This study was carried out with the participation of eight hospitals in Turkey to determine the frequency of gram-negative bacteria isolated in intensive care units (ICU) and to compare their resistance rates to selected antibiotics. Aerobic gram-negative bacteria isolated from ICUs during 1996 were studied. Antibiotic susceptibilities to imipenem, ceftazidime, ceftazidime-clavulanate, ceftriaxone, cefotaxime, cefepime, cefodizime, cefuroxime, piperacillin/tazobactam, amoxycillin-clavulanate, gentamicin, amikacin and ciprofloxacin were determined by Etest. A total of 748 isolates were obtained from 547 patients. The majority of organisms were isolated from the respiratory (38.8%) and urinary tracts (30.9%). Pseudomonas spp. were the most frequently isolated gram-negative species (26.8%), followed by Klebsiella spp. (26.2%). Escherichia coli, Acinetobacter spp. and Enterobacter spp. were the other commonly isolated organisms. High resistance rates were observed for all antibiotics studied. Imipenem appeared to be the most active agent against the majority of isolates. Although resistance rates exceeded 50%, ciprofloxacin, cefepime and amikacin were found to be relatively effective. Extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) production appeared to be a major mechanism of resistance to beta-lactam antibiotics. In contrast to ceftazidime-clavulanate, piperacillin/tazobactam showed poor activity against organisms thought to produce ESBL, suggesting the presence of an enzyme resistant to tazobactam action. This study has yielded high rates of resistance in aerobic gram-negative isolates from ICUs in Turkey. High resistance rates to all the other antibacterials studied leave imipenem as the only reliable agent for the empirical treatment of ICU infections in Turkey.

Fasciola hepatica, a zoonotic liver fluke, can also cause disease in humans. Common symptoms are epigastric pain, upper abdominal pain and malaise. Fever and arthralgia are common in acute fascioliasis. Eosinophilia is the predominant laboratory finding, especially in patients with the acute form of the disease. Diagnosis and treatment is not easy, as physicians rarely encounter this disease, and effective drugs are not available in many countries. Human fascioliasis may be underestimated. Patients with eosinophilia and abdominal pain should be evaluated for F. hepatica infestation by parasitological, radiological and serological tests.

Background: Many studies associated nosocomial infections with increased hospital costs due to extra days in hospital, staff time, extra investigations and drug treatment. The cost of antibiotic treatment for these infections represents a significant part of hospital expenditure. This prospective observational study was designed to determine the daily antibiotic cost of nosocomial infections per infected adult patient in Akdeniz University Hospital.

We found both higher device-associated infection rates and higher device utilization ratios in our MS ICUs than those reported by the NNIS system. To reduce the rate of infection, implementation of infection control practices and comprehensive education are required, and an appropriate nationwide nosocomial infection and control system is needed in Turkey.

With the participation of eight major reference hospitals in Turkey, 749 aerobic Gram-negative isolates obtained from 473 intensive care patients in 1997 were tested for their susceptibility to 13 commonly employed antibacterial agents. The frequency with which species were isolated and resistance rates were compared with data from the previous 2 years. Imipenem was the most active agent against the majority of isolates (75%), followed by ciprofloxacin, cefepime and amikacin. The per cent susceptibility to all antibiotics declined from 1995 to 1996. With the exception of imipenem, for which there was no change in resistance, the per cent susceptibility somewhat increased in 1997. However, it was still lower than in 1995.