Researcher: Ergönül, Önder
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Ergönül, Önder
Ergönül, Mehmet Önder
Ergönül, Mehmet Önder
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Publication Metadata only Cytokine response in crimean-congo hemorrhagic fever virus infection(Wiley, 2017) Eren, Şebnem; Çelikbaş, Aysel; Baykam, Nurcan; Dokuzoğuz, Başak; N/A; N/A; Department of Industrial Engineering; N/A; Ergönül, Önder; Şeref, Ceren; Gönen, Mehmet; Can, Füsun; Faculty Member; PhD Student; Faculty Member; Faculty Member; Department of Industrial Engineering; School of Medicine; Graduate School of Health Sciences; College of Engineering; School of Medicine; Koç University Hospital; 110398; N/A; 237468; 103165We described the predictive role of cytokines in fatality of Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic Fever Virus (CCHFV) infection by using daily clinical sera samples. Consequent serum samples of the selected patients in different severity groups and healthy controls were examined by using human cytokine 17-plex assay. We included 12 (23%) mild, 30 (58%) moderate, 10 (19%) severe patients, and 10 healthy volunteers. The mean age of the patients was 52 (sd 15), 52% were female. Forty-six patients (88%) received ribavirin. During disease course, the median levels of IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-10/12, IFN-gamma, MCP-1, and MIP-1b were found to be significantly higher among CCHF patients than the healthy controls. Within the first 5 days after onset of disease, among the fatal cases, the median levels of IL-6 and IL-8 were found to be significantly higher than the survived ones (Fig. 3), and MCP-1 was elevated among fatal cases, but statistical significance was not detected. In receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, IL-8 (92%), IL-6 (92%), MCP-1 (79%) were found to be the most significant cytokines in predicting the fatality rates in the early period of the disease (5 days). IL-6 and IL-8 can predict the poor outcome, within the first 5 days of disease course. Elevated IL-6 and IL-8 levels within first 5 days could be used as prognostic markers.Publication Metadata only Diagnostic contribution of (18)F-FDG-PET/CT in fever of unknown origin(Elsevier Sci Ltd, 2014) Tokmak, Handan; N/A; Ergönül, Önder; Demirkol, Mehmet Onur; Çetiner, Mustafa; Ferhanoğlu, Ahmet Burhan; Faculty Member; Faculty Member; Faculty Member; Faculty Member; School of Medicine; School of Medicine; School of Medicine; School of Medicine; Koç University Hospital; 110398; 196946; N/A; 18320Objectives: Fever of unknown origin (FUO) remains one of the most compelling diagnostic issues in medicine. We aimed to evaluate the potential clinical contribution of 18-fluoro-2-deoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (F-18-FDG-PET/CT) in the identification of the underlying cause of FUO. Methods: Fifty consecutive patients (27 men and 23 women; age range 16-88 years) with FUO based on the revised definition criteria were included in the study. A diagnostic protocol including biochemistry, histopathology, and microbiological tests was performed and the patients were followed up. FDG-PET was performed in 25 of the 50 patients (12 males and 13 females; age range 16-88 years) in order to determine the etiology of the patient's fever. PET-CT images were obtained with the Gemini Philips TF F-18-FDG-PET/CT camera after a 60-min 'standard uptake' period following an injection of a mean 330 MBq (range 290-370 MBq) intravenous F-18-FDG. Results: A total of 21 patients were available for analysis of the diagnostic contribution of PET/CT (two patients were undiagnosed and two had non-contributory PET/CT findings). F-18-FDG-PET/CT was able to precisely detect the cause of fever in 60% of the cases (n = 15). The accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of this imaging modality were 90.5%, 93.8%, and 80%, respectively. Among the cases with a true-positive F-18-FDG-PET/CT finding (i.e., 15 cases), the identified underlying causes of FUO included localized infection (n = 7), non-infective inflammatory process (n = 5), and malignancy (n = 3). Conclusions: Further studies to confirm the high diagnostic yield of F-18-FDG-PET/CT observed in the present study would lend support to the inclusion of this imaging modality in the initial diagnostic workup of patients with suspected FUO. (C) 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of International Society for Infectious Diseases. All rights reserved.Publication Metadata only Emerging escherichia coli O25b/ST131 clone predicts treatment failure in urinary tract infections(Oxford University Press (OUP), 2015) Azap, Özlem Kurt; Şeref, Ceren; İspir, Pelin; Arslan, Hande; N/A; N/A; Can, Füsun; Ergönül, Önder; Faculty Member; Faculty Member; School of Medicine; School of Medicine; 103165; 110398Background. We described the clinical predictive role of emerging Escherichia coli O25b/sequence type 131 (ST131) in treatment failure of urinary tract infection. Methods. In this prospective observational cohort study, the outpatients with acute cystitis with isolation of E. coli in their urine cultures were assessed. All the patients were followed up for clinical cure after 10 days of treatment. Detection of the E. coli O25:H4/ST131 clone was performed by multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for phylogroup typing and using PCR with primers for O25b rfb and allele 3 of the pabB gene. Results. In a cohort of patients with diagnosis of acute urinary cystitis, 294 patients whose urine cultures were positive with a growth of >10(4) colony-forming units/mL of E. coli were included in the study. In empiric therapy, ciprofloxacin was the first choice of drug (27%), followed by phosphomycin (23%), trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX) (9%), and cefuroxime (7%). The resistance rate was 39% against ciprofloxacin, 44% against TMP-SMX, and 25% against cefuroxime. Thirty-five of 294 (12%) isolates were typed under the O25/ST131 clone. The clinical cure rate was 85% after the treatment. In multivariate analysis, detection of the O25/ST131 clone (odds ratio [ OR], 4; 95% confidence interval [ CI], 1.51-10.93; P = .005) and diabetes mellitus (OR, 2.1; 95% CI,.99-4.79; P = .05) were found to be significant risk factors for the treatment failure. In another multivariate analysis performed among quinolone-resistant isolates, treatment failure was 3 times more common among the patients who were infected with ST131 E. coli (OR, 3; 95% CI, 1.27-7.4; P = .012). Conclusions. In urinary tract infections, the E. coli ST131 clone seems to be a consistent predictor of treatment failure.Publication Metadata only Promoters of colistin resistance in acinetobacter baumannii infections(2019) Bilman, Fulya Bayındır; Menekşe, Şirin; Azap, Özlem Kurt; N/A; Department of Industrial Engineering; N/A; N/A; Nurtop, Elif; Gönen, Mehmet; Ergönül, Önder; Can, Füsun; Master Student; Faculty Member; Faculty Member; Faculty Member; Department of Industrial Engineering; Graduate School of Health Sciences; College of Engineering; School of Medicine; School of Medicine; N/A; 237468; 110398; 103165Objectives: We aimed to describe the mechanisms of colistin resistance in Acinetobacter baumannii. Materials and Methods: Twenty-nine patients diagnosed with colistin-resistant A. baumannii infection were included to the study. The mutations in pmrCAB, lpxA, lpxC, and lpxD genes, expression of pmrCAB, carbapenemases, and mcr-1 positivity were studied. Results: Twenty-seven (93%) of the patients received IV colistin therapy during their stay, and the case fatality rate was 45%. All mutations in pmrC and pmrB were found to be accompanied with a mutation in lpxD. The most common mutations were I42V and L150F in pmrC (65%), E117K in lpxD (65%), and A138T in pmrB (58.6%). The colistin minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of the isolates having any of these four mutations were higher than the isolates with no mutations (p < 0.001). The two most common mutations in pmrC (I42V and L150F) were found to be associated with higher expressions of pmrA and pmrC and higher colistin MIC values (p = 0.010 and 0.031). All isolates were bla(OXA-23) positive. Conclusion: Coexistence of the lpxD mutation along with mutations in pmrCAB indicates synergistic function of these genes in development of colistin resistance in A. baumannii.Publication Metadata only A multinational Delphi consensus to end the COVID-19 public health threat(Nature Research, 2022) Lazarus, Jeffrey V.; Romero, Diana; Kopka, Christopher J.; Karim, Salim Abdool; Abu-Raddad, Laith J.; Almeida, Gisele; Baptista-Leite, Ricardo; Barocas, Joshua A.; Barreto, Mauricio L.; Bar-Yam, Yaneer; Bassat, Quique; Batista, Carolina; Bazilian, Morgan; Chiou, Shu-Ti; del Rio, Carlos; Dore, Gregory J.; Gao, George F.; Gostin, Lawrence O.; Hellard, Margaret; Jimenez, Jose L.; Kang, Gagandeep; Lee, Nancy; Matičič, Mojca; McKee, Martin; Nsanzimana, Sabin; Oliu-Barton, Miquel; Pradelski, Bary; Pyzik, Oksana; Rabin, Kenneth; Raina, Sunil; Rashid, Sabina Faiz; Rathe, Magdalena; Saenz, Rocio; Singh, Sudhvir; Trock-Hempler, Malene; Villapol, Sonia; Yap, Peiling; Binagwaho, Agnes; Kamarulzaman, Adeeba; El-Mohandes, Ayman; Barreto, Mauricio; del Rio, Carlos; Abdulla, Salim; Addleman, Sarah; Aghayeva, Gulnara; Agius, Raymond; Ahmed, Mohammed; Ramy, Mohamed Ahmed; Aide, Pedro; Aleman, Soo; Alfred, Jean-Patrick; Ali, Shamim; Aliaga, Jorge; Aloudat, Tammam; Alqahtani, Saleh A.; Al-Salman, Jameela; Amuasi, John H.; Agrawal, Anurag; Anwar, Wagida; Araujo-Jorge, Tania; Artaza, Osvaldo; Asadi, Leyla; Awuku, Yaw; Baker, Michael; Barberia, Lorena; Bascolo, Ernesto; Belcher, Paul; Bell, Lizett; Benzaken, Adele; Bergholtz, Emil; Bhadelia, Nahid; Bhan, Anant; Bilodeau, Stephane; Bitrán, Ricardo; Bluyssen, Philomena; Bosman, Arnold; Bozza, Fernando A.; Brinkmann, Melanie M.; Brown, Andrew; Mellado, Bruce; Bukusi, Elizabeth; Bullen, Chris; Buonanno, Giorgio; Burgess, Rochelle; Butler, Matthew; Byakika-Kibwika, Pauline; Cabieses, Baltica; Carlsson, Gunilla; Cascini, Fidelia; Chabala, Chishala; Chakroun, Mohamed; Cheng K.K.; Chetty, Agnes; Chumachenko, Dmytro; Consalves, Gregg; Conway Morris, Andrew; Cordie, Ahmed; Corrah, Tumani; Crabtree-Ramírez, Brenda; Dashdorj, Naranjargal; Davidovitch, Nadav; de Souza, Luis Eugenio; Dhariwal, Akshay Chand; Druică, Elena; Erondu, Ngozi A.; Essar, Mohammad Yasir; Ewing, Andrew; Fanjul, Gonzalo; Feierstein, Daniel; Feigl-Ding, Eric; Figueroa, Ramon; Figueroa, John Peter; Fisher, Dale; Flores, Walter; Forero-Peña, David A.; Frumkin, Howard; Gamkrelidze, Amiran; Gandhi, Monica; Garcia, Patricia; Garcia-Basteiro, Alberto L.; García-Sastre, Adolfo; Garg, Suneela; Gbeasor-Komlanvi F.A.; Gershenson, Carlos; Gilada, Ishwar; Giovanella, Ligia; González, Marino; Green, Manfred S.; Greenhalgh, Trisha; Griffin, Paul; Griffin, Stephen; Grinsztejn, Beatriz; Anand, Tanu; Guerra, Germán; Guinto, Renzo; Gujski, Mariusz; Guner, Rahmet; Hamdy, Adam; Hâncean, Marian-Gabriel; Haniffa, Abusayeed; Hartigan-Go, Kenneth Y.; Hassan, Hoda K.; Hay, Simon I.; Heino, Matti T. J.; Hel, Zdenek; Hotez, Peter; Hu, Jia; Hukić, Mirsada; IJsselmuiden, Carel; Iroko, Davidson; Iskarous, Maged; Izugbara, Chimaraoke; Jacobs, Choolwe; Jadad, Alejandro R.; Jehan, Fyezah; Jordan, Ayana; Jroundi, Imane; Kain, Kevin; Kamberi, Fatjona; Karamov, Eduard; Karan, Abraar; Katz, Rebecca; Katzourakis, Aris; Kazembe, Abigail; Khamis, Faryal; Khamzayev, Komiljon; Khanyola, Judy; Khunti, Kamlesh; Kiguli-Malwadde, Elsie; Kim, Woo Joo; Kirenga, Bruce J.; Klimovský, Daniel; Kmush, Brittany L.; Knaul, Felicia; Kogevinas, Manolis; Kristensen, Frederik; Kumar, Dinesh; Kumar, Raman; Kvalsvig, Amanda; Lacerda, Marcus V.; Lal, Arush; Lawton, Tom; Lemery, Jay; Leonardi, Anthony J.; Li, Yuguo; Löttvall, Jan; Lounis, Mohamed; Maceira, Daniel; MacIntyre, C. Raina; Madani, Azzeddine; Magiorkinis, Gkikas; Malekzadeh, Reza; Choisy, Marc; Marcelin, Jasmine R.; Marks, Guy B.; Marr, Linsey; Marrazzo, Jeanne; Martina, Antonieta; Martín-Moreno, José M.; Mateos, Carlos; Mayxay, Mayfong; Mazarati, Jean Bapiste; Mboup, Souleymane; McDonald, Jennifer; McMillan, Faye; Mechili, Enkeleint; Medici, Andre; Davis, Sarah L. M.; Meier, Petra; Memish, Ziad A.; Menon, Jaideep; Menon, Purnima; Mesiano-Crookston, Jonathan; Michie, Susan; Mikolasevic, Ivana; Milicevic, Ognjen; Mishra, Asit Kumar; Mohamed, Rahma; Mokdad, Ali H.; Monroy-Valle, Michele; Morawska, Lidia; Moschos, Sterghios A.; Motawea, Karam; Mousavi, Sayed Hamid; Mumtaz, Ghina; Munene, Peter K.; Muñoz Almagro, Carmen; Muriuki, Janet; Muyingo, Sylvia; Naniche, Denise; Naylor, C. David; Ndembi, Nicaise; Nemec, Juraj; Nesteruk, Igor; Ngaruiya, Christine; Nguyen, Hung; Nikolova, Dafina; Nitzan, Dorit; Norheim, Ole; Noushad, Mohammed; Ntoumi, Francine; Nyborg, Gunhild Alvik; Ochodo, Eleanor; Odabasi, Zekaver; Okwen, Mbah Patrick; Olivia, Keiser; Ong, David S. Y., Opara, Ijeoma; Orozco, Miguel; Oshitani, Hitoshi; Pagel, Christina; Pai, Madhukar; Pálsdóttir, Björg; Papatheodoridis, Georgios Paraskevis, Dimitrios; Leigh, Jeanna Parsons; Pécoul, Bernard; Peichl, Andreas; Perez-Then, Eddy; Duc, Phuc Pham; Philippe, Cécile; Pineda Rojas, Andrea; Pladsen, Courtney; Pozniak, Anton; Quiroga, Rodrigo; Qureshi, Huma; Rampal, Sanjay; Ranney, Megan; Rathe, Laura; Ratzan, Scott; Raventos, Henriette; Rees, Helen; Reis, Renata; Ricciardi, Walter; Rizk, Nesrine; Robalo, Magda; Robertson, Eleanor; Robinson, Leanne; Rokx, Casper; Ros, Tamsin; Røttingen, John-Arne; Rubin, Meir; Ruxrungtam, Kiat; Sadirova, Shakhlo; Saha, Senjuti; Salgado, Nelly; Sanchez, Lizet; Sangaramoorthy, Thurka; Santamaria-Ulloa, Carolina; Santos, Renata; Sawaf, Bisher; Schneider, Matthias F.; Schooley, Robert T.; Sener, Alper; Sepulveda, Jaime; Shah, Jaffer; Shibani, Mosa; Shoib, Sheikh; Sikazwe, Izukanji; Šimaitis, Aistis; Gill, Amandeep Singh; Skhvitaridze, Natia; Sokolović, Milka; Solomon, Roma; Solórzano, Xavier; Springer, Sandra A.; Šrol, Jakub; Staines, Anthony; Stelfox, Henry T.; Strathdee, Steffanie; Sulaiman, Lokman Hakim; Sutton, Brett; Svanæs, Dag; Swed, Sarya; Sypsa, Vana; Sørensen, Kristine; Tajudeen, Raji; Tan, Amy; Tang, Julian; Tanner, Marcel; Sethi, Tavpritesh; Temmerman, Marleen; Than, Kyu Kyu; Tinto, Halidou; Tomètissi, Sênoudé Pacôme; Torres, Irene; Tshering K.P.; Tsiodras, Sotirios; Tsofa, Benjamin; Vahlne, Anders; Vargas, Juan Rafael; Bernal, Ivan Dario Velez; Ventura, Deisy; Vilasanjuan, Rafael; Vipond, Joe; Wamala-Andersson, Sarah; Wargocki, Pawel; West, Robert; Weyand, Angela; White, Trenton M.; Wolff, Guntram; Yao, Maosheng; Yates, Christian A.; Yeboah, Georgina; Yee-Sin, Leo; Yi, Siyan; Teo, Yik-Ying; Yong, Poovorawan; Zamora-Mesía, Victor; Øvrehus, Anne; Ergönül, Önder; Faculty Member; Koç Üniversitesi İş Bankası Enfeksiyon Hastalıkları Uygulama ve Araştırma Merkezi (EHAM) / Koç University İşbank Center for Infectious Diseases (KU-IS CID); School of Medicine; 110398Despite notable scientific and medical advances, broader political, socioeconomic and behavioural factors continue to undercut the response to the COVID-19 pandemic1,2. Here we convened, as part of this Delphi study, a diverse, multidisciplinary panel of 386 academic, health, non-governmental organization, government and other experts in COVID-19 response from 112 countries and territories to recommend specific actions to end this persistent global threat to public health. The panel developed a set of 41 consensus statements and 57 recommendations to governments, health systems, industry and other key stakeholders across six domains: communication; health systems; vaccination; prevention; treatment and care; and inequities. In the wake of nearly three years of fragmented global and national responses, it is instructive to note that three of the highest-ranked recommendations call for the adoption of whole-of-society and whole-of-government approaches1, while maintaining proven prevention measures using a vaccines-plus approach2 that employs a range of public health and financial support measures to complement vaccination. Other recommendations with at least 99% combined agreement advise governments and other stakeholders to improve communication, rebuild public trust and engage communities3 in the management of pandemic responses. The findings of the study, which have been further endorsed by 184 organizations globally, include points of unanimous agreement, as well as six recommendations with >5% disagreement, that provide health and social policy actions to address inadequacies in the pandemic response and help to bring this public health threat to an end.Publication Metadata only Vertebral osteomyelitis: clinical features and diagnosis(Elsevier Sci Ltd, 2014) Gök, Şebnem Eren; Kaptanoğlu, Erkan; Çelikbaş, Aysel Kocagül; Baykam, Nurcam; Eroğlu, Mustafa; Dokuzoğuz, Başak; Ergönül, Önder; Faculty Member; School of Medicine; 110398We aimed to describe clinical and diagnostic features of vertebral osteomyelitis for differential diagnosis and treatment. This is a prospective observational study performed between 2002 and 2012 in Ankara Numune Education and Research Hospital in Ankara, Turkey. All the patients with vertebral osteomyelitis were followed for from 6months to 3years. In total, 214 patients were included in the study, 113 out of 214 (53%) were female. Out of 214 patients, 96 (45%) had brucellar vertebral osteomyelitis (BVO), 63 (29%) had tuberculous vertebral osteomyelitis (TVO), and 55 (26%) had pyogenic vertebral osteomyelitis (PVO). Mean number of days between onset of symptoms and establishment of diagnosis was greater with the patients with TVO (266days) than BVO (115days) or PVO (151days, p<0.001). In blood cultures, Brucella spp. were isolated from 35 of 96 BVO patients (35%). Among 55 PVO patients, the aetiological agent was isolated in 11 (20%) patients. For tuberculin skin test >15mm, sensitivity was 0.66, specificity was 0.97, positive predictive value was 0.89, negative predictive value was 0.88, and receiver operating characteristics area was 0.8. Tuberculous and brucellar vertebral osteomyelitis remained the leading causes of vertebral osteomyelitis with delayed diagnosis. In differential diagnosis of vertebral osteomyelitis, consumption of unpasteurized cheese, dealing with husbandry, sweating, arthralgia, hepatomegaly, elevated alanine transaminase, and lumbar involvement in magnetic resonance imaging were found to be predictors of BVO, thoracic involvement in magnetic resonance imaging and tuberculin skin test >15mm were found to be predictors of TVO, and history of spinal surgery and leucocytosis were found to be predictors of PVO.Publication Metadata only Evidence supports ribavirin use in Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever(Elsevier Sci Ltd, 2014) Ergönül, Önder; Faculty Member; School of Medicine; 110398Publication Metadata only Physical rehabilitation in intensive care unit in acute respiratory distress syndrome patients with COVID-19(Edizioni Minerva Medica, 2021) N/A; N/A; N/A; N/A; N/A; N/A; N/A; N/A; Taşkıran, Özden Özyemişçi; Turan, Zeynep; Tekin, Süda; Şentürk, Evren; Topaloğlu, Mahir; Yurdakul, Fatma; Ergönül, Önder; Çakar, Nahit; Faculty Member; Doctor; Faculty Member; Faculty Member; Doctor; Doctor; Faculty Member; Faculty Member; School of Medicine; N/A; School of Medicine; School of Medicine; N/A; N/A; School of Medicine; School of Medicine; KUH Hospital; 133091; N/A; 42146; 48359; N/A; N/A; 110398; 198906Background: The risk of muscle weakness is high in the survivors of acute respiratory distress syndrome with COVID-19 following discharge from intensive care unit. AIM: To evaluate the effects of early rehabilitation program in intensive care unit in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome secondary to COVID-19. Design: The design of the study is observational. SETTING: The setting of the study is inpatient Population: Thirty-five patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome secondary to COVID-19 were enrolled. Methods: This study was performed in an intensive care unit of a university hospital. Early rehabilitation program consisting of passive or active range of motion exercises and neuromuscular electrical stimulation in addition to standard intensive care (N.=18) compared to standard intensive care (N.=17). Primary outcome was hand grip strength following discharge. RESULTS : Rehab group had higher prevalence of chronic pulmonary diseases and neurologic diseases. There was no difference in hand grip or manual muscle strength following discharge between rehab and non-rehab groups. No adverse event was noted. Conclusions: The results did not support the beneficial effects of early rehabilitation in intensive care unit on improving muscle strength. More patients with pulmonary and neurologic diseases in rehab group might impede the impact of rehabilitation on outcomes. On the other hand, these comorbidities underline the role and need of rehabilitation. It is safe both for the patients and the health care workers when necessary precautions are taken. Clinical Rehabilitation Impact: This study guide how to rehabilitate patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome with COVID-19 during intensive care unit in a safe way.Publication Metadata only Bayesian framework for parametric bivariate accelerated lifetime modeling and its application to hospital acquired infections(Wiley, 2016) Bilgili, D.; Ryu, D.; Ebrahimi, N; Ergönül, Önder; Faculty Member; School of Medicine; 110398Infectious diseases that can be spread directly or indirectly from one person to another are caused by pathogenic microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, parasites, or fungi. Infectious diseases remain one of the greatest threats to human health and the analysis of infectious disease data is among the most important application of statistics. In this article, we develop Bayesian methodology using parametric bivariate accelerated lifetime model to study dependency between the colonization and infection times for Acinetobacter baumannii bacteria which is leading cause of infection among the hospital infection agents. We also study their associations with covariates such as age, gender, apache score, antibiotics use 3 months before admission and invasive mechanical ventilation use. To account for singularity, we use Singular Bivariate Extreme Value distribution to model residuals in Bivariate Accelerated lifetime model under the fully Bayesian framework. We analyze a censored data related to the colonization and infection collected in five major hospitals in Turkey using our methodology. The data analysis done in this article is for illustration of our proposed method and can be applied to any situation that our model can be used.Publication Metadata only HIV as a chronic disease: are primary care physicians ready?(DOC Design and Informatics, 2020) Çınar, Güle; N/A; Eren, Özgür Can; Özel, Melis; Ergönül, Önder; Researcher; Undergraduate Student; Faculty Member; School of Medicine; School of Medicine; School of Medicine; Koç University Hospital; N/A; N/A; 110398Objective: As HIV infection is becoming a chronic entity, the role of primary care physicians (PCPs) in diagnosis and treatment is getting more significant. We aimed to assess the attitude and competency of the PCPs about HIV infection compared to other specialties and describe the areas for improvement. Materials and Methods: A survey was conducted between 1-31 May 2017 among physicians from different specialties. The questions related to HIV infection in their clinical practice, competency, and knowledge about the transmission and preventability of the disease and their attitude towards suspected patients were asked. Results: We included 492 physicians in the study, consisting of PCPs (32%), infectious disease specialists (IDSs) (13%), internal medicine specialists (IMSs) (30%) and surgeons (25%), practicing in 25 different cities in Turkey. When asked about HIV, 98% of IDSs considered it as a chronic disease, with 35% thinking that it is similar to non-communicable disease (Diabetes Mellitus, Hypertension, Lymphoma). HIV was not a curable disease according to 87% of PCPs, and 21% in IDSs. The 70% of PCPs thought that HIV infection could be transmitted with vectors (p<0.001, although they self-rated their knowledge above the average. According to 34% of PCPs, HIV was transmissible through shared utensils (spoon, fork, glass), according to 50% public pools and toilets could be a source for transmission (p<0.001) Upon diagnosis, only 53% of IDSs provided psychological support to patients, and this rate declined to 1% in PCPs (p<0.001). Conclusion: The potential role of PCPs in the follow up of HIV infected patients would be increased. However, there are significant knowledge and attitude gaps related to HIV infection among PCPs in Turkey. By thinking of increasing the role of primary care, training, and education programs should be implemented for PCPs.