Viral respiratory tract infection and exacerbations of asthma in adult patients.

The role of viral respiratory tract infections in acute exacerbations of asthma was studied prospectively in 31 patients with atopic asthma aged 15-56 years. Patients recorded symptom scores for asthma and peak expiratory flow rate daily for 11 months. In addition, they reported for detailed clinical, functional, and virological study every four weeks and as soon as possible after the onset of worsening asthma or symptoms suggesting a respiratory tract infection. Thirty viral identifications were made, of which 18 (60%) were associated with an exacerbation of asthma. Viral respiratory tract infection was identified in 18 (10%) of the 178 exacerbations of asthma, and in 10 (36%) of the 28 severe exacerbations. The frequency of viral identifications in 16 non-asthmatic, control subjects during the same period was similar. It is concluded that viral respiratory tract infections may cause or be associated with exacerbations of asthma in adults, and that they are an important factor in severe exacerbations.

Hepatitis B infection in New Zealand children.

Hepatitis B markers were tested for in 2001 samples of serum from those aged 0-21 years. There was a prevalence in Europeans of hepatitis B of 10% with a 2% of HBsAg carriage rate. For Maoris the prevalence was 25% with a 6% HBsAg carriage rate. The highest carriage rate was in the northern districts.

Changing patterns of genital herpes.

Isolation rates for herpes simplex virus types 1 and 2, recovered from oral and genital specimens submitted to the National Health Institute by clinicians within the Wellington region, were compared for two time-periods, 1971 to 1973 and 1981 to 1982 inclusive. The proportion of type 1 isolates from genital sites has increased from 4% to 11%, while conversely the proportion of type 2 isolates from oral sites has increased from 6% to 24%. Possible explanations for these trends are considered and the clinical and epidemiologic significance of this changing pattern is briefly discussed.

The 1980 rubella outbreak in New Zealand.

From late 1979 to 1981 there was an outbreak of rubella in New Zealand, most parts of the country being affected. The diagnostic virus laboratory at the National Health Institute, Wellington, examined approximately 15 000 sera for rubella during this period. The total number diagnosed as positive for rubella was 186. The extent of the outbreak was seen when these numbers were compared with rates of positive cases/numbers tested in the year from 1973. Of those diagnosed as having rubella infection, 63 percent were women of child-bearing age and approximately half of these (37 percent) were in various stages of pregnancy. Also an assessment of rubella immunity in New Zealand was made, comparing results of a survey carried out in 1976-1977 with antibody levels obtained by the laboratory from sera tested in 1979 and 1980. In 1980 we found that 12 percent of women in the child-bearing age group lacked adequate immunity, notwithstanding an actively pursued national rubella immunisation programme initiated in 1970.

The role of coxsackie B viruses in heart disease in New Zealand.

Sera from 622 patients received in a 20-month period were examined for coxsackie B neutralising antibody to serotypes 1--6. Two hundred and thirty-four of the total 622 were patients with a cardiac symptomatology, and 388 formed a comparable group of non-cardiac cases. There were 141 (60 percent) seropositive patients in the cardiac group, 34 percent and 29 percent of which respectively had antibody to B4 and B2. The clinical data provided on these 141 patients indicated that 33 (23 percent) had acute myocarditis, and 59 (42 percent) had acute pericarditis; 41 (29 percent) were recorded as having acute pleurodynia or Bronholm disease while eight (6 percent) had other indications of cardiac disease. Amongst the cardiac patients the highest prevalence of seropositivity was found in the 20--39 age group and 67 percent of these were males.

Arbovirus infections in Ceylon.

The haemagglutination-inhibition test has been used to assess the frequency of arbovirus infections in the population of Ceylon, by age-group, and also in some animals. The antigens used were: chikungunya, JE, dengue 1, 2, 3, 4, and Tahyna.The percentage of positive reactors to the group-B viruses ranged from 16.3% to 84.6% and was lower in the mountainous part of the country. Infections with the chikungunya (group-A) virus were less frequent (from 0 to 37%) and were considered to be recent infections. The prevalence of antibodies was found to increase with age.From a comparison of the antibody titres of the indigenous Ceylonese population with those of a group of immigrant Yugoslav workers it was concluded that a titre of 1:640 would represent a significant titre for a recent infection.The animals examined included goats, cattle, bandicoots, pigs and sheep; virus infections were most frequent in the bandicoots, pigs and sheep.