Etiology of acute lower respiratory tract infection in Central Australian Aboriginal children.

Background: Aboriginal children in central Australia have attack rates for acute lower respiratory tract infection (ALRI) that are similar to those in developing countries. Although mortality rates are much lower than in developing countries, morbidity is high and ALRI is still the leading cause of hospitalization. However, there are no data on the etiology of ALRI in this population.

Bacterial colonization of the nasopharynx predicts very early onset and persistence of otitis media in Australian aboriginal infants.

Otitis media (OM) develops in the first months of life and persists throughout childhood in many rural Aboriginal children. We have followed Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal infants from birth to determine the relationship of the early onset of OM to nasopharyngeal colonization with respiratory pathogens. Aboriginal infants were colonized with multiple species of respiratory bacteria (Moraxella catarrhalis, Haemophilus influenzae, Streptococcus pneumoniae) at a rate of 5% per day and the timing of colonization predicted the onset of persistent OM in individual Aboriginal infants.

Upper airway carriage by Haemophilus influenzae and Streptococcus pneumoniae in Australian aboriginal children hospitalised with acute lower respiratory infection.

When nasopharyngeal secretions from 171 Australian Aboriginal children hospitalized with acute lower respiratory tract infections (ALRI) were cultured selectively for Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae, 136 (79.5%) and 151 (88.3%) children yielded 166 and 254 isolates of S.

Streptococcal update. A microbiology perspective.

The streptococci remain important human pathogens despite it being nearly 60 years since sulphonamides were introduced. Rheumatic fever and post glomerulonephritis are common diseases in the Aboriginal community, and a new invasive disease, toxic shock-like syndrome, is also caused by Group A Streptococcus. Group B, first described over 50 years ago in obstetric wards remains the primary neonatal pathogen despite attempts to eliminate this organism from the genital tract of the carrier mother.

An outbreak of serotype 1 Streptococcus pneumoniae infection in central Australia.

An outbreak of serotype 1 Streptococcus pneumoniae infection involving both adults and children occurred in central Australia during the winter months of 1991. Eighteen patients, mainly Aboriginal men, presented with culture-positive serotype 1 bacteraemic pneumonia. In this group, 11 of 12 adults for whom medical records were available were alcohol dependent.

Comparison of a blood-free medium and a filtration technique for the isolation of Campylobacter spp. from diarrhoeal stools of hospitalised patients in central Australia.

Single specimens of diarrhoeal stool from 676 patients, mostly aboriginals aged less than 5 years, admitted to Alice Springs Hospital, central Australia, for diarrhoea between Sept. 1988 and Feb. 1989, were examined for Campylobacter spp.

Neurological melioidosis: seven cases from the Northern Territory of Australia.

Pseudomonas pseudomallei, which causes melioidosis, is most commonly associated with pulmonary infection. We describe seven patients who developed a neurological syndrome as the predominant manifestation of melioidosis: this syndrome was characterized by peripheral motor weakness (mimicking Guillain-Barré syndrome), brain-stem encephalitis, aseptic meningitis, and respiratory failure. Neurological melioidosis occurred in the absence of demonstrable foci of infection in the central nervous system (CNS) in five of six patients whose cerebrospinal fluid was available for culture.

Serotype distribution of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli isolated from hospitalized patients with diarrhea in central Australia.

Campylobacter jejuni and/or Campylobacter coli was cultured from 218 of 1,078 patients of all age groups admitted to Alice Springs Hospital, Alice Springs, central Australia, between July 1988 and June 1989 for treatment of diarrhea. One hundred sixty-six Campylobacter colonies from 127 patients were subjected to O serotyping by using the Penner typing scheme. All except 29 colonies could be serotyped.

A prospective single-blind trial of minocycline and doxycycline in the treatment of genital Chlamydia trachomatis infection in women.

A total of 2124 women who attended the Richmond Family Planning Association Clinic in Melbourne consecutively were screened for the presence or absence of Chlamydia trachomatis. One hundred and three women were found to have Chl. trachomatis infection of the cervix and were invited to participate in a clinical trial of minocycline and doxycycline for the treatment of chlamydial infection.

Microbiological profile of the cervix in 1,000 sexually active women.

One thousand consecutive women who attended the Richmond Family Planning Association Clinic and who were to undergo a vaginal examination were asked to participate in a large prospective microbiological study. Participants were questioned about their sexual activity during the previous 12 months and any apparent signs of sexually transmitted disease. On examination the cervix was inspected for evidence of inflammation, ectopy or discharge and cervical swabs were taken microbiological assessment.

The prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis in a young, sexually-active population.

A prospective study was carried out to determine the prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis among 1000 sexually-active women at the Family Planning Association Clinic in Melbourne. This organism was isolated from the cervices of 5.1% of screened women.

Transfer of a chromosomal locus responsible for mucoid colony morphology in Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from cystic fibrosis patients to P. aeruginosa PAO.

The locus responsible for mucoid colony morphology in five independent clinical isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa from cystic fibrosis patients have been transferred by means of pM060-mediated conjugation to the genetically characterised strain P. aeruginosa PAO. Genetic mapping has shown that in all five strains the locus is on the chromosome between 89' and 94', although it is not possible to say that the same locus is involved in each case.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in neonatal nurseries. Two years' experience in special-care nurseries in Melbourne.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus has become an important nosocomial pathogen in the four special-care nurseries in Melbourne during the past two years. Once introduced into a nursery, it can spread rapidly unless specific precautions are taken to prevent it. It has been responsible for a number of serious infections in susceptible infants who have required treatment with the potentially toxic antibiotic agent, vancomycin.

Epidemic of hospital-acquired infection due to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in major Victorian hospitals.

During 1979, the Victorian Health Commission received reports of a rising proportion of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolates from an increasing number of institutions. At least 31 metropolitan hospitals were involved, and six of these reported MRSA totaling between 20% and 40% of all Staph. aureus isolates.

Plasmid-determined tobramycin and gentamicin resistance in strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa from two Sydney hospitals.

Strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa resistant to gentamicin, tobramycin, streptomycin, and sulphonamide have been isolated from patients at two Sydney hospitals. The multiple resistance of all these strains was due to a transmissible plasmid. The significance of the identification of this plasmid, in this variety of strains and at two hospitals, for the treatment of Ps.