 Aralık 2007 tarihleri arasında, pnömoni tanısıyla yatarak izlenen olguların tıbbi kayıtları retrospektif olarak incelendi. Bir yıl içinde iki pnömoni atağı geçirilmesi veya yaşamı süresince en az üç kez pnömoni atağı geçirilmesi tekrarlayan pnömoni olarak kabul edildi. Tekrarlayan pnömoni tanısı konulan olgular çalışmaya alındı. Bulgular: Çalışma süresince, 1617 çocuk pnömoni tanısıyla hastaneye yatırıldı, olguların 185'i (%11.4) tekrarlayan pnömoni kriterleri ile uyumlu idi. Hastaların ortalama yaşları 16±32 ay (3 ay-14 yaş) ve %61'i erkek idi. Altta yatan predispozan neden 143 olguda (%77) belirlendi. Altta yatan hastalığın tanısı olguların 25'inde (%17) pnömoni tanısından önce, 30'unda (%21) ilk pnömoni episodunda ve 88'inde (%62) tekrarlayan pnömoni ataklarında konuldu. Altta yatan hastalıklar olarak, konjenital kalp hastalığı 32 olguda (%17.2), gastroösefagiyal reflü 31 olguda (%16.7), aspirasyon sendromu 27 olguda (%14.5), astım 16 olguda (%8.6), kistik fibrozis 12 olguda (%6.4), immün yetmezlik 10 olguda (%5.4), tüberküloz 9 olguda (%4.8) ve akciğer ve göğüs anomalisi 6 olguda (%3.2) saptandı. Predispozan hastalık 42 olguda (33%) saptanamadı. Sonuç: Tekrarlayan pnömoni hastaneye pnömoni tanısıyla yatışı yapılan çocukların %11.4'ünde görüldü. Altta yatan neden olguların %77'sinde saptandı. En sık görülen nedenler konjenital kalp hastalığı, gastroösefagiyal reflü ve aspirasyon sendromu idi. AbstractObjective: The aim of this study was to determine the relative frequency and describe the predisposing causes of recurrent pneumonia in children. Material and methods:We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients with pneumonia at

Th e eff ects of inoculum concentrations and the aggressiveness of spot blotch (Bipolaris sorokiniana (Sacc.) Shoemaker) isolates were evaluated on the resistance of 123 winter wheat advanced breeding lines developed from European winter wheat as well as on 3 control cultivars, BR8, BH1146, and Zentos. Th e test was conducted under laboratory conditions using a detached leaf technique. A total of 3 inoculum concentrations were used: 0.5 × 10 3 , 1 × 10 3 , and 5 × 10 3 spores mL -1 . Th e results of the study revealed low resistance of the tested material when accessions were compared by the percentage of disease severity (DS), but considerably higher variability of resistance was determined when the area under the disease progress curve (AUDPC) was used for comparison. Th e correlations between DS and AUDPC across inoculum concentrations varied from medium to high (r = 0.559*-0.909**; *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01) for isolates with higher aggressiveness, whereas it was high (r = 0.785**-0.939**) for those with lower aggressiveness. Th e correlations between DS and AUDPC across isolates were high (r = 0.769**-0.939**) for lower inoculum concentrations of 0.5 × 10 3 and 1 × 10 3 , whereas they varied from medium to high (r = 0.559*-0.785**) for the highest spore concentration, 5 × 10 3 . All of the concentrations can be successfully used for the evaluation of resistance considering DS development and the subsequent diff erentiation of accessions. However, the lower inoculum concentrations provided a higher diff erentiation of the accessions tested. Cultivar BR8, described in the literature as being resistant, exhibited the highest resistance among the accessions tested for AUDPC and DS, with results of 77.5 and 30.5%, respectively. Cultivar BH1146, referred to in the literature as having medium resistance, was evaluated by DS at 44.2% and by AUDPC at 146.4. About 23% of the accessions tested possessed the same resistance level as BH1146, or higher. Cultivars Dream, Aspirant, and Biscay were the most common among the ancestry of the most resistant lines. Th is suggests that it may be possible to select modern European winter wheat cultivars with suffi cient spot blotch resistance when large numbers of accessions are screened.