[Acute intrathoracic respiratory infections in hospitalized children. Uruguay 1984-1986]. / Infecciones respiratorias agudas intratorácicas en niños hospitalizados. Uruguay 1984-1986.

Between may 1984 and november 1986, a study, which included 475 children under five years of age hospitalized due to acute intrathoracic respiratory infections, was carried out in order to obtain clinical, radiological and etiological characteristics which may aid in establishing norms to diagnose and treat these patients. Nasopharyngeal aspirations were performed on each child, while viral diagnosis was done through viral isolation techniques and indirect immunofluorescence. The presence of a virus was detected in 34.4% of the cases and in 28.8% of a subsample. A precoded questionnaire was used to obtain the clinical information needed and all X-rays were reviewed by the same radiologist using simple pre-established criteria. A comparison was made on the similarities found between both the clinical and radiological diagnosis, as well as the sensitivity and specificity of some of the clinical signs which characterize bronchiolitis and the pneumoniae.

Counterimmunoelectrophoresis with influenza antigens. I. Use of avian plague virus to detect type-specific antibodies to influenza A in human sera.

Avian plague virus was used as antigen in a counterimmunoelectrophoresis technique. This virus was selected because it detects only type-specific influenza A antibodies in human sera, avoiding the possible interference of other antigens with anodic migration. The results with reference sera, as well as the correlation of positive sera found by counterimmunoelectrophoresis and complement fixation with the proposed antigen, in the absence of other types of antibodies to fowl plague virus antigen, support the conclusion that the counterimmunoelectrophoresis technique reveals type-specific antibodies. The test is more sensitive than immunodiffusion but less sensitive than complement fixation. Its sensitivity, simplicity, and rapidity make it suitable for serologic surveys of human influenza A.