[Results of parasitological passportization of sewage treatment works in the South Federal District].

Developed parasitological passports for sewage treatment works have been issued in the subjects of the Southern Federal District. Its some regions have areas inadequately covered by centralized water drainage. New waste treatment technologies and disinvasion agents have not been virtually introduced. No proper significance is attached to the parasitological studies of epidemiologically significant substrates, such as waste waters and their sludge. The positive results of dehelmintization and disinvasion are stated from the absence of helminth eggs rather than from the comparative results of sewer clearing from the invasion principle and their viability loss. Standard guides corresponding to the profile of objects are inadequately used in day-to-day work.

[Biological characteristics of the causative agent of dirofilariasis in dogs in the Rostov Region].

This paper assesses the trends in the identification of different Dirofilaria species in the Rostov Region and comparatively analyzes the general clinical and biochemical blood indices in dogs with and Without helminthism. Seasonal variations in the invasion and species composition of the parasite have been established. At present, there is a gradual replacement of the species Dirofilaria repens by Dirofilaria immitis in this area. The blood general clinical and biochemical studies in ill dogs with dirofilariasis have ascertained that the pathogenic action on the animals is more pronounced with Dirofilaria immitis being parasitizing and with the mixed invasion of two helminth species.

[The sanitary and parasitological characteristics of environmental objects in the south of Russia. Wastewaters and their precipitations].

The relative uniformity of helminthic eggs has been noted in the wastewaters of the Rostov Region, Krasnodar Territory, and the Republic ofAdygea. An ovogram is mainly presented by the eggs of Ascaris, Toxocaras, and whipworms. By taking into account incomplete dehelmintization during waste treatment, 5,000 to 1,080,000 helminth eggs may annually come into the water reservoirs where purified wastewaters are discharged, 33% remaining viable. Irrespective of the efficiency of dehelmintization, wastewaters and their precipitations continue to remain epidemiologically dangerous substrates and to create prerequisites for the spread of an invasive source in the environment, by risking the infection of the population with parasitic diseases.

[The epidemiological and clinicoimmunological aspects of the outburst of trichinosis in the Krymsky District of the Krasnodar Territory].

The present paper presents the epidemiological and clinicoimmunological aspects of the outburst of trichinosis in the Krymsky District of the Krasnodar Territory in January 2001. Six hundred and forty-eight persons ate infested wild boar meat, 119 (74.8%) fell ill with moderate and severe trichinosis. The authors provide the results of 3.5-year immunological studies of the patients with trichinosis and convalescents, infection-risk and healthy individuals; those of autopsies of the corpses of those who died from accidental causes unassociated with trichinosis, as well as examinations of domestic, synanthropic, and wild animals. The findings indicate that there is a focus of trichinosis with the low level of endemia in the Krymsky District of the Krasnodar Territory.

[Preparation of a dry red blood cell Trichinella antigenic diagnosticum for indirect hemagglutination test and evaluation of its efficiency].

The present paper presents the stages of a process for manufacturing a dry red blood cell Trichinella antigenic diagnosticum for indirect hemagglutination test (IHAT) and the evaluation of its diagnostic efficiency. The diagnosticum is shown to be a 3% suspension lyophilized from formalinized and tanned sheep red blood cells on which an excretory-secretory antigen of invasion Trichinella larvae was absorbed in a dose of 100 mg/ml. The rather high sensitivity (98.7%) and specificity (97.3%) of IHAT using the Trichinella diagnosticum based on the excretory-secretory antigen allow it to be considered an effective method for diagnosis of human trichinosis.

[Trichinosis in the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania].

The present paper presents the biological, epidemiological, clinical, and immunological characteristics of trichinosis in the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, which is based on the results of long-term studies and follow-ups and on the 1971-2002 report data from medical and veterinary services and hunt inspectorate agencies. It has established that a total of 675 clinical cases of trichinosis were recorded in Ossetia-Alania in the period under study. The incidence rate of the disease ranged from 0.5 to 16.9 cases per 100,000 individuals, which was 5-20 times or more than the average federal rate. The source of infection of human trichinosis was meat from pigs in 70.7% of the cases and that from wild animals (boars and bears) in 21.3%. Immunological examinations (red cell-linked-antigen test and enzyme immunoassay) of patients with trichinosis who had ingested infected meat, but had not fallen ill with its manifestative form revealed 81.8 and 44.2% seropositive subjects, respectively. In different periods, a positive response ranged from 3.6 to 4.7% in healthy urban residents and from 6.4 to 11.8% in rural ones. The extensiveness of invasion was 0.06 to 1.4% in pigs from individual farms and 0.0033 to 0.034% in those from collective farms. In the Digorsk Region, the trichinosis infection rates were 13.4% in dogs, 4.8% in cats, and 1.3% in murine rodents. The extensiveness of invasion in wild boars was 6.35%. A population of one capsule-forming type of Trichinella spiralis was shown to circulate in the animals of natural and synanthropic biocenoses and it is just this population that determines the specific features of an epizootic process in this area. The natural and social factors that contribute to the formation and maintenance of the activity of endemic foci of trichinosis in the Ossetia-Alania under the present socioeconomic conditions are analyzed.

[Impact of effect of natural disasters on the circulation of causative agents of parasitic diseases].

The southern region is marked by a high incidence of parasitic diseases and a significant contamination of environmental objects with the eggs and cysts of their pathogens. Background examinations revealed the greatest soil contamination with helminthic eggs in the Temryuksky District of the Krasnodar Territory and in the towns of Vladikavkaz and Digora of the Republic of North Ossetia (Alania). The least contamination was found in Rostov-on-Don and the towns of the south-western area of the Krasnodar Territory. The eggs of Toxocara and astamination. There is an increase in the proportion of soil positive tests from 26.6 to 50.0, with the high (up to 82.0-100.0%) viability of eggs and a rise in the intensive index of their content per kg of soil (from 2.7 to 4.7-11.0). Toxocara eggs were mainly detected. The established high proportion of seropositive persons (10.7-18.0%) among the local population is an additional verification of the wide circulation of Toxocara eggs in nature. By the helminthic egg contamination index, the soils of localities of the south of Russia are qualified as those of moderate epidemic hazard. The floods accompanied by the increased helminthological contamination of the upper soil layer may lead to a higher human risk for contamination with helminthic diseases.

[The detection of pathogenicity factors in the nematode Trichinella spiralis at different stages of its development]. / Vyiavlenie faktorov patogennosti u nematody Trichinella spiralis na raznykh stadiiakh razvitiia.

The study of water soluble proteins of Trichinella spiralis has discovered for the first time some protein fractions having neiraminedase, haemagglutinative and cytotoxic activities. The presence of hyaluronidase was confirmed and its activity both for water soluble and cuticle proteins of the trichinella was examined. The haemagglutinin and cytotoxin of the trichinella have an antigen specificity. The presence of active molecules is considered as the factors of pathogenicity. These pathogenic factors were discovered in the invading larvae and adult Trichinella, while they were not found in young larvae.

[A comparative electrophoretic analysis of the isoenzymes in "reference" and natural strains of Trichinella]. / Sravnitel'nyi élektroforeticheskii analiz izofermentov "étalonnykh" i prirodnykh shtammov trikhinell.

In four enzymes among eight ones examined the differences were revealed in the intensity of staining of certain zones (G-6-P, ES) as well as in electrophoretic mobility of some loci (PGD, RGM) between the capsule forms of trichinellae and Trichinella pseudospiralis. As a result, the validity of isolation of T. pseudospiralis Garkavi, 1972 is confirmed.

[Soluble metabolic antigens of Trichinella spiralis: their isolation and characteristics]. / Rastvorimye metabolicheskie antigeny Trichinella spiralis: poluchenie i kharakteristika.

Cultivation of Trichinella muscular larvae, purified by centrifugation in 20 ... 50% saccharose density gradient, in protein--free nutrient media at a dosage of 3.5-.10(3) lar./ml in the presence of insulin has made it possible to obtain a soluble antigen of Trichinella. It has been shown by means of electrophoresis in polyacrylamide gel that the soluble (secretory-excretory) antigen has three protein fractions while the somatic Trichinella antigen has 18 fractions. It has been shown that the soluble (secretory-excretory) antigen can be used for immobilization of erythrocytes on the surface that enables the sensitivity and specificity of serological methods for diagnosis of trichinellosis to be increased.

[The resistance of muscle larvae of Trichinella spiralis to exposure to low temperatures]. / Ustoichivost' myshechnykh lichinok Trichinella spiralis k vozdeistviiu nizkikh temperatur.

It has been shown that the resistance of muscular larvae of Trichinella spiralis to the effect of low temperatures depends on the conditions of freezing and composition of media possessing cryoprotective properties. It has been established that under optimal conditions (medium of microenvironment, conditions of freezing) during the storage in liquid nitrogen muscular larvae of T. spiralis preserve 50 to 60% of their resistance by the character of mobility and 11 to 15% by their capacity for reproduction. The question of creation of low-temperature bank for Trichinella is discussed.

[The reproductive activity of Trichinella spiralis in the early stages of cultivation on artificial nutrient media]. / Reproduktivnaia aktivnost' Trichinella spiralis na rannikh stadiiakh kul'tivirovaniia v iskusstvennykh pitatel'nykh sredakh.

Reproductive activity of mature Trichinella spiralis was studied during its cultivation in three nutrient media. Most active hatching of Trichinella larvae was observed in Erl's saline, less active in Eagle's medium and in the lactalbumin hydrolyzate medium. In Erl's medium the hatching of larvae accounted for 80% of their total mass for the first four hours of the experiment and the absolute number of larvae was 2.5 to 10 times greater than that in the two other media. The use of Erl's medium makes it possible to obtain a considerable number of Trichinella larvae in 4 to 6 hours of cultivation.

[Intrastrain heterogeneity of Trichinella spiralis: a sedimentation analysis]. / Vnutrishtammovaia geterogennost' Trichinella spiralis: sedimentatsionnyi analiz.

Intrastrain heterogeneity of muscular larvae of trichinellids has been revealed in experiments of free sedimentation and isopyknic division in the density gradient of saccharose, the presence of which is confirmed by the study of morphological characters and infection activity. The presence of intrastrain heterogeneity indicates the necessity of introduction of standard technique for studies of biological characters of different strains of trichinellids.

[Development of a solid-phase immunoenzyme method for determining the antibody level in the blood sera of persons vaccinated with influenza vaccine]. / Razrabotka tverdofaznogo immunofermentnogo metoda dlia opredeleniia urovnia antitel v syvorotkakh krovi liudei, vaktsinirovannykh grippoznoi vaktsinoi.

To control the effectiveness of vaccination against influenza, the optimum conditions for making the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) with a view to determine the level of anti-influenza antibodies in human blood sera have been established. The kinetics of influenza virus adsorption in the wells of ELISA polystyrene plates and the kinetics of the interaction between the immobilized antigen and species-specific peroxidase-labeled antibodies have been studied. The method has been shown to be more sensitive than the hemagglutination inhibition test in the determination of seroconversion in persons immunized with influenza vaccine.

[Current problems of the epidemiological surveillance of poliomyelitis]. / Aktual'nye voprosy épidemiologicheskogo nadzora za poliomielita.

A uniform program of the epidemiological supervision of poliomyelitis must be worked out for every administrative territorial unit. This program should include the early and complete detection of all cases of this infection, irrespective of their severity; the analysis of the quality of vaccination; the determination of the immune status of the child population; the characteristic of the poliovirus circulation.

[Use of an immunofluorescence micromethod for determining the antigens of the influenza and tick-borne encephalitis viruses]. / Ispol'zovanie mikrometoda immunofliuorestsentsii dlia opredeleniia antigenov virusa grippa i kleshchevogo éntsefalita.

The diagnostic possibilities of several variants of the solid-phase immunofluorescent micromethod (requiring 100-200 microliter of the reaction mixture), intended for the determination of influenza virus and tick-borne encephalitis virus antigens in material obtained from patients and ticks, have been studied. A high degree of correlation between the results obtained by the methods under investigation and the control methods has been established.

[Erythrocyte test preparations for standardizing fluorescent antibodies and the serological diagnosis of influenza]. / Eritrotsitarnye test-preparaty dlia standartizatsii fliuorestsiruiushchikh antitel i serologicheskoi diagnostiki grippa.

An erythrocytic diagnostic preparation, obtained by the sandwich method and intended for the standardization of antivirus fluorescent antibodies (FA) and the determination of specific IgM in the blood sera of patients with a view to the early serological diagnosis of influenza, has been proposed. The loading of immunosorbents with influenza virus, achieved in this preparation, approaches its theoretical limit, the virions being arranged in a single layer, and constitutes up to 0.4 hemagglutinating units per 1000 red blood cells. The investigation made on 9 commercial and 4 experimental lots of FA has demonstrated that the newly developed test preparations serve as a convenient model for the standardization of FA and the choice of their optimum working dilution in practical diagnostic procedures. In the study of 153 paired blood sera from patients with acute respiratory diseases and clinically healthy persons the proposed variant of the early diagnosis of influenza has proved to be not inferior to the hemagglutination inhibition test and the complement fixation test with respect to the main characteristics of their diagnostic value, while having the advantage over these tests due to the fact that exact laboratory diagnosis can be made by the study of single blood samples as early as on the fourth day of the disease.

[Immunoenzyme analysis. Quantitative determination of antibodies to the influenza virus]. / Immunofermentnyi analiz. Usloviia kolichestvennogo opredeleniia antitel k virusu grippa.

Solid-phase immunoenzymatic procedure for quantitative estimation of antibodies to virus of influenza A was developed. A relationship was found between the rate of influenza virus adsorption on polystyrene and concentration of the cells, duration of the adsorption, temperature and the nature of buffer systems. Optimal conditions were developed for binding of the virus with polystyrene, immune sera and the conjugate IgG-peroxidase. The suitable procedure is described for immunoenzymatic analysis in serologic diagnosis of influenza.