Kawasaki disease in Auckland, 1979-1988

Records of 34 children diagnosed as having Kawasaki disease in the Auckland region from 1979 to 1988 inclusive were reviewed. Diagnostic and associated features were similar to those reported from North America and Japan. The incidence (average 5.1 per year per 100,000 less than 5 years of age) was similar to that reported in Europe and North America amongst nonorientals and was similar in Polynesians and nonPolynesians. Coronary artery abnormalities were found in five cases (15%), and two cases, both of whom presented before five months of age, died. Those with abnormal coronary arteries had fever for a significantly longer period than those with normal coronary arteries.     

人体液中喷布洛尔及其代谢物的GC/MS分析

用气相色谱一质谱联用(GC-MSD)系统分析方法检出了人尿中喷布洛尔的6个羟化代谢物,用Scp-Pak柱提取的方法检出了人血浆中的原型药物。并从分子结构上对此药物的代谢途径进行了研究。尿中提取和血中提取的回收率分别为90.83.%和85.88%,Gc-MSD的检测限为5pg。本方法适用于运动员兴奋剂的系统检查。     

Postantibiotic effect of clarithromycin alone and combined with ethambutol against Mycobacterium avium complex.

The postantibiotic effect (PAE) of clarithromycin alone and in combination with ethambutol was determined for two clinical blood isolates of Mycobacterium avium complex. An average PAE, ranging from 5.5 to 18.0 h, was noted for each isolate at each clarithromycin concentration except when isolate B was exposed to clarithromycin at the MIC. The addition of ethambutol did not enhance the PAE observed with clarithromycin alone. The clinical implications of the PAE of clarithromycin for M. avium complex remain to be determined.     

Androgen receptor YAC transgenic mice carrying CAG 45 alleles show trinucleotide repeat instability

X-linked spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy (SBMA) is caused by a CAG repeat expansion in the first exon of the androgen receptor (AR) gene. Disease-associated alleles (37-66 CAGs) change in length when transmitted from parents to offspring, with a significantly greater tendency to shift size when inherited paternally. As transgenic mice carrying human AR cDNAs with 45 and 66 CAG repeats do not display repeat instability, we attempted to model trinucleotide repeat instability by generating transgenic mice with yeast artificial chromosomes (YACs) carrying AR CAG repeat expansions in their genomic context. Studies of independent lines of AR YAC transgenic mice with CAG 45 alleles reveal intergenerational instability at an overall rate of approximately 10%. We also find that the 45 CAG repeat tracts are significantly more unstable with maternal transmission and as the transmitting mother ages. Of all the CAG/CTG repeat transgenic mice produced to date the AR YAC CAG 45 mice are unstable with the smallest trinucleotide repeat mutations, suggesting that the length threshold for repeat instability in the mouse may be lowered by including the appropriate flanking human DNA sequences. By sequence-tagged site content analysis and long range mapping we determined that one unstable transgenic line has integrated an approximately 70 kb segment of the AR locus due to fragmentation of the AR YAC. Identification of the cis - acting elements that permit CAG tract instability and the trans -acting factors that modulate repeat instability in the AR YAC CAG 45 mice may provide insights into the molecular basis of trinucleotide repeat instability in humans.      

Presence of the AZF region in a female with an idic(Y)(q11)

In a child with some features of Turner's syndrome, gonosomal mosaicism with an isodicentric nonfluorescent (idic)Y chromosome was detected (mos 45,X/47,X,idic(Y)(q11),idic(Y)(11)/46,X,idic(Y)(q11)). Histopathological examination showed streak gonads with some evidence of ovarian stroma and no sign of gonadoblastoma. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis in blood lymphocytes and gonadal tissues using primers of seven loci along the Y chromosome, including the sex determined region (SRY), azoospermia factor region (AZF) and the deleted in azoospermia ( DAZ ) gene was positive for all loci tested, confirming the isodicentric character of the Y chromosome and indicating the presence of the AZF region. It is remarkable that the existence of spermatogenesis controlling genes does not play an important role in gonadal development and differentiation in a phenotypic female with some Turner stigmata. The data presented here are briefly discussed with previously-described patients.     

COVID-19 and Infant Hospitalizations for Seasonal Respiratory Virus Infections,New Zealand, 2020

In March 2020, a national elimination strategy for coronavirus disease was introduced in New Zealand. Since then, hospitalizations for lower respiratory tract infection among infants <2 years of age and cases of respiratory syncytial or influenza virus infection have dramatically decreased. These findings indicate additional benefits of coronavirus disease control strategies.     

Screening for Escherichia coli O157:H7 in Illinois

Objective: To determine the incidence of infection with Escherichia coli O157:H7 in a tertiary referral center in Chicago, where a similar study had been performed in 1984, to evaluate cases of disease reported to the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) in 1993, and to determine laboratory practices used to detect this infection throughout the state.
Methods: During a 6-month period in 1993, all stool specimens at Rush-Presbyterian-St Luke's Medical Center (RPSLMC) were tested for E. coli O157:H7. Reports of diagnosed E. coli O157:H7 cases investigated by IDPH were also reviewed. A survey of 73 hospitals in the Chicago area was performed to determine routine culturing practices, specifically, the selection of stool specimens for evaluation for this pathogen.
Results: In the RPSLMC survey, two cases were identified among 1985 samples (incidence 0.1%), similar to the 0.08% incidence detected in a similar study conducted at the same institution in 1984. Through passive surveillance, the IDPH received 44 reports of E. coli O157:H7 in 1993. The hospital survey revealed that, in the seven labs testing all stool specimens for E. coli O157:H7, an incidence of 16/8137 specimens (0.2%) was determined.
Conclusions: These data suggest that sporadic E. coli O157:H7 remains uncommon in Illinois and that the incidence may not have changed over a 9-year period. The low yield and substantial cost of culturing all stools suggest that only specimens from patients with bloody diarrhea should be evaluated routinely in areas of low endemicity.