Infection of red deer, cattle, and humans with Mycobacterium bovis subsp. caprae in western Austria.
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Twelve cases of Mycobacterium bovis subsp. caprae infection have occurred in four humans, three cattle, and five red deer in western Austria since 1994. DNA-fingerprinting of the isolates suggested transmission in and between these species over several years. Contact with cattle, but not with goats, was found to be associated with three of four human cases. (+info)
Ambient neighbourhood noise and children's mental health.
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OBJECTIVES: To investigate the relation between typical ambient noise levels (highway, rail, road) and multiple mental health indices of school children considering psychosocial and biological risk factors as potential moderators. METHODS: With a two stage design strategy (representative sample and extreme sample) two cross sectional samples (n=1280; n=123) of primary school children (age 8-11) were studied. Individual exposure to noise at home was linked with two indices of mental health (self reporting by the child on a standard scale and rating by the teacher of classroom adjustment on a standard scale). Noise exposure was modelled firstly according to Austrian guidelines with the aid of a geographical information system and then calibrated and corrected against measurements from 31 locations. Information on potential confounders and risk factors was collected by mothers and controlled in regression modelling through a hierarchical forward stepping procedure. Interaction terms were also analysed to examine subgroups of children at risk-for example, low birth weight and preterm birth. RESULTS: Noise exposure was significantly associated in both samples with classroom adjustment ratings. Child self reported mental health was significantly linked to ambient noise only in children with a history of early biological risk (low birth weight and preterm birth). CONCLUSIONS: Exposure to ambient noise was associated with small decrements in children's mental health and poorer classroom behaviour. The correlation between mental health and ambient noise is larger in children with early biological risk. (+info)
Antibacterial activity of oral antibiotics against community-acquired respiratory pathogens from three European countries.
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Antimicrobial resistance is universally recognized as a major problem. A European resistance survey was established to monitor the activity of widely used oral antibiotics against common respiratory tract pathogens. Studies were conducted in Italy, Spain and Austria to monitor resistance patterns among respiratory Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, Moraxella catarrhalis, Streptococcus pyogenes, Staphylococcus aureus and Klebsiella pneumoniae to amoxicillin, co-amoxiclav, penicillin, cefaclor, cefadroxil, cefalexin, cefprozil, cefuroxime, cefixime, ceftibuten, cefpodoxime, clarithromycin and azithromycin (the antibiotics tested varying slightly from country to country). Minimum inhibitory concentrations were determined using the NCCLS-recommended broth microdilution method. Among the antibiotics tested, cefpodoxime, an oral cephalosporin, was remarkably active against the major respiratory pathogens in all three countries. Cefpodoxime was more potent than cefaclor, cefixime and ceftibuten against pneumococci, especially against strains with decreased sensitivity to penicillin, and more active than cefaclor and cefuroxime against Gram-negative respiratory pathogens. Pneumococci and staphylococci displayed a very high level of in vitro macrolide resistance. These data indicate that cefpodoxime represents an appropriate choice in the treatment of community-acquired respiratory tract infection in the three countries surveyed. (+info)
Emergence of Usutu virus, an African mosquito-borne flavivirus of the Japanese encephalitis virus group, central Europe.
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During late summer 2001 in Austria, a series of deaths in several species of birds occurred, similar to the beginning of the West Nile virus (WNV) epidemic in the United States. We necropsied the dead birds and examined them by various methods; pathologic and immunohistologic investigations suggested a WNV infection. Subsequently, the virus was isolated, identified, partially sequenced, and subjected to phylogenetic analysis. The isolates exhibited 97% identity to Usutu virus (USUV), a mosquito-borne Flavivirus of the Japanese encephalitis virus group; USUV has never previously been observed outside Africa nor associated with fatal disease in animals or humans. If established in central Europe, this virus may have considerable effects on avian populations; whether USUV has the potential to cause severe human disease is unknown. (+info)
Lipoprotein (a) in patients with aortic aneurysmal disease.
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OBJECTIVE: Lipoprotein (a) is an independent risk factor for atherosclerosis. Atherosclerotic degeneration is usually found in abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs), whereas thoracic aortic aneurysms (TAAs) caused by aortic dissection are not suggested to be linked pathogenetically to atherosclerosis. Lipoprotein (a) was analyzed in patients with AAA and TAA and in healthy individuals in relation to the extent of atherosclerosis. METHODS: Included in the case control study were patients with AAA (n = 75) and TAA with dissection (n = 39) and healthy control subjects (n = 43), for a total of 157 participants. Serum lipoprotein (a) was measured with nephelometry. Lipoprotein (a) levels were compared between age-matched and gender-matched paired samples of the three groups, and an association of lipoprotein (a), aortic aneurysm, and the extent of atherosclerosis was determined in multivariate analysis. RESULTS: Median lipoprotein (a) levels of patients with AAA and TAA and of control subjects were 18.9 mg/dL (interquartile range [IQR], <9.6 to 40.5), less than 9.6 mg/dL (IQR, <9.6 to 16.7), and less than 9.6 mg/dL (IQR, <9.6 to 16.3), respectively. Lipoprotein (a) was positively associated with the extent of atherosclerosis in patients and control subjects (P <.0001). Lipoprotein (a) levels of patients with AAA were significantly higher compared with patients with TAA (P <.0001) and control subjects (P <.0001). Multivariate analysis confirmed an independent association between lipoprotein (a) and AAA (P =.009). No significant differences of lipoprotein (a) were found between patients with TAA and control subjects (P =.3). CONCLUSION: The lipoprotein (a) serum level, an indicator of atherosclerosis, is significantly elevated in patients with abdominal aneurysms independently of cardiovascular risk factors and the extent of atherosclerosis. Patients with TAAs caused by dissection have lipoprotein (a) levels comparable with healthy individuals. (+info)
Connexin 26 mutations in cases of sensorineural deafness in eastern Austria.
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Mutations in the connexin 26 (Cx26) gene (GJB2) are associated with autosomal nonsyndromic sensorineural hearing loss. This study describes mutations in the Cx26 gene in cases of familial and sporadic hearing loss (HL) by gene sequencing and identifies the allelic frequency of the most common mutation leading to HL (35delG) in the population of eastern Austria. For this purpose we have developed and applied a molecular beacon based real-time mutation detection assay. Mutation frequencies in the Cx26 gene of individuals from affected families (14 out of 46) and sporadic cases (11 out of 40) were 30.4% and 27.5%, respectively. In addition to known disease related alterations, a novel mutation 262 G-->T (A88S) was also identified. 35delG accounted for almost 77% of all Cx26 mutations detected and displayed an allelic frequency in the normal hearing population of 1.7% (2 out of 120). The high prevalence of the 35delG mutation in eastern Austria would therefore allow screening of individuals and family members with Cx26 dependent deafness by a highly specific and semi-automated method. (+info)
Myxobolus cycloides on the swimbladder of chub Leuciscus cephalus: a controlled, host-specific localisation.
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Of 150 wild stock chub, Leuciscus cephalus L. captured in Lower Austrian watercourses, 112 revealed disc like plasmodia of Myxobolus cycloides Gurley, 1893 on the caudal chamber of the swim bladder. Other cyprinid species from the same waters lacked M. cycloides or other myxosporeans in this specific localisation. In chub, the intensity of infection (number of discs on the swim bladder) showed a logarithmic, age-dependent increase. The plasmodia of M. cycloides were situated in the connective tissue--mainly along blood vessels--and exhibited a delicate envelope of host tissue, thus forming a characteristic myxosporean cyst. Occasionally single trophozoites seemed to merge. A general process of fibroblast proliferation leading to encapsulation and degradation of the parasite was observed. This process was initiated by the formation of small multiple encapsulations within the spore containing trophozoid, before thickening of the outer cyst wall occurred. The general non-inflammatory course of the M. cycloides infection, and the obvious good health of the investigated chub suggest that this myxosporean in its host specific localisation cannot be regarded as a serious pathogen--on the contrary: parasite multiplication and degradation seemed to occur in a well-defined equilibrium controlled by the host fish. (+info)
Agrococcus baldri sp. nov., isolated from the air in the 'Virgilkapelle' in Vienna.
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Five coccoid, Gram-positive strains were isolated from the air of the 'Virgilkapelle' in Vienna. A representative of these five strains, V-108T, shared 99.0 and 98.4% 16S rDNA sequence similarity, respectively, with Agrococcus jenensis DSM 9580 and Agrococcus citreus DSM 12453T. Colonies of the five strains were white when grown in the dark and turned yellow in the light. The strains displayed highly similar biochemical and physiological characteristics and showed only small differences in their protein patterns obtained after SDS-PAGE. Based on Fourier-transform infra-red (FT-IR) spectra, the five strains were grouped together and separated from the other members of the genus, A. jenensis and A. citreus. Chemotaxonomic characteristics analysed from selected members of the five isolates, including polar lipids, quinone systems, polyamine patterns, cell wall composition and fatty acid profiles, were in good agreement with those of the two species of the genus Agrococcus described to date. The G+C content of the genomic DNA was determined to be within the narrow range of 73.8-74.9 mol%. The results of DNA-DNA hybridization with A. citreus DSM 12453T and A. jenensis DSM 9580T, as well as differences in biochemical/physiological characteristics, peptidoglycan composition, fatty acids, polar lipid profiles and FT-IR spectra, demonstrated that the five isolates represent a novel species of the genus Agrococcus. The name Agrococcus baldri sp. nov. is proposed for the novel species, of which strain V-108T (= DSM 14215T = CCM 4953T) is the type strain. (+info)