This study revealed that in southern Turkey, L. major and L. donovani were the aetiological agents of CL and VL, respectively. It was assumed that emergence of L. major and L. donovani was due to influx of Syrian refugees, as well as the effects of global warming.

Despite years of study, the pathogenic role of Blastocytis hominis is still controversial. Genotypic differences between the asymptomatic and symptomatic isolates should assist in determining the pathogenicity of Blastocystis. In this study, we genotyped 32 Blastocystis isolates obtained from 12 asymptomatic healthy individuals and 20 symptomatic patients pain by polymerase chain reaction using known seven kinds of sequence tagged site primers in this study. When we compared genotype of Blastocystis isolates between the symptomatic and asymptomatic patient group, we found that subtype3 is the most dominant genotype in asymptomatic individual (9/12) and subtype1 determined all of symptomatic patients (20/20).

Blastocystis hominis is a common intestinal parasite observed in fecal examination. On the other hand, the transmission of this parasite is certainly unknown. The transmission of B. hominis can be realized by animal contact and the contamination by water and food with excreted cysts from the reservoir hosts. B. hominis isolated from 25 humans, their pets, and tap water was identified by polymerase chain reaction using sequenced tag site primers in this study. B. hominis isolates obtained from humans and pets were identified as subtype1, subtype2, and subtype3 while B. hominis isolates obtained from tap water were also identified as subtype1. The B. hominis isolates obtained from humans in this study were defined as the same as the subtypes of the B. hominis isolates obtained from the pets, of which these people keep at their homes, and the tap water. These findings reveal that the source of B. hominis infection could be pets and tap water.

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Cryptosporidium spp. is an important parasitic protozoan causing diarrhea in developing and developed countries. The agent causes severe life-threatening diarrhea especially in immunocompromised hosts. Diagnosis of the Cryptosporidium oocyst in stool samples by conventional microscopy is labor-intensive and time-consuming. Thus, we aimed to evaluate the usefulness of a copro-antigen enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test in detecting Cryptosporidium spp. from fecal specimens. For this aim, microscopy and specific antigen detection methods were compared to determine Cryptosporidium spp. In addition, specific antigen by ELISA method in stool was investigated in order to find out whether or not it contributes to the diagnosis of Cryptosporidium spp. One hundred and fifty-four stool specimens taken from patients whose ages ranged from 0 to 86 with diarrhea applied to Department of Parasitology, Balcali Hospital of Cukurova University in Adana, Turkey were used. All samples were examined for Cryptosporidium spp. antigen by ELISA and oocysts via gold standard modified acid-fast staining, between October 2008 and July 2009. Eight (5.19%) specimens were found to be positive by modified acid-fast staining method and 37 (24.03%) specimens by copro-antigen ELISA method were found to be positive. The sensitivity and specificity for copro-antigen ELISA were 100% and 80.1%, respectively. The results of copro-antigen ELISA indicate that the simple, rapid, reliable, and standardized immunoassay test is sensitive and specific for routine diagnosis and may be useful for large-scale epidemiological studies of cryptosporidiosis.

The laboratory diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis is based on microscopic examination, culture, serological tests, and molecular methods. In this study, we examined 50 blood specimens from suspected visceral leishmaniasis patients by microscopic examination, recombinant antigen dipstick test (rK39), and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in the University of Cukurova, Faculty of Medicine, Parasitology Department in Turkey. We calculated the sensitivity-specificity and positive-negative predictive values for these diagnostic tests. We found that positive predictive value of microscopy examination, rK39 dipstick test, and PCR were 20%, 24%, and 58% for visceral leishmaniasis, respectively. When we compared polymerase chain reaction, recombinant antigen dipstick test, and microscopic examination for visceral leishmaniasis diagnosis, the polymerase chain reaction is more sensitive (100%) than recombinant antigen dipstick test and microscopy examination.

Abstract. This study aimed at finding out the most effective clinical samples and methods in chronic cutaneous leishmaniasis (CCL). Smear, aspiration fluid, and filter paper samples were taken from 104 skin lesions of suspected cases with CCL, and they were compared using microscopic examination, culture, and molecular methods. We characterized four different forms of CCL and identified the causative agents in CCL forms using high-resolution melting curve real-time polymerase chain reaction assay. We observed that smear was detected to be the most sensitive (63.5%) among clinical samples, and real-time polymerase chain reaction method was the most sensitive (96.8%) among the methods used in diagnosis of CCL. We identified 68.8% Leishmania tropica and 31.2% L. infantum in papular lesions, 69.2% L. infantum and 30.8% L. tropica in nodular lesions, 57.9% L. tropica and 42.1% L. major in ulcerating plaque lesions, and 55.5% L. tropica and 44.5% L. major in noduloulcerative lesions in CCL patients.

The present study was conducted to determine the prevalence of canine dirofilariosis in Hatay province, south of Turkey. A total of 269 blood samples were collected from owned dogs in this multi-centre survey between March and July 2006. Blood samples were examined by modified Knott and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) techniques to detect circulating microfilariae and antigens of Dirofilaria immitis, respectively. Seventy out of 269 dogs (26.0%) were positive for D. immitis. However, 61.4% of positive dogs had occult infection. The prevalence of canine dirofilariosis was heterogeneous in Hatay province, with higher values in shoreline (33.0%) and riverside (30.9%) areas followed by the lowland (25.5%) or mountainous (15.2%) areas. No statistically significant differences were observed in relation to sex (females, 33.3%; males, 24.4%, P>0.05). When evaluating the prevalence of D. immitis by age, the highest prevalence was observed in dogs older than 4 years of age. Large breeds (29.6%) and the dogs living outdoors (30.2%) showed a higher prevalence in comparison to small breeds (21.4%) and the dogs living indoors (10.5%), respectively. In conclusion, according to the results of this study canine dirofilariosis had a high prevalence in Hatay province. Therefore, prophylaxis against heartworm is advisable to decrease the incidence of canine dirofilariosis.