Influenza-like illness surveillance on the California-Mexico border, 2004-2009.

BACKGROUND: Since 2004, the Naval Health Research Center, with San Diego and Imperial counties, has collaborated with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to conduct respiratory disease surveillance in the US-Mexico border region. In 2007, the Secretariat of Health, Mexico and the Institute of Public Health of Baja California joined the collaboration. OBJECTIVES: The identification of circulating respiratory pathogens in respiratory specimens from patients with influenza-like illness (ILI). METHODS: Demographic, symptom information and respiratory swabs were collected from enrollees who met the case definition for ILI. Specimens underwent PCR testing and culture in virology and bacteriology. RESULTS: From 2004 through 2009, 1855 persons were sampled. Overall, 36% of the participants had a pathogen identified. The most frequent pathogen was influenza (25%), with those aged 6-15 years the most frequently affected. In April 2009, a young female participant from Imperial County, California, was among the first documented cases of 2009 H1N1. Additional pathogens included influenza B, adenovirus, parainfluenza virus, respiratory syncytial virus, enterovirus, herpes simplex virus, Streptococcus pneumoniae, and Streptococcus pyogenes. CONCLUSIONS: The US-Mexico border is one of the busiest in the world, with a large number of daily crossings. Due to its traffic, this area is an ideal location for surveillance sites. We identified a pathogen in 36% of the specimens tested, with influenza A the most common pathogen. A number of other viral and bacterial respiratory pathogens were identified. An understanding of the incidence of respiratory pathogens in border populations is useful for development of regional vaccination and disease prevention responses.

Co(3)O(4) nanoparticles produced by mechanochemical reactions.

Co(3)O(4) nanoparticles have been produced by mechanochemical reactions involving cobalt carbonate, sodium oxide and sodium carbonate. The mechanochemical reactions are carried out during milling at room temperature and the nanoparticles have been obtained without the need for any thermal treatment after the milling operation. The CoO phase is produced in the first 30 min of the mechanochemical process, followed by a second stage of oxidation to Co(3)O(4) which lasts for several hours. Under proper milling conditions the final products were soft agglomerates of ultrafine particles with average sizes between 15 and 20 nm.

Serologic response to Helicobacter pylori among children and teenagers in northern Chile.

The serologic response to Helicobacter pylori was determined in 388 children and teenagers living in Iquique, Chile by using an IgG enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Serum antibody levels, as measured by optical density, correlated strongly with age. Increases in the mean antibody level were seen primarily after age five, with rates of seropositivity increasing to > or = 70% among teenagers. The reasons for this age-related pattern of acquisition of infection remain to be determined.