[Assessment of the effectiveness of noninvasive immunoenzyme method in the detection of Staphylococcus aureus alpha-hemolysin in the washings of nasal mucosa and saliva of healthy individuals]. / Otsenka éffektivnosti neinvazivnogo immunofermentnogo metoda obnaruzheniia alfa-gemolizina Staphylococcus aureus v smyvakh so slizistoi polosti nosa i v sliune u zdorovykh individov.

The efficacies of detection of S. aureus by the bacteriologic method and enzyme immunoassay test system based on F(ab)2 fragments of purified antistaphylococcal antibodies were compared. Washings off the nasal mucosa and salivary samples from 20 normal subjects (medical staff) were examined. The number of findings of S. aureus by the detection of its a-hemotoxin in primary samples was much higher and the time of analysis two times shorter with enzyme immunoassay.

[The approval of an immunoenzyme test system based on the F(ab)2 fragments of staphylococcal antibodies for determining staphylococcal alpha-hemolysin]. / Aprobatsiia immunofermentnoi test-sistemy na osnove F(ab)2-fragmentov protivostafilokokkovykh antitel dlia opredeleniia stafilokokkocogo al'fa-gemolizina.

In the approbation of the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) system on the basis of F(ab)2 fragments of antistaphylococcal antibodies on 307 cultures of the representatives of the genera Staphylococcus, Pseudomonas and Proteus high sensitivity, specificity and effectiveness of ELISA for the quantitative and qualitative evaluation of the alpha-hemolytic activity of S.aureus were established. The ELISA system has made it possible to additionally detect alpha-hemolysin in 62% of S.aureus strains classified with as nontoxigenic strains using hemolysis test in Petri dishes. The sensitivity limit of this method is 0.0005 binding units or 1.0 ng in terms of protein content. The use of the ELISA system may be recommended for the study of the toxigenic properties of staphylococci.

Laboratory criteria in the diagnostics of intestinal infections of staphylococcal etiology in children.

Faecal samples were investigated from 948 children hospitalized with the diagnose of acute intestinal infection. The authors studied the isolation and properties of a broad spectrum of microorganisms from children's faeces: Salmonella, Shigella, E. coli, S. aureus, rotaviruses, Klebsiella, Morganella, Proteus. As a result, laboratory criteria were formulated of diagnosing in children intestinal infection of staphylococcal etiology.

[Ecologic and epidemiologic features of the circulation of streptococcus group B at a maternity clinic]. / Ekologicheskie i épidemiologicheskie osobennosti tsirkuliatsii streptokokkov gruppy B v rodil'nom dome.

In a maternity clinic the circulation of group B streptococci among the newborns, their mothers and the personnel was established during the period of 1982-1985. Group B streptococci were detected at different biotypes of newborns (the pharynx, the imbilical stump, external suditory meatus, nasal and oral mucosa, eyes and feces), their mothers (the vagina, the perianal area, breast milk, the pharynx, urine, the umbilical cord, amniotic fluid) and in the pharynx of the personnel. In this maternity clinic 15 combinations of type antigens were detected, two combinations (1a/c and 1 b/c) prevailing among them. These results confirmed earlier data concerning two possible ways of transferring infection to newborn infants: vertical, i.e. from the mother to the child during parturition, and nosocomial, i.e. from contaminated newborns or members of the personnel.

[Methodologic aspects of the isolation of beta-hemolytic streptococci]. / Metodicheskie osobennosti vydeleniia beta-gemoliticheskikh streptokokkov.

A quick test, Phadirect Strep A (Pharmacia, Sweden), for the detection of faucial streptococcus A (SA) within a few minutes was compared to bacteriologic investigation in 67 patients with rheumatic diseases and tonsillitis. The test is fairly sensitive and convenient for screening purposes, although nonspecific reactions are possible. Studies, carried out in a maternity hospital, have demonstrated the value of tests for the isolation and identification of streptococcus B (SB). Optimum nutrient media for SB isolation and identification techniques described. A coagglutination test for SB serotyping has been developed on the basis of a Soviet staphylococcal reagent, manufactured as a dry preparation, and put to clinical trial.

[Use of a coagglutination reaction based on a Soviet staphylococcal reagent for serogrouping Streptococcus group B and meningococci]. / Ispol'zovanie reaktsii koaggliutinatsii na osnove otechestvennogo stafilokokkovogo reagenta dlia serogruppirovaniia streptokokkov gruppy B i meningokokkov.

The coagglutination (COA) test is used for the serogrouping of streptococci, group B, and meningococci. The trial of a Soviet commercial preparation (staphylococcal reagent) has shown good prospects for its use in the COA test and high specificity of this test method. The availability of highly specific immune sera permits making standard kits for the identification of different infective agents in the COA test.

[Ecology of serogroup B streptococci in maternity hospitals (preliminary report)]. / Ekologiia streptokokkov serogruppy B v rodospomogatel'nykh uchrezhdeniiakh (predvaritel'noe soobshchenie).

Materials on the study of the colonization of newborns, their mothers and the medical staff of a maternity hospital by group B streptococci are presented. These streptococci were isolated from 26.3% of newborns, 19.6% of puerperae and 14.7% of the staff members. Group B streptococci were found to colonize different loci in newborns (the fauces, the nose, the umbilical cord, the ears, feces) and their mothers (the fauces, the vagina, the perianal fold, milk, the skin around the nipples, amniotic fluid, the umbilical cord). The serological typing of streptococci, isolated simultaneously from newborns and their mothers, suggested the presence of two possibilities of infecting the newborns with these microorganisms: (1) from their mothers and (2) from other newborns or members of the hospital staff during the stay in the maternity hospital.

[Development of a diagnostic test system for detecting soluble staphylococcal antigens by an immunoenzyme method]. / Razrabotka diagnosticheskoi test-sistemy dlia vyiavleniia rastvorimykh stafilokokkovykh antigenov immunofermentnym metodom.

ELISA is used for detecting the soluble staphylococcal antigen in patients with purulent septic infections. The optimum conditions for the assay have been established: the dose of staphylococcal gamma globulin for plate sensitization should be 5.0-10.0 micrograms/ml, the pH of the buffer solution 9.6-10.0, the time and temperature of incubation 18-20 hours at 4 degrees C or 5 hours at 37 degrees C. The possibility of using plates manufactured in the USSR has been shown. The sensitivity of the above diagnostic test system is 0.005 microgram/ml.

[Evaluation of the diagnostic value of a modified hemolysis inhibition test in staphylococcal diseases]. / Otsenka diagnosticheskoi znachimosti modifitsirovannoi reaktsii tormozheniia gemoliza pri stafilokokkovykh zabolevaniiakh.

Blood serum samples from 602 healthy adults and 430 patients with suppurative lactation mastitis were studied with the use of the hemolysis inhibition test in the authors' modification, suitable for work with small amounts of blood serum. In most of the healthy adults (80.4%), the content of staphylococcal antitoxin in the blood serum did not exceed 1 antitoxic unit (AU), while in 3/4 of the suppurative mastitis patients a pronounced increase in antibody titers (up to 4--32 AU) was observed. The hemolysis inhibition test may serve as an additional criterion in the diagnosis of staphylococcal infections in adults.

[Type specific antistreptococcal antibodies in the passive hemagglutination test]. / Issledovanie tipospetsificheskikh protivostreptokokkovykh antitel v reaktsii passivnoi gemaggliutinatsii

The authors present materials of the elaboration of a method of obtaining stable erythrocytic diagnostic agents from semipurified preparations of type-specific antigens of the hemolytic streptococcus of the 1st, 4th, 12th and 18th serotypes. Adequate specificity and high sensitivity of the passive hemagglutination test was shown in examination of the sera of experimental animals. In the sera of healthy children the type-specific antibodies were revealed with a different frequency at various seasons of the year; this was in inverse correlation with the level of scarlet fever morbidity.

[Comparative characteristics of the immunologic structure of children's collectives as regards scarlatina in different climatic zones]. / Sravnitel'naia kharakteristika immunologicheskoi struktury detskikh kollektivov v otnoshenii skarlatiny v raznykh klimaticheskikh zonakh

An immunological study (in respect to scarlet fever) of children in children's collective bodies was conducted in 1971-1972 simultaneously in two towns-Ashkhabad and Petrozavodsk located in the contrast climatic zones. Results of Dick's test and passive hemagglutination test indicated no significant differences in the level and intensity of antitoxic immunity in children of both cities; only during the autumn period, corresponding to the seasonal increase in the incidence of scarler fever in Ashkabad, the number of immune children in this town proved to be greater than in Petrozavodsk, this being connected with a more active process of "mute" immunization. At the same time differences were revealed in the level and dynamics of antibodies to the leading types of M-antigens of hemolytic streptococci. Consequently, a higher immunological reactivity of the organism in children in Ashkhabad (promoting rapid formation of both the antitoxic and the antimicrobial immunity and limiting of the spread of marked scarlet fever affections) underlied the differences in the level of scarlet fever morbidity in different climatic zones.

[Toxin B and A production by beta-hemolytic streptococci isolated from scarlet fever patients]. / Produktsiia toksina B i A beta-gemoliticheskimi streptokokkami, vydelennymi ot bol'nykh skarlatinoi

This work was aimed at the study of the frequency of isolation of beta-hemolytic streptococci from the patients suffering from scarlet fever, producing A and B toxins. Toxigenicity of the microbes was studied in the indirect agglutination test. In 68.4 per cent of cases there were isolate streptococci producing toxin A, and in 22.8 per cent--toxin B. The percentage of strongly toxigenic A-strains constituted 28.2, and of B-strains--0.6. The greatest incidence of the A and B toxigenic streptococci was observed during the autumn-winter period. Among the strains of the 4th--"leading" serological type there were the greatest number of the A-toxigenic variants, and among the streptococci belonging to the I serological type--of the B-toxigenic strains.