Draft genome sequence of Moroccan camelpox vaccine strain.

Prevention and control of camelpox can be achieved by efficient vaccination. A limited number of homologous attenuated vaccines have been commercialized. In this study, we report the draft genome sequence of camelpox virus vaccine strain "CAMPOX vaccine" after 175 passages of attenuation in Vero cells.

In-vitro and in-vivo study of the interference between Rift Valley fever virus (clone 13) and Sheeppox/Limpy Skin disease viruses.

Viral interference is a common occurrence that has been reported in cell culture in many cases. In the present study, viral interference between two capripox viruses (sheeppox SPPV and lumpy skin disease virus LSDV in cattle) with Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) was investigated in vitro and in their natural hosts, sheep and cattle. A combination of SPPV/RVFV and LSDV/RVFV was used to co-infect susceptible cells and animals to detect potential competition. In-vitro interference was evaluated by estimating viral infectivity and copies of viral RNA by a qPCR during three serial passages in cell cultures, whereas in-vivo interference was assessed through antibody responses to vaccination. When lamb testis primary cells were infected with the mixture of capripox and RVFV, the replication of both SPPV and LSDV was inhibited by RVFV. In animals, SPPV/RVFV or LSDV/RVFV combinations inhibited the replication SPPV and LSDV and the antibody response following vaccination. The combined SPPV/RVFV did not protect sheep after challenging with the virulent strain of SPPV and the LSDV/RVFV did not induce interferon Gamma to LSDV, while immunological response to RVFV remain unaffected. Our goal was to assess this interference response to RVFV/capripoxviruses' coinfection in order to develop effective combined live-attenuated vaccines as a control strategy for RVF and SPP/LSD diseases. Our findings indicated that this approach was not suitable for developing a combined SPPV/LSDV/RVFV vaccine candidate because of interference of replication and the immune response among these viruses.

Comparative thermo-stability of two Rift Valley fever virus vaccine candidate CL13T with a recombinant arMP-12ΔNSm21/384.

Rift Valley fever (RVF) is a zoonotic, viral disease, transmitted by mosquitoes, characterized by high mortality rates in young animals. RVF is an endemic and enzootic disease in the Arabian Peninsula and Africa, causing public health and economic instability. Therefore, it is important to develop vaccines to minimize outbreaks and combat the disease. We documented the stability of the thermo-stability of live attenuated RVF CL13T and recombinant arMP-12ΔNSm21/384 vaccine candidates at different temperatures, including these vaccine viruses in liquid and lyophilized form. The study revealed that both CL13T and recombinant arMP-12ΔNSm21/384 strains were stable for more than 18 months at 4°C. We show that at room temperatures (37°C and 45°C) the CL13T was less temperature sensitive than MP-12NSm-del in both lyophilized and liquid form. These findings are useful for the preparation of RVF vaccines that will avoid the need for a cold chain and therefore, will improve the application of the vaccines under field conditions.

Safety and immunogenicity of the Rift Valley fever arMP-12 ΔNSm21/384 candidate vaccine in pregnant ewes.

Rift Valley fever (RVF) poses a threat to human and animal health as well as economic losses due to abortion, new-born teratogenic effect and mortality. Safe and effective vaccines are critically needed to prevent the disease in humans and livestock. The objective of this study was to assess safety and immunogenicity of the Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) arMP-12DNSm21/384 attenuated vaccine in 32 pregnant ewes at different stages of pregnancy including 17 ewes vaccinated during the early stage (G1) of pregnancy (<35 days) and 15 ewes vaccinated during the last two stages (G2) of pregnancy (>35 days). Ewes were monitored for clinical observations, rectal temperature and abortions and lambs were monitored for general health and rectal temperature. Vaccinated ewes and lambs were periodically sampled for their neutralizing antibody response to RVFV vaccination. All ewes were positive for antibody two weeks post-vaccination and 79% of ewes were positive at delivery. None of the 32 ewes aborted during pregnancy and all ewes vaccinated during the G2 stages of pregnancy gave birth to healthy lambs. However, among the 17 ewes vaccinated during the G1 stage of pregnancy, 2 ewes gave birth to 2 lambs with fore limb malformations that died at 1-day of age. One ewe gave birth to 2 punny twins that died at 2 days of age. Another ewe, gave birth to one lamb with a deformed tail that died at 20 days of age. At post-mortem, tissues of dead lambs (spleen, lung, brain and long bone) were negative for RVFV by PCR assay. While the findings did not link the malformed lambs directly to infection by the vaccine virus, these results indicated that pregnant sheep should not be vaccinated with the RVFV arMP-12DNSm21/384 vaccine during the first month of gestation.

[Curable dementia revealing late congenital syphilis]. / Démence curable révélant une syphilis congénitale tardive.

UNLABELLED: Late congenital syphilis is a rare disease and its neurological expression is exceptional. We report a case revealed by a curable dementia. CASE REPORT: This 17-year-old patient presented for one year progressive dementia, frontal syndrome and extra pyramidal syndrome. The cerebral CT scan showed a diffuse cortical and subcortical atrophy. Blood and CSF positive antibodies confirmed the diagnosis of late congenital meningoencephalitis due to syphilis. The outcome after 13 months follow-up was favourable with penicillin therapy. COMMENTS: Late congenital syphilis is a rare disease, that may be exceptionally revealed by a curable dementia. Evolution may be favourable with early penicillin therapy.

Non-neoplastic changes in gastric antrum: are they different in distally located intestinal and diffuse-type gastric adenocarcinoma?

A total of 126 cases of primary adenocarcinoma of distal (antrum and/or adjacent body) stomach were reviewed. These cases were collected from the histopathology laboratory of Asir Central Hospital, Southwestern Saudi Arabia over an 8 year period (1987-94). Only gastrectomy specimens with non-neoplastic antral mucosa available for histological examination were included. Of 126 cases, 85 (67.5%) were of the intestinal type and 41 (32.5%) were of the diffuse type. Histological examination of the non-neoplastic antral mucosa showed: gastritis in 100% of these cases; Helicobacter pylori in 103/126 cases (81.8%); multifocal atrophic gastritis (MAG) in 53/126 cases (42.1%); intestinal metaplasia (IM) in 62/126 (49.2%); and type III intestinal metaplasia in 30/62 cases (47.7%). None of these non-neoplastic changes of antral mucosa was significantly different when the prevalence of these changes in intestinal and diffuse type gastric adenocarcinoma were compared using the chi 2 test. The prevalence of these non-neoplastic lesions were calculated in a 126 dyspeptic age- and sex-matched control patients and were as follows: H. pylori 91%; gastritis 78%; MAG 7.4%; IM 19% and type III IM 1.6%. The prevalence of H. pylori bacilli and gastritis was not significantly different between the cancer patients and the controls. The prevalence of MAG, IM and type III IM was significantly higher among cancer patients compared with the control group.

Hydatid cyst disease (Echinococcus granulosus): experience at Asir Central Hospital.

In a six-year period, starting from the commissioning of Asir Central Hospital in 1408 H (1988), 43 cases of hydatid cyst disease caused by echinococcus granulosus seen in Asir Central Hospital were studied. The pattern was not significantly different from other workers' experiences. There was equal sex distribution and the average age was 41.7 years. The clinical presentations depended essentially on the organs affected, and computed tomography usually confirmed the diagnosis. The serological test at times gave a false negative result. Most of the patients came from Abha in Asir region and the most commonly involved organ was the right lobe of the liver. All the patients had laparotomy, excision or incision and drainage of the cyst, depending on whether the cyst could be safely excised or only drained. The average hospital stay was 17 days. We believe that surgical intervention should be the first line of treatment especially when the cyst is large.

Management of retained Foley catheters.

Failure to deflate Foley catheters is a rare problem in clinical practice. There are various methods to overcome this problem. This is an experimental study of the commonly used methods. The balloons should never be inflated until rupture to prevent leaving loose fragments. A ureteric catheter or its stylet can be used to deflate the balloon. The balloon can be ruptured with fine needle under ultrasound guidance but it should not have been inflated to more than 50% of its volume to prevent leaving loose fragments in the bladder.

Acute appendicitis in females--a clinical study of 366 cases.

A study was carried out on 366 female patients admitted consecutively to Asir Central Hospital with clinical diagnosis of acute appendicitis during the period between 1988 through 1991. In this study, 271 patients had histopathologically proven appendicitis for a diagnostic accuracy of 74%. Ninety-five (26%) patients did not have appendicitis, however, 27 (7.4%) of them had other disorders indicating surgical intervention. Consequently, 18.6% of the patients studied had negative laparotomy. This study showed insignificant (P > 0.05) relation between age, site of pain and its duration, presence of urinary symptoms, post-operative complications and hospitalization in one hand, and the final diagnosis on the other hand. The marital status, the presence of gynaecological symptoms, white blood cells count, neutrophils and lymphocytes percentages were, however, significantly related to the final diagnosis (P < 0.05). A conservative approach with in-hospital observation and repeated clinical examination of the doubted appendicitis cases are recommended so as to reduce the rate of the negative laparotomy with its considerable complications.

Helicobacter pylori infection in gastric cancer: A study of 84 cases from Asir Region.

Gastric cancer can be divided into three histologic types: intestinal and diffuse adenocarcinoma, and malignant lymphoma. To determine whether Helicobacter pylori was associated with either cancer type, we reviewed histologic sections from stomachs of 84 patients with the diagnosis of gastric. Of 63 patients with histologic evidence of intestinal adenocarcinoma, 53 (84%) contained H. pylori n noncancerous tissue compared with six (66.7%) of nine patients with diffuse adenocarcinoma (odds ratio = 2.65; Z=1.048; P>0.05) and with eight (66.7%) of 12 patients with non-Hodgkin malignant lymphoma of the stomach (odds ratio = 2.65; Z=0.826; P>0.05). Our findings are compared with reported data from other countries and we are not aware of similar reports from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Gastric cancer in southern Saudi Arabia.

A total of 84 cases of primary gastric cancer were diagnosed in the histopathology laboratory of Asir Central Hospital over a five year period (1987 to 1991). Seventy-two patients (86%) were Saudis and 12 cases (14%) were non-Saudis. The mean age of the patients included in this study was 60 years with a range of 22 to 85 years and a male:female ratio of 4.6:1. Intestinal adenocarcinoma occurred in 63 patients (75%) followed by malignant lymphomas in 12 cases (14%) and diffuse adenocarcinoma in nine cases (11%). The gastric antrum was the most common site affected (47%), followed by gastric corpus (27%), cardia (14%), and fundus (12%). Comparisons of our findings to similar reports from other provinces of Saudi Arabia and other countries are discussed.

Facial palsy following fine needle aspiration biopsy of parotid hemangioma: a case report and review of the literature.

We present here a case of cavernous hemangioma of the parotid which presented as an acute emergency with sudden pain, trismus and swelling. The patient subsequently developed a complete lower motor neuron facial palsy a few hours after a fine needle aspiration biopsy was performed. Total parotidectomy with preservation of the facial nerve relieved the patient of all his symptoms with complete recovery of facial function in six weeks.