Aim Influenza vaccination is the most effective method in prevention of influenza disease and its complications. Our study aimed to investigate the rates of vaccination and the behaviors and attitudes against the vaccine in healthcare workers in Turkey. Methods This multicenter national survey is a descriptive study in which 12475 healthcare workers. Healthcare workers were asked to answer the questionnaire consisting of 12 questions via the survey. Results It was found that 6.7% of the healthcare workers regularly got vaccinated each year and that 55% had never had the influenza vaccine before. The biggest obstacle against getting vaccinated was determined as not believing in the necessity of the vaccine (53.1%). Conclusion The rates of influenza vaccination in healthcare workers in Turkey are quite low. False knowledge and attitudes on the vaccine and disease are seen as the most important reasons to decline vaccination. It is important to detect reasons for anti‐vaccination and set a course in order to increase the rates of vaccination.

AIM:To analyse postoperative meningitis (POM) after craniotomy, and to compare the clinical characteristics, treatment outcomes and mortality rates of POM that were caused by Acinetobacter spp. or other possible causes. MATERIAL and METHODS:In this study, POM cases in our hospital between 2008 and 2016 were retrospectively reviewed. Cases were divided into three groups; Acinetobacter spp. meningitis (case group), non-Acinetobacter bacterial meningitis (control group 1) and culture negative meningitis (control group 2). Demographic, clinical, laboratory features, treatment modalities and mortality rates were compared between case and control groups. RESULTS:A total of 112 patients with POM were included in the study. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) culture results were negative in 50 (44.6%) patients; bacteria were isolated from CSF of 62 (55.3%) patients. Acinetobacter spp. was isolated from 28 (45%) patients, while bacteria other than Acinetobacter spp. were detected in 34 (55%) patients. No significant differences were observed between case and control groups in terms of age, gender, comorbidity and operation type. For the case group, change of treatment according to culture result was significantly different from control groups (p<0.001).Mortality was 55.6% in the case group, 24.2% in control group 1 (p=0.013), and 24% in control group 2 (p=0.006). In multivariate analysis, isolation of Acinetobacter spp. from CSF culture [OR adj 5.2, 95% confidence interval (CI):1.2-22.0, p=0.026] and inappropriate treatment (OR adj 15.7, 95%CI:3.6-68.9, p<0.001) were determined to be independent risk factors for mortality. CONCLUSION:Postoperative meningitis, especially caused by Acinetobacter spp., and its inappropriate empirical treatment are associated with high mortality.

Drugs that block TNF-α and ustekunimab cause an increase in viral replication. In literature, the HBV reactivation rate was approximately 1% in HBsAg-negative, anti-HBC IgG-positive cases, whereas it was found to be as high as 17.2% in our study. Patients receiving the immunomodulator therapy should be evaluated for HBV serology before treatment and carefully monitored for HBV reactivation during and after treatment.

Gebelerde tetanoz immünizasyonu: Maternal de¤erlendirme, tetanoz afl›lama durumu ve afl›lama oran›n› etkileyen faktörler Amaç: Bu çal›flmada hastanemize baflvuran gebelerin tetanoz afl›s› hakk›ndaki bilgi, tutum ve davran›fllar›n›n de¤erlendirilmesi amaç-lanm›flt›r. Yöntem: Bu kesitsel çal›flmada, Ocak 2019 ve Temmuz 2019 ay-lar› aras›nda klini¤imize baflvuran gebeler dahil edildi. Tüm kat›-l›mc›lara gebelikte tetanoz afl›s› oranlar›n›, gebelerin tetanoz afl›s› hakk›ndaki bilgi, tutum ve davran›fllar›n› de¤erlendiren bir anket uyguland›. Bulgular: Çal›flmaya toplam 227 gebe dahil edildi. Hastalar›n ortalama yafllar› 29.5±6.12 bulunurken ortalama gebelik haftas› 30.79±7.49 saptand›. Daha önceki gebeli¤inde tetanoz afl›s› yapt›rmayan 46 (%12.6) hastan›n 24'ünün (%52.1) ise afl›n›n bebe¤ine zararl› oldu¤unu düflündü¤ü için afl› yapt›rmad›¤› tespit edildi. Ay-r›ca daha önceki gebeli¤inde afl› yapt›rmad›¤›n› belirten 46 hastan›n 2'sinin ise takip eden doktorunun afl›ya karfl› oldu¤u saptand›. 172 (%75.7) hastan›n tetanoz afl›s› yapt›rmas› gerekti¤ini aile hekimi hemfliresinden ö¤rendi¤i tespit edildi. Tetanoz afl›s› olmas› gerek-ti¤ini kad›n hastal›klar› ve do¤um uzman›ndan ö¤renen hasta say›-s› ise sadece 2 (%0.8) idi. Bu gebeli¤inde tetanoz afl›s› olan/olacak hasta say›s› 177 (%77.9) olarak bulunurken 47 (%20.7) hasta ise afl›-y› yapt›r›p yapt›rmama konusunda karars›zd›. Ayr›ca 200 (%88.1) hastan›n tetanoz afl›s›n›n gebelikte yan etkisi olmad›¤›n› bildi¤i tespit edildi. Sonuç: Afl›lanman›n önündeki en büyük hasta kaynakl› engel, has-talar›n afl›n›n bebeklerine zararl› olabilece¤ini düflünmeleri, afl› hakk›ndaki bilgi eksiklikleridir. Sa¤l›k çal›flanlar› kaynakl› en büyük engel ise hastalara afl› hakk›nda yeterli bilgi verilmemesi ve afl›-n›n gereklili¤inin yeteri kadar anlat›lmamas› ve özellikle kad›n do-¤um hekimleri taraf›ndan tetanoz afl›s›n›n sadece birinci basamak sa¤l›k kurulufllar›n›n sorumlu¤unda gibi alg›lanmas›d›r.

Background:The hepatitis B virus (HBV) is one of the major causes of chronic liver disease. From the perspective of hospital workers (HWs), employees are at risk of hepatitis B infection because of occupational exposure. Apart from this occupational risk, health professionals may still be affected by HBV, depending on the epidemiological characteristics of the country and geographical region they live in.Objectives: This study aimed to determine HBV, HCV, and HIV seroprevalence among HWs using data obtained from 21 hospitals located in six geographical regions in Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Methods: The study was designed as a retrospective, multicentre, descriptive study. Twenty hospitals from Turkey and one hospital from the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus were involved in the study. The variables of the study were vaccination status against HBV and hepatitis A and HBsAg, anti-HBs, anti-HBcIgG, anti-HAV IgG, anti-HCV, anti-HDV, and anti-HIV serology results belonging to the previous year.Results: Women constituted 58.9% (n = 5,622) of the HWs included in the study. The mean age was 36.3 ± 9.09 years (min = 18, max = 72). In terms of occupation, 42.5% (n = 4,064) were nurses/health officers, and 24.8% (n = 2365) were physicians. HBsAg seroprevalence was found to be 1.8% (n = 169; 95% CI = 1.5% -2.0%), while anti-HBs seropositivity was 75.7% (n = 7,234). About 7.3% (n = 701) had natural immunity to hepatitis B. About 21.6% (n = 2,066) of the HWs did not receive hepatitis B vaccine. Conclusions: This study is the first study involving a large sample size from different locations of Turkey. According to the results, hepatitis B and hepatitis A vaccines should be administered to susceptible individuals and HWs.

Objective: Although the influenza vaccine is offered on request, free of charge every year since 2002 to healthcare workers in our country, vaccination rates are low. This study was carried out to determine the approach of healthcare workers in two different hospitals to the influenza vaccination. Material and Method: This descriptive study, in which demographic characteristics of employees of Kırıkhan State Hospital and Ağrı State Hospital and their answers given to the ten questions about influenza vaccination by face to face interview have been recorded in the survey form, was conducted on 2-9 January 2019. The data were analyzed using the SPSS program. Statistically, the p-value <0.05 level was considered significant. Results: 31 doctors, 215 assistant medical staff, 72 other healthcare workers, and 52 company staff, from two different centers, were involved in the study. We learned that 134 (%36.1) of the study participants had at least one vaccination in their life. The raised rate of vaccination was also observed as the education level increased. The leading causes of not wanting to get an influenza vaccine were unbelieving the necessity of the vaccine (26%) and preferring other protection methods (22.1%). When asked about ways to prevent influenza to the study participants, 64% responded as regular nutrition, doing sport, and taking vitamin C supplements, while %5.7 responded as getting an influenza vaccination. Conclusions: In training will be done on influenza vaccination, by taking into account also the reasons for not being vaccinated that were determined in studies performed in healthcare workers, good explanation of the necessity, effectiveness, and low side effects of vaccines should be required. At the same time, by taking suggestions from hospital staff, new strategies could be developed to transfer the relevant information.

Objective: Our aim is to assess the knowledge, attitude, and behaviors of pregnant women about COVID-19. Methods: This cross-sectional survey study was performed on pregnant women in their second and third trimesters between November-December 2020. The participants completed a questionnaire consisting of 5 parts. Demographic data of pregnant women, their knowledge, attitude, and risk perceptions toward COVID-19, their practices and worries about COVID-19, and what they knew about pregnancy were calculated as percentile and mean values. Results: A total of 1011 participants were included in the statistical analysis. The mean age and BMI of the participants were 27.09±5.55 and 27.48±4.71 kg/m 2 , respectively. Mean gestational age and parity were 26.20±9.30 and 1.47±1.19, respectively. Measures taken by authorities for COVID-19 were thought to be "extremely adequate" by 21.4% of the participants and "highly adequate" by 30%. Of the participants, 47.5% trusted healthcare professionals extremely in fighting against the COVID-19 pandemic. Affection and respect for healthcare professionals during the pandemic increased in 89.1% of the participants. Of the participants, 88.5% stated that they would follow the strict quarantine requirements when necessary and 48.3% felt more vulnerable/weak as they were pregnant during the pandemic. Of the participants, 50.6% were intending to decrease their antenatal visits during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusion:The measures taken can be applied with high awareness of COVID-19. Sufficient training, in that case, can be done through communication routes such as information and public service announcements.

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