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Serological study for Campylobacter in children in Madrid
Tn~rzs~c~cws OF ‘THE ROYAI. SOCIE-IYOF TROPICALMEDICI~.E AND HYGIENE, VOL. 77, No. 6 (1983). CORRESPONDEKE 883
fixed and stained. We found that the dental brush gave fewer positive smears than those prepared with material taken with the matchstick wedge. 32 cases clinically suspected of being leishmaniasis were examined by the dental brush and by the wood matchstick methods: six cases were diagnosed by the matchstick method, including the only case diagnosed by the dental brush method. There is a good deal of difference in the efficacy and the cost of a dental brush and a wood matchstick and the latter is readily available in tropical regions. We therefore recommend that wood matchsticks should be used by hospitals and laboratories in developing countries rather than dental brushes. We are presently comparing the efficacy of this method with standard techniques such as impression or dab smears made from biopsy material. R. URJEL M. RECACOECHEA C. LA FUENTE H. ORELLANA Centro National de Enfemedades Tropicales (CENETROP), Casilla 2974, Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Reference Griffith, W. A. D. & Dutz, W. (1975). Repeated tissue sampling with a dental brush. A trial in cutaneous leishmaniasis. British Journal of Dermatology, 93, 43-45. Accepted for publication 3rd August, 1983.
Anobheles labranchiae in Sicily: decrease of susceotibility to ins&ticides Malaria occurred in almost all parts of Sicily until the Second World War. The disappearance of transmission in the island was achieved through the reduction of the Anopheles vector population by indoor DDT soraving il.5 z/m21, which was carried out intensively?rom 1347 tol95?(Lo~~~, 1953) and, to a limited extent, in houses and domestic animal shelters until 1968. An. labranchiae Fafieroni, 1926 was the main vector and An. superpictus Grassi, 1899 another. In Sicily An. maculipennis Meigen, 1804, An. claviger Meigen, 1804, An. marten’ Senevet & Prunelle, 1927, An. algenensis Theobald, 1903, An. hispaniola (Theobald, 1903) are also present (CEFAL~ & LAVAGNINO, 1978). An. Zabranchiae in Sicily feeds on man and animals; overwintering is by adult females only. Studies have been published on this population with regard to distribution, physiological age, facultative stenogamy, chemosterilizati&, monogamy and “mating l&g? (CEFAL~ & LAVIGNINO, 1978) and the man of the salivary gland chromosomes’ has been published (BRUNO SMIRAGLIA & LAVAGNINO, 1976). After antimalarial spraying, some irritability caused by DDT was shown by Sicilian An. labranchiae:, this behaviour, its zoophily and its capability of restmg in outdoor shelters, away from houses and farms, was considered to be the main means of survival of this species in rural areas (CEFAL~ et al., 1971).
Tests on susceptibility to DDT (and to other insecticides) were carried out annually from 1964 to 1971 according to the WHO standard method using insecticide impregnated papers. The tests showed a constant degree of susceptibility to DDT: 100% mortality with 4% DDT-impregnated papers (one hour exposure/24”C/80% RH); 90% with 2% DDT; 60% with 1% DDT; 100% with 3.5% and 60% with 0.5% malathion. Between 1972 and 1977 the number of susceptibility assays was reduced because of the scarcity of mosquitoes. This was tentatively attributed to the growing use of agricultural pesticides which is uncontrolled -and hard to evaluate. In 1979-80 a large number of An. labranchiae was recorded in many ‘;arts of Sicily. Tests were carried out in the summer of 1981 and 1982 in the Palermo, Trapani and Agrigento areas, using-as always in the preceding years--freshly treated papers, well before the respective dates of expiry. The tests showed a marked reduction of susceptibility to DDT and malathion. No sign of irritation by these two insecticides was recorded and mortality appeared to have decreased from 90 to 40 or even iO%
18, 95-101.
Cefal6, M. & Lavagnino, A. (1978). Richerche sull’anofelismo in Sicilia. Rivista di Parassitologia, 39. 119-129. Cefalti., M.. Oddo, F. L. & Sacco, G. (1961). Vita extraaomestlca dl Anopheles labranchlae in Slciliir. Osservazioni in un’area di sospensione dei trattamenti con DDT. Parassitologia, 3, 23-50. Logan, J. A. (1953). The Sardinian Project: an experiment in the eradication of an i@genous malaria vector. Baltimore:
Johns Hopkins Press, xxix + 415 pp. WHO (1963). Terminology of Malaria and of Malaria Eradication. Geneva: World Health Organization. Accepted for publication 16th August, 1983
Serological
study for Campylobacter in children in Madrid Campylobacter jejuni is recognized as a common and important cause of diarrhoea throughout the world (SKIRROW, 1977; BUTZLER & SKIRROW, 1979; BLASER et al., 1979; SVEDHEM & KAIJSER, 1980; KARMALI
884
TUNSACTONS or THB ROYALSOCIETY OF TROPICALMEDICINEAND HYGIENE,VOL. 77, No. 6 (1983).CORRESPONDENCE
& FLEMING, 1979). In our experience, the incidence of CampyZobacrer enteritis in children is higher than in adults (LOPEZ-BREA et al., 1979) but, as far as we know, the serology of Campylobacter in children without intestinal disturbance in Snain has not been studied. To investigate the serological responseto Campylobaczer in children. 49 samnles of blood from 49 children without *gastrointestinal symptoms were collected. The children’s ages ranged from 2 to 13 years (mean 8.2). Sera were examined by a complement fixation test (CFT) using as antigen a sonicate of six different Campylobacter serotypes provided by Dr. D. M. Jones and J. Eldridge (Public Health Laboratory, Withington Hospital, Manchester M20 SLR, UK). All strains were “wild”, had been isolated from patients with diarrhoea and had been shown to belong to different serotypes. 18 sera from 18 children (36.7%) out of the 49 had complement fixing antibody present to a titre of 1:2 or greater (Table I). Table I-Serological normal children
response to Campylobacter in
No. of children
CFT titre
8 5 4 3:
1:2 1:4 1:8 1:16
Negative
The serological response to Campylobacrer has previously been investigated by complement fixation (JONESet al., 1980, 1981; WATSON& KERR, 1982); CFT is a useful diagnostic test where cultures have not been made.
According to our preliminary results normal children may have complement fixing antibodies without gastrointestinal symptoms. M. LOPEZ-BREA J. GONZALEZ-SAINZ Dept. of Microbiology, Centro Ramon y Cajal, Madrid-34, Spain References Blaser, M. J., Berkowitz, I. D., La Force, F. M., Carvens, J., Reller, L. B. & Wang, W. L. (1979). Campylobacter enteritis: clinical and eprdemiologic features. Annals of Internal Medicine, 91, 179-185. Butzler, J. P. & Skirrow, M. B. (1979). Campylobacter enteritis. Clinics in Gastroenterology, 8, 737-765. Jones, D. M., Eldridge, J. & Dale, B. (1980). Serological responseto Campylobacter jejunilcoli infection. Journal of Clinical Pathology, 33, 767-769.
Jones, D. M., Robinson, D. A. & Eldridge, J. (1981). Serological studies in two outbreaks of Campylobacter jejuni infection. Journal of Hygiene, 87, 163-170. Karmali, M. A. & Fleming, P. C. (1979). Campylobacter ;s&ri&. Canadian Medacal AssociatonJoumal; 23, 1525 Lopez-Brea, M., Molina? D. & Baquero, M. (1979). Campylobacter enteritis m Spain. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 73, 474. Skirrow, M. B. (1977). Campylobacter enteritis “a new disease”. British Medical Journal, ii, 9-11. Svedhem, A. & Kaijser, B. (1980). Campylobacter jejuni. A common cause of diarrhoea in Sweden. Journal of Infectious Diseases, 142, 353-359.
Watson, K. C. c? Kerr, E. J. C. (1982). Comparison of agglutination, complement fixation and immunofluorescence tests in Campylobacter jejuni infections. Journal of Hygiene, 88, 165-171.
Accepted for publication
12th August, 1983.
fixed and stained. We found that the dental brush gave fewer positive smears than those prepared with material taken with the matchstick wedge. 32 cases clinically suspected of being leishmaniasis were examined by the dental brush and by the wood matchstick methods: six cases were diagnosed by the matchstick method, including the only case diagnosed by the dental brush method. There is a good deal of difference in the efficacy and the cost of a dental brush and a wood matchstick and the latter is readily available in tropical regions. We therefore recommend that wood matchsticks should be used by hospitals and laboratories in developing countries rather than dental brushes. We are presently comparing the efficacy of this method with standard techniques such as impression or dab smears made from biopsy material. R. URJEL M. RECACOECHEA C. LA FUENTE H. ORELLANA Centro National de Enfemedades Tropicales (CENETROP), Casilla 2974, Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Reference Griffith, W. A. D. & Dutz, W. (1975). Repeated tissue sampling with a dental brush. A trial in cutaneous leishmaniasis. British Journal of Dermatology, 93, 43-45. Accepted for publication 3rd August, 1983.
Anobheles labranchiae in Sicily: decrease of susceotibility to ins&ticides Malaria occurred in almost all parts of Sicily until the Second World War. The disappearance of transmission in the island was achieved through the reduction of the Anopheles vector population by indoor DDT soraving il.5 z/m21, which was carried out intensively?rom 1347 tol95?(Lo~~~, 1953) and, to a limited extent, in houses and domestic animal shelters until 1968. An. labranchiae Fafieroni, 1926 was the main vector and An. superpictus Grassi, 1899 another. In Sicily An. maculipennis Meigen, 1804, An. claviger Meigen, 1804, An. marten’ Senevet & Prunelle, 1927, An. algenensis Theobald, 1903, An. hispaniola (Theobald, 1903) are also present (CEFAL~ & LAVAGNINO, 1978). An. Zabranchiae in Sicily feeds on man and animals; overwintering is by adult females only. Studies have been published on this population with regard to distribution, physiological age, facultative stenogamy, chemosterilizati&, monogamy and “mating l&g? (CEFAL~ & LAVIGNINO, 1978) and the man of the salivary gland chromosomes’ has been published (BRUNO SMIRAGLIA & LAVAGNINO, 1976). After antimalarial spraying, some irritability caused by DDT was shown by Sicilian An. labranchiae:, this behaviour, its zoophily and its capability of restmg in outdoor shelters, away from houses and farms, was considered to be the main means of survival of this species in rural areas (CEFAL~ et al., 1971).
Tests on susceptibility to DDT (and to other insecticides) were carried out annually from 1964 to 1971 according to the WHO standard method using insecticide impregnated papers. The tests showed a constant degree of susceptibility to DDT: 100% mortality with 4% DDT-impregnated papers (one hour exposure/24”C/80% RH); 90% with 2% DDT; 60% with 1% DDT; 100% with 3.5% and 60% with 0.5% malathion. Between 1972 and 1977 the number of susceptibility assays was reduced because of the scarcity of mosquitoes. This was tentatively attributed to the growing use of agricultural pesticides which is uncontrolled -and hard to evaluate. In 1979-80 a large number of An. labranchiae was recorded in many ‘;arts of Sicily. Tests were carried out in the summer of 1981 and 1982 in the Palermo, Trapani and Agrigento areas, using-as always in the preceding years--freshly treated papers, well before the respective dates of expiry. The tests showed a marked reduction of susceptibility to DDT and malathion. No sign of irritation by these two insecticides was recorded and mortality appeared to have decreased from 90 to 40 or even iO%
18, 95-101.
Cefal6, M. & Lavagnino, A. (1978). Richerche sull’anofelismo in Sicilia. Rivista di Parassitologia, 39. 119-129. Cefalti., M.. Oddo, F. L. & Sacco, G. (1961). Vita extraaomestlca dl Anopheles labranchlae in Slciliir. Osservazioni in un’area di sospensione dei trattamenti con DDT. Parassitologia, 3, 23-50. Logan, J. A. (1953). The Sardinian Project: an experiment in the eradication of an i@genous malaria vector. Baltimore:
Johns Hopkins Press, xxix + 415 pp. WHO (1963). Terminology of Malaria and of Malaria Eradication. Geneva: World Health Organization. Accepted for publication 16th August, 1983
Serological
study for Campylobacter in children in Madrid Campylobacter jejuni is recognized as a common and important cause of diarrhoea throughout the world (SKIRROW, 1977; BUTZLER & SKIRROW, 1979; BLASER et al., 1979; SVEDHEM & KAIJSER, 1980; KARMALI
884
TUNSACTONS or THB ROYALSOCIETY OF TROPICALMEDICINEAND HYGIENE,VOL. 77, No. 6 (1983).CORRESPONDENCE
& FLEMING, 1979). In our experience, the incidence of CampyZobacrer enteritis in children is higher than in adults (LOPEZ-BREA et al., 1979) but, as far as we know, the serology of Campylobacter in children without intestinal disturbance in Snain has not been studied. To investigate the serological responseto Campylobaczer in children. 49 samnles of blood from 49 children without *gastrointestinal symptoms were collected. The children’s ages ranged from 2 to 13 years (mean 8.2). Sera were examined by a complement fixation test (CFT) using as antigen a sonicate of six different Campylobacter serotypes provided by Dr. D. M. Jones and J. Eldridge (Public Health Laboratory, Withington Hospital, Manchester M20 SLR, UK). All strains were “wild”, had been isolated from patients with diarrhoea and had been shown to belong to different serotypes. 18 sera from 18 children (36.7%) out of the 49 had complement fixing antibody present to a titre of 1:2 or greater (Table I). Table I-Serological normal children
response to Campylobacter in
No. of children
CFT titre
8 5 4 3:
1:2 1:4 1:8 1:16
Negative
The serological response to Campylobacrer has previously been investigated by complement fixation (JONESet al., 1980, 1981; WATSON& KERR, 1982); CFT is a useful diagnostic test where cultures have not been made.
According to our preliminary results normal children may have complement fixing antibodies without gastrointestinal symptoms. M. LOPEZ-BREA J. GONZALEZ-SAINZ Dept. of Microbiology, Centro Ramon y Cajal, Madrid-34, Spain References Blaser, M. J., Berkowitz, I. D., La Force, F. M., Carvens, J., Reller, L. B. & Wang, W. L. (1979). Campylobacter enteritis: clinical and eprdemiologic features. Annals of Internal Medicine, 91, 179-185. Butzler, J. P. & Skirrow, M. B. (1979). Campylobacter enteritis. Clinics in Gastroenterology, 8, 737-765. Jones, D. M., Eldridge, J. & Dale, B. (1980). Serological responseto Campylobacter jejunilcoli infection. Journal of Clinical Pathology, 33, 767-769.
Jones, D. M., Robinson, D. A. & Eldridge, J. (1981). Serological studies in two outbreaks of Campylobacter jejuni infection. Journal of Hygiene, 87, 163-170. Karmali, M. A. & Fleming, P. C. (1979). Campylobacter ;s&ri&. Canadian Medacal AssociatonJoumal; 23, 1525 Lopez-Brea, M., Molina? D. & Baquero, M. (1979). Campylobacter enteritis m Spain. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 73, 474. Skirrow, M. B. (1977). Campylobacter enteritis “a new disease”. British Medical Journal, ii, 9-11. Svedhem, A. & Kaijser, B. (1980). Campylobacter jejuni. A common cause of diarrhoea in Sweden. Journal of Infectious Diseases, 142, 353-359.
Watson, K. C. c? Kerr, E. J. C. (1982). Comparison of agglutination, complement fixation and immunofluorescence tests in Campylobacter jejuni infections. Journal of Hygiene, 88, 165-171.
Accepted for publication
12th August, 1983.