disease is a multisystemic disease caused by Borrelia species, and it is transmitted to humans by ticks of the species Ixodes. There are three genotypes of the Lyme disease agent: Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto, Borrelia garinii, and Borrelia afzelii. They are grouped together under the name B. burgdorferi sensu lato (1). The causative agent of Lyme disease, B. burgdorferi, was isolated in 1982 (2). Lyme disease is evident in three stages. The first stage includes erythema migrans (EM) and needs no serological testing. Diagnosis becomes more difficult in the second and third stages. In such cases, two-step diagnosis is necessary. The first step is based on an enzymelinked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test, and positive results should be confirmed by Western blot (WB) (3). Cross-reactions have been found between antibodies to syphilis, leptospirosis, relapsing fever, varicella, infectious mononucleosis, and some autoimmune diseases (systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis), and ELISA tests may provide false positive results so the results should be confirmed by WB (4). This disease is a common tick-borne zoonosis in European countries and the United States. In Turkey, the first cases were reported in 1990 in the Black Sea and Aegean regions (1). Because Lyme disease is not a compulsory notification disease in Turkey and due to confusion with clinical signs of other diseases, the exact prevalence is not known.In the present study, the aim was to determine the seroprevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato in the city center and the province of Bolu, Turkey.
The management of infections due to A. baumannii is difficult because of rapidly developing resistance, however, tigecycline, a glycylcycline antimicrobial, is in use for several years. In the present study, it was aimed to determine the susceptibility rates of A. baumannii to tigecycline. A total of 90 A. baumanni isolates were tested using three methods such as disk diffusion, broth microdilution, and E-test. The MIC50 and MIC90 values and the MIC range were found as 2 µg/ml, 4 µg/ml, and 0.1-8 µg/ml by microdilution; and 2 µg/ml, 6 µg/ml, and 0.1-12 µg/ml by E-test, respectively. There were a few major errors as well as the minor rates were all high as between 35.7%-46.7%. The accuracy rates between the methods were low as 53.3% (48/90) between disk diffusion and E-test, 51.1% (46/90) between disk diffusion and microdilution, and 60.0% (54/90) between E-test and microdilution. In the ROC curve analysis, an inhibition zone diameter of susceptibility breakpoint of 21.5 mm had sensitivity between 68.8%-88.9%; specificity between 81.9%-87.9%; and accuracy between 80.0%-83.33%. An analysis based on EUCAST's non-species breakpoints, the MIC tests showed higher accuracy with a rate of 96.7%, however, performance of disk diffusion got worse as lower than 25%. In conclusion, we showed that the reliability of the methods even did not remain as high as the past. Our study presented that none of three methods revealed reliable results in determination of susceptibility of A. baumanni to tigecycline, so the clinical response should be followed up carefully in such cases.
Background/aim: Tests specific for VCA IgM, VCA IgG, and EBNA IgG are used to diagnose Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infections and interpret disease status. The immunofluorescence assay (IFA) is accepted as the "gold standard" test. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the performance of 4 methods in comparison with IFA.
Materials and methods:In total, 101 serum samples were obtained from clinically suspected cases of EBV infection between May 2010 and May 2012 and evaluated by IFA. All serum samples were analyzed by an immunoblot assay, enzyme-linked fluorescent assay (ELFA), enzyme immunoassay (EIA), and immunochromatographic assay (ICA).Results: ELFA and ICA results were in good agreement with IFA for the detection of VCA IgM, VCA IgG, and EBNA IgG. The results of the immunoblot assay agreed less well with IFA for EBNA IgG, while EIA results were not in agreement with IFA for EBNA IgG or VCA IgM.
Conclusion:Among the tests studied, ELFA and ICA appear to be suitable methods for the diagnosis and staging of EBV when considering cost-effectiveness, turnaround times, need for a specialist, and IFA concordance.
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