Infant mortality rate at a selected urban, semi-urban and rural areas of Egypt, 1992: a retrospective study

A study of infant mortality rate [IMR] in Egypt in 1992 was conducted at three randomly selected areas representing different social classes. IMR per 1000 live births was ranged between 27.1 to 33.5. The differences between male and female IMR were markedly observed with no consensus amongst study areas. Neonatal mortality rate ranged between 4.7 to 11.1 while the post neonatal mortality rate ranged between 18.4 to 23.0 : Diarrheal diseases were the most common cause of death amongst infants at all study areas, followed by respiratory illnesses. Inaccurate and under registration were noticed clearly in this work as observed from absence of neonatal deaths in rural areas. Also, in rural areas, prematurity was not recorded as a cause of death. Similarly, neonatal tetanus was not recorded as a cause of death at all study

Effect of nutritive elements on the extracellular proteins of different bacillus strains toxic to mosquito larvae

The effect of 5 nutritional elements [glucose, peptone, yeast extract, beef extract and lactic acid] on the growth of the 4 tested Bacilus strains [Bacillus thuringiensis Bactimos 78, B. thuringiensis IPS 82, B. sphaericus Solvay 85 and B. spaericus Rb 80] as well as on the concentration of their extracellular proteins were studied. The nutritive elements were individually tested either dissolved in distilled water or in a buffer base. Results indicated that the bacterial growth was higher when the nutritive elements were dissolved in a buffer base than in dist. water. The concentration of the extracellular proteins were always higher in the absence of the inorganic minerals, although the toxicity of these extracellular proteins against 3rd instar Culex pipiens larvae increased in the presence of these inorganic elements

Water soluble toxins of bacillus thuringiensis serotype H-14 demonstrating lethal action on culex pipiens larvae

The lethal action of Bacillus thuringiensis on mosquito larvae was studied, in relation to the exotoxin proteins secreted during the vegetative growth. The water soluble protein fractions [exotoxins] were separated through gel filtration and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and bioassayed against 3 rd instar larvae of culex pipiens. Five fractions were detected in 72 hr bacterial cultures. Results of bioassays indicate toxicity of 3 protein subfarctions of M. Wts [31.000, 32.700 and 36.700 dalton]. Other types of detectedd proteins were found non -toxic. Based on the achieved results the exotoxins may be considered in larvicids formulations of Bacillus thuringiensis H -14