Hepatitis B e antigen in volunteer and paid blood donors.

Sera from 200 volunteer donors and 200 paid blood donors, all positive for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), were tested for the presence of hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg).HBeAg was detected in 31 HBsAg-positive paid donors (15%), and in 11 HBsAg-positive volunteer donors (5%) by agar gel diffusion. The presence of HBsAg was associated with higher titers of HBsAg. No significant difference was found in the prevalence of antibody to HBeAg (anti-HBe) in the two donor groups. Rheumatoid factor was not associated with the presence or absence of HBeAg or anti-HBe, indicating that HBeAg is probably not an anti-IgG. These data support the epidemiological evidence that paid blood donors appear to be more likely than volunteer donors to transmit hepatitis B virus infection to recipients of their blood.

A comparison of the intradermal and subcutaneous routes of influenza vaccination with A/New Jersey/76 (swine flu) and A/Victoria/75: report of a study and review of the literature.

A trail of influenza vaccination, with use of bivalent split virus vaccine (A/New Jersey/76 and A/Victoria/75), was conducted to compare the immunogenicity and reactions when vaccine was given by the subcutaneous and intradermal routes. Volunteers 18 to 24 years old were randomized into equal groups, one group receiving 0.1 ml of vaccine intradermally and the other receiving 0.5 ml subcutaneously. For the A/Victoria vaccine, the immunogenicity of the intradermal route seemed superior; for A/New Jersey vaccine, the routes were equivalent. Adverse reactions were minimal and equivalent for both groups. In times of vaccine shortage, the intradermal route is considered to stretch vaccine supplies. Field trials of new influenza vaccines should include evaluation of the immunogenicity of and adverse reactions caused by the same vaccine given by different routes in varied dosages.

Conjunctivitis and skin erythema. Outbreak caused by a damaged high-intensity lamp.

Eighty-one members of girls' basketball teams were exposed to ultraviolet light while sitting in the bleachers of a school gymnasium. A mercury high-intensity discharge lamp lighting the bleacher area had a hole in its outer envelope that allowed the emission of ultraviolet light. Sixty-nine (85%) of the 81 girls were affected; 49 (71%) had symptoms of conjunctivitis and 63 (91%) had symptoms of erythema.

Influenza in New Jersey in 1976: isolations of influenza A/New Jersey/76 virus at Fort Dix.

An outbreak of febrile respiratory disease at Fort Dix, New Jersey, beginning in January 1976, yielded five isolates of influenza A/New Jersey/76 virus and 42 isolates of strains resembling influenza A/Victoria/75 virus. Despite extraordinary efforts and the study of 305 verified cases of infection with type A influenza virus throughout the region, no additional instances of infections with influenza A/New Jersey virus were detected in humans.

Identification and preliminary antigenic analysis of swine influenza-like viruses isolated during an influenza outbreak at Fort Dix, New Jersey.

The sequence of events and the laboratory procedures that resulted in the identification of swine influenza-like viruses isolated during an influenza outbreak at Fort Dix, New Jersey in January and February of 1976 are described. Preliminary antigenic analysis suggested that the isolates from Fort Dix are closely related to a 1975 isolate of swine influenza virus and distinguishable from earlier swine influenza strains.

Minocycline for prophylaxis of infection with Neisseria meningitidis: high rate of side effects in recipients.

A high rate of side effects (mostly vestibular) was found among 83 people receiving prophylaxis with minocycline because of contact with a patient who had died of meningitis due to Neisseria meningitidis. Three groups of contacts received different lots of minocycline and different dosage regimens. Seventy-eight percent of these people had symptoms temporally related to ingestion of minocycline. These symptoms, which included dizziness, nausea, vomiting, vertigo, anorexia, and headache, generally commenced soon after initiation of chemoprophylaxis; the total dosage of minocycline was low. The high rate of vestibular side effects of minocycline militates against widespread use of minocycline for prophylaxis of meningococcal infection.

The consequences of administering blood pretested for HBs Ag by third generation techniques: a progress report.

Elimination of commercial blood, mandatory HBs Ag testing by third generation techniques, and detection and interdiction of incriminated blood donors have all contributed to a dramatic 63 per cent reduction in the estimated number of cases of transfusion-associated hepatitis from 424 in 1970 to 158 in 1973 and an even more dramatic drop in fatalities from 55 to 1970 to 10 in 1973.

Cardiovascular malformations with lithium use during pregnancy.

The 143 cases of lithium use during pregnancy collected by the Register of Lithium Babies show that infants exposed to lithium appear to have a higher than expected ratio of cardiovascular anomalies to all anomalies and may have an increased risk of congenital heart disease. The authors believe that these findings justify a conservative policy on the use of lithium with fertile and pregnant women.

Lithium and pregnancy. I. Report from the Register of Lithium Babies.

We have collected information about 118 children born to mothers who were given lithium treatment during the first trimester of pregnancy. The data show that the risk of teratogenic effects is lower than one might have expected from some of the studies carried out on rats and mice; they do not answer the question of whether or not lithium is teratogenic in man. The data were collected retrospectively and therefore overestimate rather than underestimate the risk of teratogenicity.