Occupational eosinophilic bronchitis without asthma: An unknown occupational airway disease

J Allergy Clin Immunol 1997;100:852-3.     

Pattern and duration of HBV DNA seropositivity in acute hepatitis B

To determine the pattern and duration of HBV DNA seropositivity in acute hepatitis B, six patients were assessed during the incubation, clinical, and convalescent stages of their illness by DNA hybridization using a slot blot technique. Patients were identified by the detection of HB_sAg nearly one month before the development of clinical and laboratory features of acute hepatitis (mean 22±4 days) and they were followed at one- to three-week intervals for 6±1 months. Each patient lacked antibody to delta virus. During the incubation period, HBV DNA was not detected in serum. At symptomatic onset, all were seropositive for HBV DNA and HB_eAg. At peak biochemical disease, three patients had already cleared HBV DNA and five continued to harbor HB_eAg. The duration of HBV DNA seropositivity was as short as one week. At the time of biochemical resolution, all patients had cleared HBV DNA, while four of five remained HB_eAg-positive. Clearance of HB_eAg and HB_sAg occurred 4 ±2 months after loss of HBV DNA. We conclude that HBV DNA is not detectable in serum during the early incubation period but that it is present at the onset of symptoms. Its duration in serum can be brief and clearance is possible by the peak of aminotransferase activity. HBV DNA usually disappears before HB_eAg, and it is invariably lost by the time of biochemical resolution. Its detection in serum coincides with the clinical illness, but it may be missed unless sampling is done early in the clinical course.     

Salivary cytomegalovirus excretion in children in daycare centers and home care facilities in Japan

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is the most common cause of congenital viral infection in developed countries. The incidence of in utero infection is high in pregnant women who are CMV antibody negative. An important infection route is in contact with children who attend daycare centers (DCCs). However, there are few reports on CMV excretion in children at DCCs in Japan. Saliva samples were collected twice during a 6-month interval from children attending one of two DCCs (DCC1 and DCC2 groups) and from those receiving home care (HC group). The samples were used to quantitatively evaluate CMV using real-time polymerase chain reaction and to determine glycoprotein B (gB) genotypes. The percentage of subjects who demonstrated CMV excretion in either the first or second sample collection was higher in the DCC groups than in the HC group, with incidences in the DCC1, DCC2, and HC groups of 53.4% (n = 47 of 88), 23.9% (n = 16 of 67), and 12.7% (n = 7 of 55), respectively. Compared with the DCC2 group, the DDC1 group had a higher incidence of CMV excretion and included more subjects with a high number of viral copies. In both DCC groups, the incidence of CMV excretion was highest in children younger than 3 years of age. In all three groups, the predominant genotypes were gB1 and gB3. Based on the higher incidence of CMV excretion in the DCC groups compared with the HC group, it is considered that CMV infection is acquired mainly in DCCs in children under the age of 3.