bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Pig-farming systems and porcine cysticercosis in the north of Cameroon
Authors: Assana E. , Amadou F. , Thys E. , Lightowlers M.W. , Zoli A.P. , Dorny P. , Geerts S. 
Published: March 2010

AbstractA survey was conducted in 150 households owning 1756 pigs in the rural areas of Mayo-Danay division in the north of Cameroon. A questionnaire survey was carried out to collect information on the pig-farming system and to identify potential risk factors for Taenia solium cysticercosis infection in pigs. Blood samples were collected from 398 pigs with the aim of estimating the seroprevalence of T. solium cysticercosis. The results showed that 90.7% of the pigs are free roaming during the dry season and that 42.7% of households keeping pigs in the rural areas have no latrine facility. Seventy-six per cent of the interviewed pig owners confirmed that members of the household used open-field defecation. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for antigen and antibody detection showed an apparent prevalence of cysticercosis of 24.6% and 32.2%, respectively. A Bayesian approach, using the conditional dependence between the two diagnostic tests, indicated that the true seroprevalence of cysticercosis in Mayo-Danay was 26.6%. Binary logistic regression analysis indicated that a lack of knowledge of the taeniasis–cysticercosis complex and the absence of a pig pen in the household were associated with pig cysticercosis.
Seroepidemiology of H1N1 influenza: the infection and re-infection rate in winter 1978–79
Authors: Pyhälä R. , Aho K. 
Published: March 2010

SUMMARYIt was observed that small children and pregnant women were affected to only a small extent by the H1N1 influenza outbreak of winter 1978–79. This supports earlier findings from the epidemic season of 1977–78 and demonstrates that the evolutionary changes in the epidemic virus were not reflected in any appreciable way in this curious phenomenon. The frequency of elderly subjects possessing antibodies against the epidemic H1N1 virus was low, and virtually equal in the pre-epidemic and post-epidemic sampling. This low attack rate contrasts with observations on young military servicemen, in whom the re-infection rate was high, thus indicating that the infection with the winter 1977–78 virus had conferred only modest protection against the closely related virus which caused the winter 1978–79 outbreak.
Diagnosis of recent hepatitis A infection: a comparison of two methods for detecting specific IgM
Authors: Mortimer P. P. , Parry J. V. , Appleton Hazel 
Published: March 2010

SUMMARYRadioimmunoassay (RIA) tests for anti-hepatitis A virus (HAV) IgM were carried out on 728 sera: 382 were tested by both a method using an anti-μ serum bound to a solid phase and a method involving preliminary separation of IgM by sucrose density gradient (SDG) centrifugation, 354 by the anti-μ method alone and two by the SDG method alone. Similar proportions of sera were found to be positive by each method (42·5%, 41·7%), but equivocal results were commoner by the SDG method (4·7% compared with 1·5%). There were 21 (5·5%) discrepant results from the sera tested by both methods, 20 of which could have been due to the higher sensitivity of the anti-μ method.The SDG method generally gave unequivocal results on sera collected within six weeks of the onset of jaundice. Separation of the IgM fraction by re-orientation centrifugation was quick, but otherwise offered no special advantage over separation on a swing-out rotor. The use of 2 mercaptoethanol (2 ME) reduction to assess the purity of the IgM fraction increased confidence in the specificity of the test. It led, however, to the exclusion of 16 reactive sera (4·2%), all of which were found to be positive in the anti-μ test.The anti-μ method gave better discrimination between positive and negative sera than the SDG method and detected IgM both earlier and later in infection. The results of tests designed to check the specificity of the anti-μ procedure were satisfactory. As it is potentially cheaper and easier to perform, the anti-μ method seems, in all respects, to be superior to the SDG method.
Antigenic scheme forCitrobacter koseri(syn.C. diversus, Levinea malonatica); three new antigens recognized in strains from Israel
Authors: Gross R. J. , Rowe B. , Sechter I. , Cahan D. , Altman G. 
Published: March 2010

SUMMARYAn antigenic scheme forCitrobacter koseriwas described previously and consisted of 14 ‘O’ antigens. Three additional antigens are now added to the scheme and type strains for these antigens are designated. Their origins and their biochemical and serological reactions are described.
Duration of the immune response in subjects inoculated with antimeningococcal A and C vaccines kept in storage at −20°C and at 4°C: influence of pre-vaccination titres on the vaccinal response
Authors: Grinstein S. , Kahn T. M. , Tisminetsky S. , Donadio Marta , Weyland G. 
Published: March 2010

SUMMARYThe antibody titres in 250 subjects, aged 5 to 22 years, who were vaccinated with a mannitol-lyophilized antimeningococcal A + C vaccine, stable only when stored at − 20°C, were followed for two years. As measured by indirect haemagglutination (IHA) and indirect immunofluorescence (IF) techniques, titres for both A and CNeisseria meningitidisantibodies remained high. Two years after vaccination titres of antibodies against type A showed fourfold increase over the initial titres in from 46 % to 100 % of groups of subjects and against type C in from 42 % to 80%.For 130 subjects vaccinated with a new lactose–lyophilized antimeningcoccal A + C vaccine (presumed stable at 4°C) antibody titres were measured up to 16 months after inoculation with this vaccine stored at −20°C and also after storage for several periods at 4°C. Antibody titres in all these subjects had fallen to their initial titres by 16 months.The importance of evaluating the results on subjects showing low initial titres (≤1/8 as measured by IHA) is discussed, as inclusion of high initial titres influences the extent of the response.
Antibody capture radioimmunoassay for anti-rubella IgM
Authors: Mortimer P. P. , Tedder R. S. , Hambling M. H. , Shafi M. S. , Burkhardt F. , Schilt U. 
Published: March 2010

SUMMARYAn M-antibody capture radioimmunoassay (MACRIA) for anti-rubella IgM was developed. Under optimum conditions positive serum specimens bound up to 20 times as much radioactivity as negative specimens. Positive reactions were expressed in arbitrary units/ml by comparison with a calibration curve derived from results obtained with dilutions of a standard serum.The specificity of the assay was confirmed by testing IgM and IgG rich fractions of positive sera. One hundred and forty specimens from blood donors, patients whose sera contained rheumatoid factor and patients with acute, non-rubella, virus infections were tested by MACRIA. No significant non-specific reactions were detected.Paired sera from acute rubella (25 patients) and individual sera from suspected rubella (69 patients) were tested for anti-rubella IgM by MACRIA and by haemagglutination inhibition following sucrose-density-gradient fractionation. There was close agreement between the two methods. The capture assay was more sensitive and could be used to detect the weak IgM response in women given RA 27/3 vaccine. After the natural infection, the MACRIA was strongly positive for two months and remained weakly so for a further two months. Repeat testing of sera demonstrated good reproducibility of the assay.MACRIA proved a simple, sensitive and specific test for anti-rubella IgM and compared favourably with currently used techniques.
Viruses in sewage as an indicator of their presence in the community
Authors: Sellwood Jane , Dadswell J. V. , Slade J. S. 
Published: March 2010

SUMMARYThe results of a three year study of the viruses isolated from sewage by means of five tissue culture types are reported. The enteroviruses identified demonstrated a seasonal pattern which was similar to that of clinical isolates. Echoviruses and coxsackieviruses displayed a changing pattern of dominant serotypes in both sewage and clinical isolates; echovirus 6, 19, 3 and coxsackievirus B4, B5, A9 successively became the most common serotypes. The poliovirus in sewage was all vaccine-like in character. Reovirus, type 2 was abundant; adenovirus, of several serotypes, were the least often identified.
Salmonellosis in Indonesia: phage-type ofSalmonella oranienburgobtained from hospitalized patients in Jakarta, Indonesia
Authors: Cobet Andre B. , Gershman M. , Moechtar M. Asril , Sumarmo  , Sunoto  
Published: March 2010

SUMMARYDuring a survey in Jakarta, Indonesia, 158 culturesof Salmonella oranienburg, consisting of two phage types, were obtained from 150 hospitalized patients with diarrhoea. Phage type I, though found notably in young children, was found in all age groups while phage type II was found almost exclusively in young children aged 0–7 years. Phage type I may produce a more severe clinical picture affecting all age groups alike, while phage type II may result in hospitalization of only the very young, who are more susceptible to dehydration. Phage type I was significantly more resistant than phage type II to the individual antibiotics: tetracycline, chloramphenicol, kanamycin and neomycin. However, there was no difference in their respective antibiotic resistance patterns as measured by disk and MIC assay. All cultures were sensitive to gentamicin and trimethoprimsulphamethoxazole 1:19.
Aspects of the epidemiology of bovine tuberculosis in badgers and cattle. I. The prevalence of infection in two wild animal populations in south-west England
Authors: Barrow P. A. , Gallagher J. 
Published: March 2010

SUMMARYThe prevalence of infections caused by Mycobacterium bovis was estimated in two populations of wild animals in the south west of England. A variety of mammalian species was trapped on farm land where incidents of infection with tuberculosis had occurred in cattle. Bacteriological analysis of lymph node samples and lesions showed that the only animals acting as a reservoir for M. bovis were badgers. Examination of arthropod ectoparasites of infected badgers proved negative for M. bovis and suggests that these are unlikely to act as vectors in transmission of the disease.
Aspects of the epidemiology of bovine tuberculosis in badgers and cattle. II. The development and use of a typing system forMycobacterium bovis
Authors: Barrow P. A. 
Published: March 2010

SUMMARYA relatively simple method for the detection of intra-specific variation ofMycobacterium bovisis described, based on the ability of strains to utilize or remove amino acids from solution. Using the method, 31 strains ofM. bovis, isolated from badgers and cattle, have been divided into four major groups with some additional sub-groups and intermediate strains. Preliminary results suggest that the biotypes observed are relatively stable. The method was used in the investigation of an outbreak of bovine tuberculosis in cattle in Gloucestershire where badgers were implicated as a source of infection. The results suggested that transmission of infection had occurred on at least two or three separate occasions. It is suggested that the method could be used in studying the epidemiology of bovine tuberculosis in wild animals, cattle and man.
Streptococcal antibodies in patients with burn injuries
Authors: Widdowson J. P. , Wormald P. J. 
Published: March 2010

SUMMARYSerum samples from 14 patients whose burns had become infected with streptococci of groups A (11 patients), C (one patient) or G (two patients), and from 19 burned patients without bacteriological evidence of streptococcal infection were examined for anti-streptococcal antibodies. Tests were made for anti-streptolysin O (ASO), anti-hyaluronidase (AH), anti-deoxyribonuclease B (anti-DNAase B) and antibody against M-associated protein (MAP). Sera from the patients with streptococcal infections were also examined, when this was practicable, for ‘bactericidal’ (anti-M) antibody and for antibody against the opacity factor (OF) of the infecting serotype.In patients infected with group A streptococci, the ASO response was generally poor, except in patients infected with strains of type T12/M12, and the AH response was rather similar, but most of the patients gave a rapid and vigorous anti-DNAase B response, except when the burn was small or colonization occurred very late. Antibody to the M and MAP antigens, and to OF (when the infecting strain formed this), was weak and transient, or absent, except in three of four patients infected with streptococci of type T12/M12.
Contamination of chlorhexidine cream used to prevent ascending urinary tract infections
Authors: Salveson A. , Bergan T. 
Published: March 2010

SUMMARYChlorhexidine-containing cream is often used as an antimicrobial barrier to ascending urinary tract infection in patients with indwelling urethral catheters. The cream is dispensed in small tubes for personal use but repeated use of a tube still entails a potential infection hazard. The extent of cream contamination was analysed by emulsifying it in 1 % peptone broth with 1 % Tween-80 added as a wetting agent, and culturing quantitatively for bacteria and fungi by membrane filtration. Twenty-three per cent of cream samples and 35 % of swabs taken from outside the tube beneath the screw cap demonstrated microbial contamination. Isolates included potential pathogens such as enterococci, staphylococci,Proteus mirabilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, opportunists likeMoraxellaspp. and diphtheroids, and contaminants such asBacillusspp., micrococci, and a mould of the genusCladosporium. Contamination of cream with a particular bacterial strain was found to precede urinary tract infection with the same microbe. We recommend that chlorhexidine cream for this use be dispensed in single dose units to ensure sterility.
Rubella serology: a comparison of four methods for exclusion of non-specific serum inhibitors
Authors: Traavik T. , Spanne O. , Mennen S. 
Published: March 2010

SUMMARYThe ability of the pyrogenic silica Aerosil 380Rto exclude non-specific serum inhibitors (NSI) of rubella virus haemagglutination was evaluated. The developed procedure was compared with the kaolin, heparin/MnCl2and dextran sulphate/CaCl2methods.Aerosil and kaolin were found superior for the elimination of non-specific inhibitors and high density lipoproteins (HDL). The other methods left NSI and HDL in a majority of the sera, occasionally in high titres. Aerosil seemed to be somewhat more efficient than kaolin in NSI and HDL exclusion. The Aerosil method offers the opportunity to detect sera with rubella antibody titres < 10. Among eight such sera, six were shown to contain rubella antibodies, while two were false positives.
Experimental infection of Rhesus monkeys with a human strain ofCampylobacter jejuni
Authors: Fitzgeorge R. B. , Baskerville A. , Lander K. P. 
Published: March 2010

SUMMARYYoung Rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) were infected orally with a human strain ofCampylobacter jejuni. The disease induced was mild, with inappetence and diarrhoea of short duration, but prolonged intermittent excretion of the bacteria in the faeces occurred. Bacteraemia was generally present for 2–3 days and later the organisms localized in the liver and gall bladder. Recovered animals, when challenged with the same strain, showed no clinical symptoms, no bacteraemia, and excreted the organisms in the faeces for only 3 days.
An outbreak of otitis externa in competitive swimmers due toPseudomonas aeruginosa
Authors: Reid T. M. S. , Porter I. A. 
Published: March 2010

SUMMARYPseudomonas aeruginosawas isolated from the ears of 18 of the 25 members of a team of competitive swimmers who complained of painful discharging ears. This group of swimmers trained twice daily in the pool, in the early morning and late afternoon. In contrast swabbing of the ears of a similar group of 54 competitive swimmers who used the pool only in the afternoon revealed only one swimmer withP. aeruginosa.Investigation of the swimming pool revealed that chlorination was often inadequate when the first group of swimmers were training in the early morning. Strains ofP. aeruginosawere isolated from various sites around the pool and from the bag of a vacuum used to clean the pool.Pyocin typing, serotyping and phage typing were performed on all isolates. The dominant strain recovered from the swimmers' ears was found to be almost identical to that from the vacuum bag and belonged to serotype 0–11 which has been particularly associated with outbreaks ofP. aeruginosainfection in whirlpools in the United States.These results support the hypothesis that there is a direct correlation between the development of otitis externa and swimming in water contaminated withP. aeruginosa.
Antibodies toEubacteriumandPeptostreptococcusspecies and the estimated probability of Crohn's disease
Authors: Van de Merwe J. P. , Schmitz P. I. M. , Wensinck F. 
Published: March 2010

SummaryAnaerobic coccoid rods belonging to species ofEubacteriumandPeptostreptococcusagglutinate more frequently with sera from patients with Crohn's disease than with sera from patients suffering from other diseases and from healthy subjects. Results of agglutination tests with four strains of coccoid anaerobes were used to estimate the probability that a patient suffers from Crohn's disease. The data on healthy subjects and patients with Crohn's disease were subjected to logistic discriminant analysis. With the methods and interpretation described, 52% of the patients with Crohn's disease were recognized as ‘definite’ or ‘probable’ Crohn's disease and 14% as ‘suspected’. Only 1% of the healthy subjects were classified as ‘suspected’ and none as ‘definite’ or ‘probable’ Crohn's disease.
The presentation and incidence of paratrachoma in adults
Authors: Tullo Andrew B. , Richmond Shirley J. , Easty David L. 
Published: March 2010

SummaryThirteen definite and 3 probable cases of chlamydial eye infection were diagnosed in young adults attending the Bristol Eye Hospital between June 1978 and May 1980, an incidence of about 1 case per 44000 per year in the 15 to 44-year-old community served by this hospital, and 1 per 100000 in the total population of this community. These patients presented with a sub-acute follicular conjunctivitis or kerato-conjunctivitis, which had usually been present for several weeks and had often failed to respond to topical chloramphenicol treatment before presentation. Sera obtained from 14 patients all had chlamydial antibody titres of 64 or more. Over the same period of time, an estimated 2500 patients per year from the same community attended the Venereology Department at the Bristol Royal Infirmary with genital chlamydial infections. These figures suggest that chlamydial infection of the eye complicates no more than 1 in 300 chlamydial infections of the genital tract in adults.
Furazolidone resistance in Salmonella gallinarum: the relationship between in vitro and in vivo determinations of resistance
Authors: Smith H. Williams , Tucker J. F. , Lovell M. 
Published: March 2010

SummaryOf 22 strains of Salmonella gallinarum isolated from recent outbreaks of infection in poultry in Greece (15), Amman (3), Kenya (2), Lebanon (1) and Yemen (1), 20 were more resistant to furazolidone in vitro than 6 strains that had been isolated in the U.K. in the 1950s; the minimum inhibitory concentration of furazolidone was approximately 0·3 μg/ml for the sensitive strains and 1·3 or 2·5 μg/ml for the more resistant strains.Furazolidone given continuously in the food did not control experimental infections in chickens caused by most of the strains that had been classed as more resistant by the in vitro tests. Chloramphenicol, trimethoprim and sulphadiazine or mixtures of the latter two were the best antibiotics for treating these infections, but they were less satisfactory than furazolidone for treating infections caused by the furazolidone-sensitive strains.As a group, the furazolidone-resistant strains and furazolidone-resistant mutants of one of the sensitive strains were less virulent for chickens than the sensitive strains.
Streptococcus pyogenes in the throat: a study in a small population, 1962–1975
Authors: Hope-Simpson R. Edgar 
Published: March 2010

SummaryA general practice population of around 6700 was kept under clinical and laboratory surveillance from 1962 to 1975. Illnesses totalled 18703 in three morbidity classes: sore throat (Throats) 4451, acute febrile respiratory diseases (FRD) 4934, acute non-febrile respiratory diseases (Non-FRD) 9318. Specimens were examined for beta-haemolytic streptococci (BHS) from 37·1% of these illnesses: from Throats 33·3%, from FRD 67·8%, from Non-FRD 22·6%, and 515 specimens were collected from a miscellaneous (‘Other’) class consisting of healthy persons and ailments that could not have had a streptococcal component.Strains of BHS were isolated from 7448 specimens as follows: group A (Streptococcus pyogenes) 353, group C 36, group G 15, other groups 274.Group A strains were isolated from specimens at the following rates: Throats 16·7 %, FRD 2·4%, Non-FRD 0·9 %, Other 1·4 %. The last two classes reflect the carrier rate in the general community, which must be deducted to obtain the streptococcal morbidity in the other classes. Carriers thus accounted for 6% of the strains isolated from the Throats class and for 42 % of those from FRD illnesses.No consistent seasonal trend of prevalence was detected. Long-term fluctuations in prevalence over several years affected all groups and most group A serotypes.Serotyping was performed on 304 strains from 1963 to 1975. The commonest types found were T-types 4 and 12 and M-type 12.Immunity against re-infection by identical strains appeared to be fairly strong and also against heterotypic strains that shared a T-antigen, but little protection was conferred against re-infection by group A strains with no shared M- or T-antigen. R-28 antigen is considered here as a marker epidemiologically equivalent to an M-antigen.Epidemicity, as measured by a simple estimate of aggregation, appeared to be low and there were differences between and within serotypes.The infecting organism appeared to linger in the pharynx, sometimes for several months, after a streptococcal illness.
Are many women immunized against rubella unnecessarily?
Authors: Mortimer P. P. , Edwards J. M. B. , Porter A. D. , Tedder R. S. , Mace J. E. , Hutchinson A. 
Published: March 2010

SummaryRadial haemolysis (RH) was used to test sera for immunity to rubella from 1317 patients attending a general practice. One hundred and forty-one (10·7%) were treated as susceptible and offered an attenuated virus vaccine (RA 27/3). Pre-immunization sera from 43% of these patients were reactive at low levels in RH (< 15 international units rubella antibody per ml).Pre- (S1) and post- (S2) immunization sera from 66 vaccinees were studied in detail. Antibody was detected by RH, haemagglutination inhibition (HI) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and the specific IgM response was measured by a solid-phase M-antibody capture radioimmunoassay (MACRIA). The vaccine-induced IgM response was only detected if the S1 serum was non-reactive by all tests for rubella antibody. It was weaker than that seen following wild virus infection. It could be detected reliably for six weeks, and in most cases for nine weeks, after immunization. In contrast, patients with S1 specimens reactive by RH, HI or ELISA never showed an IgM response in the S2 specimen despite ‘significant’ antibody rises often being present.It was considered that an IgM response to RA 27/3 was the best indicator of pre-immunization susceptibility to rubella. The failure of many vaccinees to make an IgM response implied that a significant proportion were already immune. It is suggested that the threshold for a report of immunity to rubella could be lowered from 15 i.u. antibody per ml and so fewer women immunized without vaccine being withheld from those who need it.