Cross-protection between experimental anti-leptospirosis bacterins

We investigated the existence of cross-protection between two anti-leptospirosis monovalent experimental bacterins produced with two strains of Leptospira serogroup Pomona: Fromm strain of serovar Kennewicky, isolated from pigs in the United States, and strain GR6 of serovar Pomona isolated from pigs in Brazil. Both were added of aluminum hydroxide as an adjuvant. Experimental bacterins were tested with the hamster potency test in order to assess protection provided against the disease and against the establishment of kidney infection. Controls were polyvalent commercial vaccine produced with Leptospira strains isolated outside Brazil, which included a representative of Pomona serovar, or Sorensen solution added of aluminum hydroxide adjuvant. The challenge was performed with cross-strains of serogroup Pomona tested in accordance with international standards established for the potency test. After 21 days of the challenge, survivors were killed to evaluate the condition of Leptospira renal carrier. Experimental bacterins protected hamsters against homologous and heterologous strains, demonstrating the existence of cross-protection. The commercial vaccine protected the hamsters challenged with both strains, but there was a high proportion of animals diagnosed as renal carriers when the challenge was performed with strain GR6, isolated from pigs in Brazil.

Importancia del diagnóstico de portadoras en familias con antecedentes de hemofilia / Importance of the diagnosis of carriers in families with history of hemophilia

La hemofilia es una enfermedad hemorrágica hereditaria ligada al cromosoma X que se presenta debido a mutaciones en los genes del factor VIII (hemofilia A) y el factor IX (hemofilia B), que ocasiona una disminución o deficiencia funcional de estas proteínas en plasma. Sus frecuencias son de 1 en 5 000 y 1 en 30 000 varones recién nacidos vivos, respectivamente. Afecta casi exclusivamente a los varones y las mujeres portadoras presentan un riesgo del 50 por ciento de transmitir la enfermedad a sus hijos, por lo que es importante en las familias con antecedentes de hemofilia identificar las portadoras a través de las consultas de asesoramiento genético, en el cual se brinda información acerca de la enfermedad, la confección del árbol genealógico, el cálculo del riesgo de recurrencia, el diagnóstico molecular y la posibilidad de diagnóstico prenatal en gestantes portadoras. Es imprescindible que el asesoramiento genético constituya un proceso educativo e informativo, nunca impositivo

Hemophilia is a hereditary bleeding disorderX-linked that a rises dueto mutations in the genes offactor VIII(hemophiliaA)andfactor IX(hemophiliaB), which causes a decrease orfunctional deficiency of these proteins inplasma.Their frequencies are 1 in5 000 males and1 in30 000 live births, respectively. It affects males almost exclusively, and female carriers have a50 percent risk of transmitting the disease to their children. So, it is important in families with history of hemophilia that carriers are identified through genetic counseling, which provides information about the disease, making pedigree,calculation of the risk of recurrence, molecular diagnosis and possibility of prenatal diagnosis in pregnant carriers.It is imperative that genetic counselingconstitutes an educational and informative process,never as an imposition

Asymptomatic colonization of upper respiratory tract by potential bacterial pathogens.

Objective. To screen for asymptomatic respiratory carriage of S. pneumoniae, H. influenzae and Group A Streptococcus (GAS) in children attending JIPMER, correlate carriage rate with different socio-demographic factors and to detect antimicrobial resistance among the isolates. Methods. Throat swabs were collected from both in patients and out patients (≤12 yr of age) and processed. Bacteria were identified by standard techniques. Susceptibility to commonly used antimicrobial agents was determined by Kirby Bauer disc diffusion technique. Results. Overall carriage rate of respiratory pathogens was 30% with S. pneumoniae, H. influenzae and GAS accounting for 22%, 5% and 4.5% respectively. Three patients had >1 organism. Antibiotic resistance was highest in S. pneumoniae with 66.7% of strains resistant to penicillin. MDR strains were also encountered. Erythromycin resistance was observed in both H. influenzae (28.4%) and GAS (22%).No statistically significant association was found between the carriage rate of these organisms and different socio-demographic factors. Conclusions. S. pneumoniae carriage rate was comparatively higher in the community and its antimicrobial resistance is an issue to address.

Ineffectiveness for infants of immunization of mothers with pneumococcal capsular polysaccharide vaccine during pregnancy

Pneumococcal (Pnc) carriage is associated with pneumococcal diseases. Breast feeding and maternal vaccination may be a useful approach to prevent pneumococcal infection in young infants. We examined the risk of Pnc carriage by infants at six months of age after pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccination of pregnant women. We selected 139 pregnant woman. The woman were randomly allocated to receive 23-valent polysaccharide vaccines during pregnancy (Group 1) after pregnancy (Group 2) or not receive any vaccine (Group 3). Nasopharyngeal swabs were collected from the infants at three and six months of age. The infants were evaluated monthly during the first six months. We included 47 mothers in Group 1, 45 mothers in Group 2 and 47 mothers in Group 3. Forty-seven percent of the babies were exclusively breast fed until six months, 26 percent received both breast feeding and artificial feeding and 13 percent received only artificial feeding. Among those patients, 26 percent were colonized by Pnc at six months (12 from Group 1, 13 from Group 2, and 12 from Group 3). There was no significant difference in colonization between the three groups. Thirty percent of the children were colonized by a non-susceptible strain. We concluded that young infants (three months old) are already susceptible to pneumococcal carriage. Vaccination during pregnancy with a polysaccharide vaccine did not decrease Pnc colonization.

Meningococcal carrier rate before and after hajj pilgrimage: effect of single dose ciprofloxacin on carriage

We determined the carriage rate of Neisseria meningitidis before and after hajj pilgrimage among a group [1] of 674 randomly selected Iranian pilgrims, and the effect of 500 mg of ciprofloxacin given 24 hours before return on the reduction of meningococcal carriers among another group [2] of 123 randomly selected Iranian pilgrims. Throat specimens taken 1 hour before departure on the hajj and immediately on return were cultured. Carriage rates of N. meningitidis in group 1 were 5.2% before and 4.6% after pilgrimage [P = 0.65]; 3 new serogroups [Z, Z' and A] were identified on return. In group 2, the carriage rate decreased from 8.1% to zero before and after pilgrimage

Epidemiología y aspectos genéticos del cáncer de mama / Epidemiology and genetic aspects of breast cancer

Objetivo. Hacer un análisis de la literatura para dar a conocer los síndromes hereditarios en el cáncer de mama, identificar a los grupos de riesgo de cáncer familiar y proporcionar recomendaciones para la detección, profilaxis y tratamiento de este grupo de pacientes. Sede. Hospital de tercer nivel de atención. Metología. Revisión y análisis de artículos recabados en la literatura nacional e internacional (37). Resultados. El cáncer de mama ocupa el segundo lugar en frecuencia entre las neoplasias malignas de la mujer en México. existen factores de riesgo que incrementan la posibilidad de desarroollo de esta enfermedad, entre los que destacan: historia familiar de cáncer de mama, la edad, la hiperplasia atípica de la mama, la edad temprana de la menarquía y tardía de la menopausia y del primer embarazo, así como el vivir en poblaciones urbanas e ingerir una dieta rica en grasas de origen animal y en proteínas. Existen también síndromes hereditarios autosómicos dominantes asociados a cáncer de mama como son síndrome de cáncer mamario hereditario, el síndrome de Li-Fraumeni, el de Peutz-Jeghers, el de Muir-Torre y la enfermedad de Cowden. Hasta el momento se han identificado las mutaciones cromosómicas de cada síndrome y es posible hacer la pesquisa genética de ellos. Existen también el cáncer mamario familiar, no hereditario, en el cual el riesgo se incrementa de 5 a 9 veces más que en la población en general. Conclusión. Es indispensable conocer todos los factores de riesgo y catalogar a cada mujer como de bajo, intermedio o alto riesgo para desarrollar cáncer de mama y con base en ello diseñar el método y la periodicidad de pesquisa a efectuar, así como las medidas preventivas en las portadoras de mutaciones cromosómicas