Evaluation of modified lepro-agglutination as screening test for leprosy.

One hundred thirty-three leprosy sera (83 multibacillary (MB) and 50 paucibacillary (PB) cases) were screened by lepro-agglutination (LA) and M.leprae particle agglutination (MLPA) tests. Larger number of MB sera were positive by LA (86.75%) than by MLPA (45.12%) test. Thirty-seven of the 45 MB sera negative by MLPA test were positive by LA test. The reverse was true in three out of 11 MB sera. PB sera showed positivity of 16% in LA test and 24% in MLPA test. All the 55 sera from normal healthy individuals and 18 VDRL positive sera from syphilis patients were found to be negative by LA test.

Anticardiolipin antibodies in leprosy.

Eighty-four leprosy patients were studied clinically and for IgG and IgM anticardiolipin (aCL) antibodies. Following WHO criteria, 41 patients could be classified as multibacillary (MB) and 43 as paucibacillary (PB). Baseline levels of IgG and IgM antibodies were 27 +/- 4.8 GPL and 20 +/- 3.4 MPL per ml respectively. Comparing with these, 60.9% of MB and 39.5% of PB cases showed rise in IgG and IgM anticardiolipin antibodies; 19.5% of MB and 4.6% of PB sera showed rise in only IgG antibodies, while 4.8% of MB and 13.9% of PB cases showed rise only in IgM antibodies. Rise in aCL antibodies had no correlation with cardiovascular involvement, bacteriological index, reactive state and duration or regularity of treatment.

Observations on attempted leprosy cultures in two media.

Suspensions of skin tissue material collected from lepromatous leprosy patients and material from mouse foot-pad harvests were inoculated into two media, viz., a biphasic medium and a minimal basal medium. The cultures were incubated at 37 degrees C and 15 degrees C. Small oval (or round) cells appeared in these cultures around the tenth day along with a few cystic structures; and they increased in number later, reaching the maximum around six-seven weeks. The above cells appeared acid-fast in some cultures and some of them appeared to split into pairs of acid-fast bacilli. The cells were most often seen in the biphasic medium at 37 degrees C. The identity of these structures is not known at this stage.

Sensitivity of the different tests of enterotoxigenicity of Escherichia coli and their correlation.

Enterotoxigenicity of E. coli isolates was tested in 136 cases of acute gastroenteritis. Heat labile toxin (LT) produced in-vitro was tested in rabbit ileal loop (RIL); vero cell line and Biktn plate. The results of live cultures were evaluated in RIL. The overall data of these four models were not statistically different. Elaboration of LT in these four models ranged from 14-21.4%. Out of the 20 LT producing strains 14 (70%) also revealed ST. Of the 6 positive reactors on vero cell line, appeared to produce vero toxin (VT) only. Out of 29 LT positive E. coli, 1 (3.45%) and 2 (6.89%) strains respectively revealed colonising factor antigen (CFA) I and II. The high incidence of ETEC showing both LT and ST has been highlighted in the age group 0-4 years, and its impact on nutritional status is discussed.

Etiology of acute childhood diarrhoea in Calcutta.

Of the 152 cases of acute diarrhoea, 124 (81.5%) revealed potential pathogens. Altogether 27 (21.2%) out of 127 strains of Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Enterobacter, Proteus and Acinetobacter produced enterotoxin. Single pathogenic bacteria (40 cases 26.3%), parasite (6; 6%), rota virus (6; 6%), toxigenic bacteria (19; 12.5%) and mixed agents (37; 24.24.3%) were recorded in 108 cases (71.0%). Another 14 (9.2%) cases exclusively revealed moderate to heavy growth of suspected enteric pathogens like K. pneumoniae, Proteus, Enterobacter, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, anaerogenic E. coli and Citrobacter and 2 (1.3%) had high counts of T'. hominis. Of the known pathogens, the preponderance of A. hydrophila (24.4%), rota virus (15.7%) and Aeromonas hydrophila (14.0%) in 1-4 y, Vibrio cholerae (45.6%) and Trichuris trichiura (13.0%) in 4-14 y age group is highlighted. Other pathogenic bacteria were non-01 V. cholerae (3.2%), V. parahaemolyticus (2.6%), V. fluvialis (0.6), Plesiomonas shigelloides (3.9%), Salmonella (2.6%), Shigella (1.9%), EPEC (1.9%), EEC (5.2%) and Campylobacter jejuni (3.9%) and the parasites were Entamoeba histolytica (2.6%) and Giardia intestinalis (2.6). Comparative study of age matched controls with those of diarrhoea suggested the pathogenic role of E. histolytica and T. hominis.