Comparison of glass wool and glass powder methods for concentration of viruses from treated waste waters.

Enumeration of cultivable virus particle in sewage requires the samples to be concentrated. Two adsorption-elution methods, the glass wool cartridge method and the glass powder fluid layer method were compared. Firstly, it was demonstrated that virus could be readily recovered from the head, first 25 ml, of eluate of glass wool rather than from a reconcentration of the entire eluate, either by organic flocculation: 83% of positivity vs 44% respectively or double precipitation by PEG: 85% of positivity vs 61% respectively. Concentration on glass wool allowed the rescue of a greater number of positive samples (33/35) than on glass powder (16/35) as well as a higher mean titer of indigenous viruses, respectively 19 MPNCU/l vs 6 MPNCU/l (F1(34) = 36.02, P < 0.0001). Enteroviruses were the most frequently isolated viruses: found in 34/35 samples by either method, in 32/35 samples by glass wool, and in 14/35 samples by glass powder. Of the 12 enterovirus types identified by either method, a majority was Echovirus 6 (10 samples), Echovirus 11 (7 samples), Coxsackievirus B5 (4 samples) and also Coxsackievirus A7, A16, A21, B1, B6, Echovirus 1, 4, 12 and 19. Adenovirus types 1 and 5 were isolated from 4 samples by either method.

Circulating interferon in cytomegalovirus infected bone-marrow-transplant recipients and in infants with congenital cytomegalovirus disease.

In a study concerning five CMV-infected bone-marrow-transplant recipients, five congenital CMV diseases and appropriate controls, presence of high levels of circulating interferon (IFN) was demonstrated exclusively during the course of CMV disease. This interferon was predominantly "immune" or gamma interferon (gamma-IFN). These results suggest that during CMV disease the interferon compartment of the immune response is modified.

Sensitivity and specificity of viral immunoglobulin M determination by indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

Four sources of error associated with virus-specific immunoglobulin M (IgM) determination by indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay were recognized and analyzed. First, competitive inhibition due to specific IgG was demonstrated by experiments involving addition and subtraction of rubella-specific IgG. Second, the interference due to rheumatoid factors (RFs) of the IgM class (IgM-RFs) was studied thoroughly, and it appeared that the level of false positivity was more dependent on specific IgG titers than on IgM-RF titers. Third, it was found that some IgM-RFs, differing from conventional IgM-RFs in that they reacted only with isologous IgG, were responsible for further cases of false positivity. Fourth, the interference of an IgM reacting with some virus-unmasked cellular antigens was demonstrated for some uninfected individuals. All four interfering factors could be readily eliminated by simply premixing serum samples with a sheep anti-human gamma-chain serum. This single pretreatment was shown to eliminate false-negatives as well as false-positives in a further 2,004 sera tested for six viruses. These results also emphasize the frequency of RFs and their heterogeneity.

[Cat-scratch disease or benign inoculation lymphoreticulosis. A continuous quest for the etiological agent]. / Maladie des griffes du chat ou lymphoréticulose bénigne d'inoculation. Une quête continue d'un agent étiologique.

This infection usually results from transmission to humans by the scratch of a cat, but may also follow spine stings or cuts from fresh bones of various animals, this explaining the ubiquity of the causative agent and its resistance to various physical agents. The primary lesion develops in the skin at the inoculation site, to be followed by the appearance of one or several satellite adenopathies, of regional distribution and evolving towards suppuration. Apart from some rare nervous manifestations the prognosis is usually good, but regression of the adenopathy is a slow process. Histology shows tumefaction of massed reticular cells with central necrosis, leucocyte diapedesis and ultimate abscess formation. Diagnosis is by evidence of allergy to a specific antigen formed of the pus from infected glands after sterilization. The responsibility of a gram-positive bacterium of the genus Rothia has just been demonstrated.

Rotavirus carriage, asymptomatic infection, and disease in the first two years of life. I. Virus shedding.

From September 1979 to July 1980 inclusive, rotaviruses were prospectively detected by electron microscopy (EM) and ELISA in 82 (29%) of 283 children under two years of age who were admitted to a general pediatric ward in Paris. Rotavirus was found in 43 (36%) of 119 children with diarrhea and in 40 (24%) of 164 children without diarrhea; thus of 83 children shedding rotavirus, 40 (48%) were not diarrheic. Virus shedding that was not associated with diarrhea was observed in 71% of neonates, in 50% of one- to six-month-old children, and in 26% of 7-24-month-old children. Rotavirus shedding was statistically correlated (P less than .01) only with those cases of diarrhea with fever and vomiting ( DFV syndrome). Consequently, relative risk (RR) for the DFV syndrome in patients who were shedding virus was 2.07 (P less than .001) vs. 0.95 for other types of diarrhea. These observations show that asymptomatic rotaviral infection is not an infrequent occurrence; that the association between rotavirus and diarrhea is not necessarily an etiologic one; and that the DFV syndrome appears as a major clinical expression of rotaviral disease. Consequently, recovery of rotavirus from feces is of little diagnostic significance since it does not give a differentiation between rotavirus-induced and rotavirus-associated diarrhea.

Rotavirus carriage, asymptomatic infection, and disease in the first two years of life. II. Serological response.

Serological response to rotavirus and virus shedding were prospectively studied in 179 children (neonatal to 24-month-old) upon admission to a hospital during an 11-month period. Analysis of the evolution of IgG and IgM ELISA titers revealed 24 cases of rotaviral disease (serological response and diarrhea), 13 cases of asymptomatic infection (serological response and no diarrhea), 36 cases of virus carriage (absence of a serological response), three cases of past infection, and six possible cases of nosocomial infection. Rotaviral disease was encountered two out of three times and was characterized by diarrhea associated with fever and vomiting. Asymptomatic rotaviral infection and disease, observed from the neonatal period onwards, affected 2% of neonates, 20% of one- to six-month-old children, and 37% of 7-24-month-old children. In contrast, virus carriage occurred in 27%, 19%, and 14% of those children respectively. Altogether these results indicate that during the period 1-24 months of age, when asymptomatic rotaviral infection and disease were prevalent, approximately two of 10 children had rotaviral disease, one of 10 had asymptomatic infection, two of 10 were virus carriers, and five of 10 were not infected with rotavirus.

[Antenatal diagnosis of 2 cases of cytomegalic inclusion disease]. / Diagnostic anténatal de deux cas de maladie des inclusions cytomégaliques.

On the occasion of 2 case reports, the authors emphasize the present possibility of evoking cytomegalovirus infection during pregnancy from virologic and serologic data. Such data may lead to change the evolution of such pathologic pregnancies.

Immune adherence hemadsorption: specific method for rapid identification of adenovirus antigens.

An immune adherence hemadsorption test for the rapid group-specific identification of adenoviruses is described. The test was performed directly on the cell culture isolate in less than 1 h, by the sequential addition of the antiserum of any adenovirus serotype, complement, and then C3b receptor-rich human erythrocytes. Microscopic examination revealed the presence of erythrocytes adhering firmly to the infected cell sheet. The immune adherence hemadsorption test proved a specific and rapid diagnostic procedure for the detection of adenovirus group antigen in tissue cultures and was more simple than conventional tests.

Circulating interferon in cytomegalovirus infected bone-marrow-transplant recipients and in infants with congenital cytomegalovirus disease.

In a study concerning five CMV-infected bone-marrow-transplant recipients, five congenital CMV diseases and appropriate controls, presence of high levels of circulating interferon (IFN) was demonstrated exclusively during the course of CMV disease. This interferon was predominantly "immune" or gamma interferon (gamma-IFN). These results suggest that during CMV disease the interferon compartment of the immune response is modified.

Cholera-like illness due to Aeromonas sobria.

A Thai woman from Bangkok was admitted to a hospital in Paris for a cholera-like illness. A culture of her "rice-water" diarrhea was negative for Vibrio cholerae and enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli but was positive for Aeromonas sobria. This strain produced enterotoxin, cytolysin, proteolysin, hemolysin, and a cell-rounding factor. Acute -and convalescent-phase sera showed an increase in neutralizing antibodies to enterotoxin, cytolysin, and hemolysin. The enterotoxin, which was labile at 100 C, induced an accumulation of fluid in the rabbit ileal loop model and was not neutralized by antiserum to cholera toxin. Suckling mouse assays and rabbit permeability skin tests were negative, and the Y1 mouse adrenal cell assay produced not true cytotonic effect. This report, the first of an infection due to A. sobria alone, provides evidence that A. sobria is an enteric pathogen of humans that can cause a toxin-mediated, life-threatening illness.

Virologic, immunologic, and genetic factors in insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.

A 16-month-old girl presented with an episode of fever and acute thrombocytopenic purpura caused by a Coxsackie B5 virus. On days 13 to 23, laboratory evidence of diabetes mellitus was present, followed by a 2 1/2-month remission, then by definitive insulin-dependent diabetes. The involvement of virologic, immunologic, and genetic factors in the pathophysiology was substantiated by the following data: (1) Virus-induced glucose intolerance was produced in selected mouse strains. (2) Islet-cell antibodies were found one week before onset of diabetes; however, circulating lymphocytes of the child at that time suppressed insulin release from islets in vitro. (3) Immunogenetic analysis of the child revealed the presence of high-risk genetic markers. It is suggested that the convergence of an insulotropic variant virus, genetic predisposition, and perhaps some uncontrolled adjuvant factors, e.g. steroid therapy and DPT vaccination, may have determined insular damage and anti-islet autoimmune reactions, leading to insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.