ABSTRACT
An epidemic of acute haemorrhagic conjunctivitis (AHC) was reported from Pune in August-September, 1996. Conjunctival swabs and scrapings were taken from acute patients attending the OPD of the Ophthalmology department of B. J. Medical College, Pune. Conjunctival swabs were processed in human embryonic lung fibroblasts (HEL) cell line and viral isolates were obtained which were identified as Enterovirus (EV) 70 prime strain using standard in-vitro neutralisation test. Indirect intracellular immunofluorescence test also confirmed the identity of the virus involved in the epidemic.
Subject(s)
Conjunctivitis, Acute Hemorrhagic/epidemiology , Humans , India/epidemiologyABSTRACT
A cell line (MRK-90) has been established from a kidney tissue of a macaque monkey (Macaca radiata) of India. The cells are in 150th passage and have been characterized for morphology, chromosome number, isoenzyme patterns (LDH and MDH) and virus susceptibility. These studies indicate that the cells are epithelial like, heteroploid (2n = 65) and grow easily on glass surface/plastic surface without any difficulty. The cells are susceptible to a broad spectrum of viruses.
Subject(s)
Animals , Cell Line , Kidney/cytology , Macaca radiata/anatomy & histologyABSTRACT
To assess the risk of hepatitis B infection among dental personnel, serum samples were collected from dentists of Pune and students, staff, auxiliary staff and class D staff of a dental college in Bombay. Dentists (32.02%), dental auxiliary staff (35.89%), clinical assistants and post-graduate students (19.56%) were found to have significantly higher prevalence of HBV infection as compared to undergraduate dental students (3.94%). The prevalence of HBV infection was high among the dentists as compared to voluntary donors. A positive linear association was observed in the positivity of HBV seromarkers with increasing age and number of years spent by the workers in the dental environment. The rate of increase in HBV seropositivity with age was higher (P less than 0.05) among dental personnel when compared to voluntary donors. Vaccination against hepatitis B is recommended for all the dental students before they start their clinical phase and for susceptible dentists and dental auxillary staff.