[Herpes zoster treated with acyclovir].

During the past 5 years, 99 patients with herpes zoster were hospitalized and followed. Age, sex, localization of rash, complications, duration of hospitalization and treatment were analyzed. Most patients were in their 6th and 7th decades. Cranial nerve involvement was frequent (35%). A generalized rash was more common in those with immunodeficiency. Acyclovir (Zovirax) inhibited to some extent the spreading of the rash and reduced the frequency of herpetic neuralgia. Our findings are in accord with those in the literature.

Therapy of a fatal murine cytomegalovirus infection with thymic humoral factor (THF-gamma 2) treated immune spleen cells.

Infection of mice with murine cytomegalovirus (CMV) presents a model for the study of the role of the immune system in the pathogenesis of human CMV. We performed adoptive transfer experiments to evaluate the prospects for enhancing the anti-viral potential of murine CMV immune spleen cells by THF-gamma 2. Adult BALB/c mice resistant to murine CMV become highly susceptible following immunosuppression by cyclophosphamide. Recipient mice were injected with murine CMV and cyclophosphamide concomitantly, and 24 h later adoptive transfers of syngeneic immune spleen cells were performed. We showed that passive transfers of murine CMV immune spleen cells prevented the development of a fatal disease in 38% of the recipient mice. Daily injections of murine CMV immune donor mice with THF-gamma 2 enhanced considerably (93%) the therapeutic potential of virus-specific immune cells. These experiments provide direct evidence for the antiviral capacity of THF-gamma 2 through its immunomodulatory effect on immune T cells.

Skin-isolated, community-acquired Staphylococcus aureus: in vitro resistance to methicillin and erythromycin.

During a 10-month period, skin culture specimens were taken from 1680 healthy outpatients with a variety of community-acquired skin infections. Staphylococcus aureus was found in 1035 (61.6%) of these patients. In vitro resistance to methicillin and erythromycin was 1.0% and 42.9%, respectively. Resistance rates to erythromycin in patients with furunculosis and impetigo were 51.5% and 26.2%, respectively (p less than 0.001). The emergence of erythromycin-resistant strains may be the result of widespread use of this drug in our geographic area. There is also the possibility that certain bacteriologic features associated with erythromycin resistance may foster the development of furunculosis.

Diagnostic and therapeutic approach to Ethiopian immigrants seropositive for syphilis.

Serologic tests for syphilis are frequently positive in Ethiopian Jewish immigrants in Israel. Forty-three of 358 adults (greater than 15 years of age) examined were found to have positive treponemal tests. Of the 418 children (1 to 15 years of age) none were found to have positive treponemal serology. Forty seropositive adults were examined for signs of tertiary syphilis and underwent lumbar puncture. No evidence of skin or cardiovascular involvement of tertiary syphilis was found. In three patients whose cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was reactive in treponemal tests, there was no evidence of neuropsychiatric involvement. CSF cell count and protein content were normal in all three, and VDRL in the CSF was negative. None of the subjects was found to have stigmata of congenital syphilis. Negative serological findings in all the children led us to hypothesize whether the disease in question is venereal syphilis with an unusual course rather than endemic syphilis or yaws, both of which are known to exist in Africa. Due to the apparent benign course of syphilis in this ethnic group and recent evidence that lumbar puncture is not mandatory in patients with latent syphilis or asymptomatic neurosyphilis, we suggest that CSF should not be routinely examined in these patients. In view of the recommendations in the literature and the data that we have collected, we strongly feel that treatment with weekly i.m. injections of 2.4 x 10(6) u benzathine penicillin for a 3-week period is sufficient.

Failure of oral ketoconazole to cure cutaneous ulcers caused by Leishmania braziliensis.

Ketoconazole failed to cure cutaneous lesions caused by Leishmania braziliensis in two patients. A prior study had suggested that ketoconazole was efficacious against this form of leishmaniasis.

Onchocerciasis in Israel.

A 15-year-old boy with onchocerciasis had severe generalized pruritus of five months' duration. He had been born and raised in Ethiopia and had emigrated to Israel one year earlier. A biopsy specimen of an area of depigmentation on the right thigh disclosed microfilaria of Onchocerca volvulus in the dermis. The discovery of an unusual disease in a nonendemic area is an example of the increased complexity of differential diagnosis resulting from the ease of travel from one geographic region to another.

A cell-free soluble-phase radioimmunoassay for Thy-1 antigen.

A cell-free, soluble-phase, radioimmunoassay has been developed for Thy-1 antigen. The method is based on immunoprecipitation of radiolabelled Thy-1 molecules with specific antibodies, anti-immunoglobulin serum and polyethyleneglycol (PEG). The method can be used with convenience to screen for the presence of Thy-1 in various fluids as well as on cell surfaces for qualitative or quantitative purposes. Presence of antibodies or autoantibodies against Thy-1 can also be detected specifically. Evidence that the dog, carp, hamster and goldfish carry Thy-1-like molecules on neuronal (brain) cells is demonstrated by this method.

Lymphocyte cyclic nucleotide and prostaglandin content in psoriasis: a preliminary report.

Lymphocytes from psoriatic patients were found to contain reduced levels of adenosine 3':5'-cyclic phosphate, guanosine 5'-cyclic phosphoric acid, and prostaglandin E, as compared with lymphocytes from normal subjects. The difference in prostaglandin F levels between psoriatic and control subjects was not statistically significant. These results could point to an immunologic defect in the immune system in psoriasis.