Survey of faecal parasites in patients from western Kenya.

Faecal specimens were collected from patients complaining of diarrhoea and abdominal or epigastric discomfort at two hospitals. Information obtained by questionnaires completed at the time of specimens collection, included demographic and clinical data. Specimens were preserved in 10% formalin and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and examined, as wet mounts and stained with Wheatley's Trichrome, Weber, modified acid-fast and hot safranin stains. One hundred patients were examined, in 30 of them parasites were detected. The most common organism identified was Cryptosporidium parvum, in specimens of five patients, followed by Entamoeba histolytica/E. dispar in four patients. The recently described "emerging parasites" were detected. Helminth eggs were found in two patients only. HIV status was not known for most of the patients, and the parasites commonly proliferate in the immuno-compromised individuals were not frequently found.

Aetiology of tinea capitis in school children.

BACKGROUND: Tinea capitis is a superficial fungal infection of the scalp and hair of the head which is common in children aged between two and eleven years. An endothrix infection is best treated using parenteral antifungal drugs while an ectothrix one may be treated by parenteral or topical antifungal drugs. The organism that commonly causes tinea capitis in the Western world is Trichophyton tonsurans while there is inadequate information on the actual causative agent in Kenya. OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence and the aetiology of tinea capitis and the fungal agents responsible for it and; to recommend the correct mode of treatment in school children attending a primary school near Eldoret. DESIGN: Prospective and descriptive study. SETTING: Private primary school near Eldoret town. SUBJECTS: Sixty eight primary school children aged between six and 14 years in classes 1 to 5. RESULTS: Of the 68 pupils included in the study, 60.9% and 39.1% were males and females, respectively. Prevalence of tinea capitis in the school was 33.3%. Peak age of infection was 10 years. Ratio of infected males to females was 2:1. There was a growth on culture in 76.1% of the cases all of which were endothrix. T. tonsurans was isolated in 77.8%, T. rubrum in four per cent of the cases. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of tinea capitis in this school was high. The most common cause of tinea capitis was T. tonsurans. Males were more infected than the females. RECOMMENDATIONS: Oral antifungal drugs with griseofulvin being the first line of treatment should be adopted. Health education on the aetiology, treatment and prevention of tinea capitis should be given.

Natural and acquired resistance to Trypanosoma vivax in cattle.

Zebu x European (Z x E) crossbred cattle suffered a more severe course of disease than Boran cattle when infected with Trypanosoma vivax (Likoni) by Glossina morsitans. All Z x E animals in this study required Berenil treatment while all Borans self-cured the infection without treatment. The more severe disease in Z x E animals was characterized by longer periods of patent infection and fever, more severe anaemia and greater likelihood of haemorrhage. Cattle previously infected and cured with Berenil showed resistance and self-cured challenge infections. After self-cure cattle remained immune to tsetse fly challenge with the homologous trypanosome stock for long periods. Immunity induced by infection and drug or self-cure appeared to be specific for the homologous stock, since cattle immune to T. vivax (Likoni) showed no resistance when challenged with stocks of T. vivax isolated in Lugala, Uganda or Galana, Kenya. Severe haemorrhages, most prominent in the digestive tract, were seen in some infected cattle before treatment.