Department of Musculoskeletal Medicine, Tampere University Medical School and Rheumatism Foundation Hospital, 18120 Heinola, Finland. kalevi.kaarela@reuma.fi
Symmetric non-erosive polyarthritis is the most common clinical feature in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). We report on a 42-year follow-up of a 71-year-old woman who first had polyarthritis in 1963 at the age of 29 and continuously since 1975. SLE was diagnosed in 2000 at the age of 66 as anti-dsDNA (56 kIU/l), and antinuclear antibodies (1:2,560) turned positive. In 2005 hand and feet radiographs revealed severe Jaccoud's arthritis with subluxations but without erosions.
Survivors from meningococcal disease (serogroups B and C) and a control series (blood donors) were examined for their ability to secrete ABH blood group substance. The examination was done indirectly by determining their Lewis phenotypes. There was no significant difference in the secretor status between the two groups.
Outbreaks of food-borne listeriosis have often involved strains of serotype 4b. Examination of multiple isolates from three different outbreaks revealed that ca. 11 to 29% of each epidemic population consisted of strains which were negative with the serotype-specific monoclonal antibody c74.22, lacked galactose from the teichoic acid of the cell wall, and were resistant to the serotype 4b-specific phage 2671.
Notes
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No data is yet available on incidence or persistence of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection in men. We enrolled 374 younger male conscripts (18-29 years) in a prospective study, and they were examined twice with an interval of 6 to 8 months. Data collection included a questionnaire and a sample of cells from the penis for HPV detection using PCR. In addition, the presence of Chlamydia trachomatis DNA was assessed in urine samples by means of PCR.The HPV prevalence at the first and second examinations was 33.8% and 31.9%, respectively. The acquisition rate of HPV (overall) during follow-up was 13.8%, and nearly one fourth of the participants were HPV positive at both examinations. Number of sex partners during follow-up was the most important risk factor for acquiring HPV (odds ratio, 17.2; 95% confidence interval, 4.6-64.7, for > or = 3 partners versus
We studied the incidence and bacterial epidemiology of acute epiglottitis presenting in the first 16 years following the introduction of general childhood vaccination against Haemophilus influenzae type b. Our main objectives were to analyse (1) the incidence of Streptococcus pneumoniae epiglottitis in adults and (2) the distribution of pneumococcal serotypes involved.
The medical records of patients with acute epiglottitis (International Classification of Disease code J05.1) were investigated. Streptococcus pneumoniae serotyping was performed using gel precipitation.
The overall incidence of acute epiglottitis was 0.98 cases/100,000/year, compared with 4.5 cases/100,000/year before the vaccination programme. The incidence was reduced both in children and adults, compared with pre-vaccination values. However, the incidence of Streptococcus pneumoniae epiglottitis in adults increased from 0.1 to 0.28 cases/100,000/year over the same time period. The causative agent was Streptococcus pneumoniae in 10 adults. Nine of 10 pneumococcal strains could be serotyped. All but one serotype is represented in the 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPV23) used in adults.
In acute epiglottitis, now a disease of adults, the most important bacterial aetiology is Streptococcus pneumoniae. The serotype distribution found in this study indicates that the infection is preventable by PPV-23 vaccination with the 23-valent polysaccharide vaccine.
We describe 3 culture-proven cases of adenovirus serotype 14 infection in New Brunswick, Canada, during the summer of 2011. Strains isolated from severely ill patients were closely related to strains of a genomic variant, adenovirus 14p1, circulating in the United States and Ireland. Physicians in Canada should be aware of this emerging adenovirus.
We describe an outbreak of epidemic keratoconjunctivitis occurring in Montreal during the winter of 1974. Adenovirus type 19 was the only virus isolated. We confirm the presence of type 19 adenovirus in Canada; it produces severe keratoconjunctivitis. The incubation period, method of spread and clinical findings resemble those seen in outbreaks of type 8 EKC. The prevalence of adenovirus type 19 in the population of Canada is unknown. Although some object to the use of the term EKC for infection caused by adenoviruses other than type 8, we believe that EKC should be regarded as an entity requiring virus isolation and antibody determination to identify the adenovirus type responsible for it.
The genetic analysis of the variants of human immunodeficiency virus of type 1 (HIV-1), circulating among drug addicts in Moscow and Moscow Province, has been carried out. The serological analysis of 122 blood specimens taken from HIV-infected drug addicts, residing in Moscow and 22 settlements of the Moscow region, has shown that in this region HIV-1 variant of subtype A spreads among drug addicts. These data have been confirmed by the results of the analysis of 44 specimens, made with the use of the method of the heteroduplex mobility assay for gene env. As revealed in this study, HIV-1 variants spreading at present among drug addicts in Moscow and the Moscow region are genetically related to viruses of subtype A, detected earlier in this group of risk in other regions of Russia, the Ukraine, Belarus and other countries of Eastern Europe.
