Fruit Flies as Potential Vectors of Foodborne Illness.

Fruit flies are a familiar sight in many food service facilities. Although they have been long considered as "nuisance pests," some of their typical daily activities suggest they may pose a potential public health threat. The aim of this study was to provide evidence of the ability of small flies to transfer bacteria from a contaminated source, food, or waste to surfaces or ready-to-eat food. Laboratory experiments were conducted by using purpose-built fly enclosures to assess the bacterial transfer capability of fruit flies. Drosophila repleta were capable of transferring Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella Saint Paul, and Listeria innocua from an inoculated food source to the surface of laboratory enclosures. In addition, using an inoculated doughnut and noncontaminated lettuce and doughnut surfaces, fly-mediated cross-contamination of ready-to-eat food was demonstrated. Fruit flies were shown to be capable of accumulating approximately 2.9 × 103 log CFU of E. coli per fly within 2 h of exposure to a contaminated food source. These levels of bacteria did not decrease over an observation period of 48 h. Scanning electron micrographs were taken of bacteria associated with fly food and contact body parts and hairs during a selection of these experiments. These data, coupled with the feeding and breeding behavior of fruit flies in unsanitary areas of the kitchen and their propensity to land and rest on food preparation surfaces and equipment, indicate a possible role for fruit flies in the spread of foodborne pathogens.

Delayed processing of blood samples influences time to positivity of blood cultures and results of Gram stain-acridine orange leukocyte Cytospin test.

We investigated in vitro whether storage of blood samples influences the time to positivity used for the calculation of the differential time to positivity (DTP) and the results of the Gram stain-acridine orange leukocyte Cytospin (AOLC) test. A 24-hour storage of blood samples at room temperature may lead to false-negative DTP and false-positive Gram stain-AOLC test results, whereas storage at 4 degrees C does not.

[Therapy motivation of young prisoners]. / Therapiemotivation junger Strafgefangener.

OBJECTIVES: Therapy adherence was examined within a sample of 145 imprisoned male juveniles with regard to factors of influence, structure and predictability. METHODS: Predictors included biographic data, expectations with regard to therapy, personality traits (measured with the FPI-R) and psychological impairment (investigated by means of the Symptom Checklist). Therapy adherence as a criterion can be divided into the following dimensions: affliction, dissatisfaction, requests for change and help, and expectations of success. RESULTS: Within the sample a clear impairment of biographical and psychological data, as well as of personality traits was found. Values were average for expectations regarding therapy and therapy adherence, while two thirds of the sample were willing to undergo treatment during imprisonment. CONCLUSIONS: Therapy adherence proved to be a one-dimensional construct, best predicted by emotional instability, followed by the symptom score, expectations regarding therapy and inhibition. Dividing the entire sample into subgroups, significant differences were found mainly for psychological test data and less so for the construct of therapy adherence.

[Attributional style of psychiatrically and somatically ill adolescents]. / Attributionsstile bei psychisch und somatisch erkrankten Jugendlichen.

The results of an investigation of adolescents with an attributional-style-questionnaire for real-life-situations are presented. Between the two clinical groups with neurotic respectively antisocial problems and the control group of adolescents with different somatic diseases only few significant differences were found corresponding to the attributional style; important differences were found according to the significance the groups ascribe to the different situations. The results are discussed and implications for the clinical therapeutic work are derived.

[A social pedagogic oriented therapy unit in a clinic for child and adolescent psychiatry]. / Eine sozialpädagogisch orientierte Therapiestation in einer Klinik für Kinder- und Jugendpsychiatrie.

At first the conception and working modalities of a ward in a Child and Adolescent Department that includes social work are presented. Then the work done up to today is analyzed corresponding to admissions, patients' variables such as age and diagnosis, length of treatment and discharge criteria. Two thirds of the 122 treated patients on the described ward, with the special task to prepare discharge after having being treated on another therapeutic ward, were discharged into their original families and former living conditions.