Congenital transmission of Schistosoma japonicum in pigs.
(25/13394)
Congenital transmission of Schistosoma japonicum in pigs was investigated by experimentally infecting sows at four weeks gestation (n = 3), 10 weeks gestation (n = 3), or a few weeks prior to insemination (n = 2). None of the piglets born to sows infected prior to insemination or in early pregnancy were found to be infected. However, all of the piglets (n = 26) born to sows infected at 10 weeks gestation were found to harbor schistosomes with S. japonicum eggs recovered from both their feces and livers. The findings show that congenital S. japonicum infection of pigs can occur if sows are infected during mid-to-late pregnancy and may have important implications not only for pigs but also for other mammalian hosts of schistosomes, including humans. (+info)
The cost effectiveness of strategies for the treatment of intestinal parasites in immigrants.
(26/13394)
BACKGROUND: Currently, more than 600,000 immigrants enter the United States each year from countries where intestinal parasites are endemic. At entry persons with parasitic infections may be asymptomatic, and stool examinations are not a sensitive method of screening for parasitosis. Albendazole is a new, broad-spectrum antiparasitic drug, which was approved recently by the Food and Drug Administration. International trials have shown albendazole to be safe and effective in eradicating many parasites. In the United States there is now disagreement about whether to screen all immigrants for parasites, treat all immigrants presumptively, or do nothing unless they have symptoms. METHODS: We compared the costs and benefits of no preventive intervention (watchful waiting) with those of universal screening or presumptive treatment with 400 mg of albendazole per day for five days. Those at risk were defined as immigrants to the United States from Asia, the Middle East, sub-Saharan Africa, Eastern Europe, and Latin America and the Caribbean. Cost effectiveness was expressed both in terms of the cost of treatment per disability-adjusted life-year (DALY) averted (one DALY is defined as the loss of one year of healthy life to disease) and in terms of the cost per hospitalization averted. RESULTS: As compared with watchful waiting, presumptive treatment of all immigrants at risk for parasitosis would avert at least 870 DALYs, prevent at least 33 deaths and 374 hospitalizations, and save at least $4.2 million per year. As compared with watchful waiting, screening would cost $159,236 per DALY averted. CONCLUSIONS: Presumptive administration of albendazole to all immigrants at risk for parasitosis would save lives and money. Universal screening, with treatment of persons with positive stool examinations, would save lives but is less cost effective than presumptive treatment. (+info)
Evaluation of modified BACTEC 12B radiometric medium and solid media for culture of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis from sheep.
(27/13394)
Definitive diagnosis of Johne's disease in ruminants depends on confirming the presence of the causative bacterium, Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis, in tissues of the host. This is readily achieved in most ruminant species by culture. However, culture of clinical specimens from sheep in many countries has been unrewarding. Such a culture from sheep was achieved recently in Australia by using a radiometric culture medium. The aims of the present study were to evaluate the culture of M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis from sheep by using modified BACTEC 12B radiometric medium, to determine the sensitivity of culture in relation to histopathology, and to evaluate a range of solid media. Culture of M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis from sheep with Johne's disease is a sensitive method of diagnosis: intestinal tissues from all 43 animals with multibacillary disease and all 22 animals with paucibacillary disease were culture positive, while 98% of feces from 53 animals with multibacillary disease and 48% of feces from 31 animals with paucibacillary disease were culture positive. Of sheep without histological evidence of Johne's disease from infected flocks, intestinal tissue from 32% of 41 were culture positive, while feces from 17% of 41 were culture positive. Consequently, culture is recommended as the "gold standard" test for detection of ovine Johne's disease. Of the wide range of solid media that were evaluated, only modified Middlebrook 7H10 and 7H11 agars, which were very similar in composition to modified BACTEC 12B medium, yielded growth of ovine strains of M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis. The sensitivity of detection of M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis on solid media was slightly lower than that in modified BACTEC 12B radiometric medium. Both egg yolk and mycobactin J were essential additives for growth of ovine strains of M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis in both liquid and solid media. (+info)
Fatal disseminated Trichoderma longibrachiatum infection in an adult bone marrow transplant patient: species identification and review of the literature.
(28/13394)
Trichoderma longibrachiatum was recovered from stool surveillance cultures and a perirectal ulcer biopsy specimen from a 29-year-old male who had received an allogeneic bone marrow transplant for acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The amphotericin B (2.0 microgram/ml) and itraconazole (1.0 microgram/ml) MICs for the organism were elevated. Therapy with these agents was unsuccessful, and the patient died on day 58 posttransplantation. At autopsy, histologic sections from the lungs, liver, brain, and intestinal wall showed infiltration by branching septate hyphae. Cultures were positive for Trichoderma longibrachiatum. While Trichoderma species have been recognized to be pathogenic in profoundly immunosuppressed hosts with increasing frequency, this is the first report of probable acquisition through the gastrointestinal tract. Salient features regarding the identification of molds in the Trichoderma longibrachiatum species aggregate are presented. (+info)
Ciprofloxacin administration decreases enhanced ethanol elimination in ethanol-fed rats.
(29/13394)
Many colonic aerobic bacteria possess alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) activity and are capable of oxidizing ethanol to acetaldehyde. Accordingly, some ingested ethanol can be metabolized in the colon in vivo via the bacteriocolonic pathway for ethanol oxidation. By diminishing the amount of aerobic colonic bacteria with ciprofloxacin treatment, we recently showed that the bacteriocolonic pathway may contribute up to 9% of total ethanol elimination in naive rats. In the current study we evaluated the role of the bacteriocolonic pathway in enhanced ethanol metabolism following chronic alcohol administration by diminishing the amount of gut aerobic flora by ciprofloxacin treatment. We found that ciprofloxacin treatment totally abolished the enhancement in ethanol elimination rate (EER) caused by chronic alcohol administration and significantly diminished the amount of colonic aerobic bacteria and faecal ADH activity. However, ciprofloxacin treatment had no significant effects on the hepatic microsomal ethanol-oxidizing system, hepatic ADH activity or plasma endotoxin level. Our data suggest that the decrease in the amount of the aerobic colonic bacteria and in faecal ADH activity by ciprofloxacin is primarily responsible for the decrease in the enhanced EER in rats fed alcohol chronically. Extrahepatic ethanol metabolism by gastrointestinal bacteria may therefore contribute significantly to enhanced EER. (+info)
Dietary calcium phosphate stimulates intestinal lactobacilli and decreases the severity of a salmonella infection in rats.
(30/13394)
We have shown recently that dietary calcium phosphate (CaPi) has a trophic effect on the intestinal microflora and strongly protects against salmonella infection. It was speculated that precipitation by CaPi of intestinal surfactants, such as bile acids and fatty acids, reduced the cytotoxicity of intestinal contents and favored growth of the microflora. Because lactobacilli may have antagonistic activity against pathogens, the main purpose of the present study was to examine whether this CaPi-induced protection coincides with a reinforcement of the endogenous lactobacilli. In vitro, Salmonella enteritidis appeared to be insensitive to bile acids and fatty acids, whereas Lactobacillus acidophilus was killed by physiologically relevant concentrations of these surfactants. Additionally, after adaptation to a purified diet differing only in CaPi concentration (20 and 180 mmol CaHPO4. 2H2O/kg), rats (n = 8) were orally infected with S. enteritidis. Besides reducing the cytotoxicity and the concentration of bile acids and fatty acids of ileal contents and fecal water, CaPi notably changed the composition of ileal bile acids in a less cell-damaging direction. Significantly greater numbers of ileal and fecal lactobacilli were detected in noninfected, CaPi-supplemented rats. As judged by the lower urinary NOx excretion, which is a biomarker of intestinal bacterial translocation, dietary CaPi reduced the invasion of salmonella. Additionally, the colonization resistance was improved considering the reduction of excreted fecal salmonella. In accordance, fewer viable salmonella were detected in ileal contents and on the ileal mucosa in the CaPi group. In conclusion, reducing the intestinal surfactant concentration by dietary CaPi strengthens the endogenous lactobacilli and increases the resistance to salmonella. (+info)
Faecal composition after surgery for Hirschsprung's disease.
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Diarrhoea and perianal excoriation occur frequently after the endorectal pull-through operation for Hirschsprung's disease. A new method of faecal analysis was performed on 3-day stool collections in 17 postoperative Hirschsprung patients and in 14 normal children, in order to define the faecal abnormality and to establish the cause of perianal excoriation in these patients. Loose stools in postoperative patients were deficient in dry solid content and contained an excess of extractable faecal water. This also had a raised electrolyte concentration, particularly with respect to sodium. Total daily output of faecal water was normal. Formed stools from postoperative patients were also deficient in drysolids but had a normal extractable water content. Excess extractable faecal water, the main abnormality of loose stools in these patients, is the result of abnormal water absorption from the distal colon. Perianal excoriation in these patients is most closely associated with the concentration of sodium in faecal water. (+info)
Enterotoxin-producing bacteria and parasites in stools of Ethiopian children with diarrhoeal disease.
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Enterotoxinogenic bacteria were isolated from 131 (37%) of 354 Ethiopian infants and children with acute gastrointestinal symptoms. Only one of these isolates belonged to the classical enteropathogenic serotypes of Esch. coli. Two colonies from each patient were isolated and tested for production of enterotoxin by the rabbit ileal loop test, the rabbit skin test, and an adrenal cell assay. However, only 38% of the isolated enterotoxinogenic strains were Esch. coli; the others belonged to Klebsiella, Enterobacter, Proteus, Citrobacter, Serratia, and Aeromonas. In 18 patients both isolates were toxinogenic and belonged to different species. The incidence of intestinal parasites was 35% with no apparent correlation to the occurrence of toxinogenic bacteria in the stools. (+info)