Targeted laboratory screening for sexually transmitted and bloodborne infections in Wisconsin.

Public health laboratories play an important role in screening programs for asymptomatic diseases of public health importance in high-risk and underserved populations. The implementation of targeted screening strategies for communicable diseases requires thorough planning and evaluation. The Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene (WSLH) systematically selects and evaluates laboratory tests used in communicable disease control programs coordinated by the Wisconsin Division of Public Health.

Pneumonia in a nursing home.

The authors studied nursing home residents serologically to determine whether atypical organisms were causes of radiologic pneumonia. The study was conducted at the Wisconsin Veterans Home, a facility with on-site microbiology and x-ray. Over one year, serologic examinations for Legionella, Mycoplasma, and Chlamydia were conducted for the residents who had pneumonia.

Asthma and chlamydial infection: a case series.

Background: Adult-onset asthma is frequently associated with antecedent respiratory symptoms that could represent either previously undiagnosed asthma or previous lung infections that result in subsequent asthma. To further investigate a reported association of Chlamydia pneumoniae infection and adult reactive airway disease, we looked for evidence of atypical infections in patients with acute wheezing and nonwheezing respiratory illnesses.

Methods: Pharyngeal cultures and acute and convalescent serology for C pneumoniae and Mycoplasma pneumoniae were obtained from 131 primary care outpatients (mean age, 36 years) with acute wheezing or nonwheezing respiratory illnesses.

Smoking is a potential confounder of the Chlamydia pneumoniae-coronary artery disease association.

Two recent studies, which did not adequately control for smoking status, found associations between Chlamydia pneumoniae serological titers and various manifestations of coronary artery disease (CAD). The validity of C. pneumoniae-CAD associations found in case-control studies has been criticized on the basis that smoking, known to be associated with CAD and hypothesized to be associated with C.

Association of Chlamydia pneumoniae (strain TWAR) infection with wheezing, asthmatic bronchitis, and adult-onset asthma.

Unlabelled: OBJECTIVE--To study the clinical characteristics of respiratory tract illness caused by Chlamydia pneumoniae.

Design: -Prospective clinical, bacteriologic, and serologic study. Secondarily, a matched comparison of patients with and without evidence of C pneumoniae infection (serologic titers greater than or equal to 1:64 and less than 1:16, respectively).

HIV seroprevalence and the acceptance of voluntary HIV testing among newly incarcerated male prison inmates in Wisconsin.

In 1986-88, voluntary and blinded HIV testing was conducted among Wisconsin male prison entrants. The HIV seroprevalence was 0.30 percent in 1986, 0.

Chlamydia trachomatis infection in women attending urban midwestern family planning and community health clinics: risk factors, selective screening, and evaluation of non-culture techniques.

To determine prevalence and risk factors for endocervical Chlamydia trachomatis infection in an urban midwestern population and to evaluate two non-culture direct tests for C. trachomatis, we studied 849 women attending two family planning clinics and a community health clinic in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Adequate endocervical specimens were obtained from 751 women for chlamydial isolation in tissue culture and antigen tests using direct fluorescence (DFA) and enzyme immunoassay (EIA); 93 (12.

Changes in T-lymphocyte distribution associated with ingestion of aldicarb-contaminated drinking water: a follow-up study.

The carbamate pesticide, aldicarb, is the most commonly found man-made groundwater contaminant in Wisconsin. A 1985 study linked ingestion of aldicarb-contaminated drinking water with altered T-cell distributions, specifically an increase in the mean number of CD8+ (T8) T cells. To further evaluate this finding, a follow-up study was done in 1987.

Absence of infection with human immunodeficiency virus in Peruvian prostitutes.

We serologically tested 140 female prostitutes (mean age, 30 years) from the port city of Callao, Peru, for evidence of infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), Chlamydia trachomatis, Treponema pallidum, herpes simplex viruses (HSV) I and II, and hepatitis B virus. The women had worked as prostitutes for an average of 5 years; one-fourth serviced foreign visitors exclusively, mainly sailors. Only 4 women used condoms, and only 1 woman gave a history of parenteral narcotic abuse, although 53% were regularly exposed to unsterile needles outside the medical setting for injections of vitamins, antibiotics, or steroids; another 29% are thought to probably use unsterile needles.

Human immunodeficiency virus seroprevalence and drug-using behavior in Milwaukee intravenous drug abusers.

We assessed human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) antibody prevalence and drug-using behaviors among intravenous drug abusers (IVDAs) enrolled in Milwaukee drug treatment programs. Six (2.3%) of 266 study participants were positive for HIV antibody by Western blot assay.

Chronic exposure to aldicarb-contaminated groundwater and human immune function.

Aldicarb, a carbamate pesticide, has been a known groundwater contaminant in Wisconsin since 1981. To assess the effects of chronic ingestion of low-level aldicarb-contaminated groundwater (less than 61 ppb) on the immune function of humans, we identified 50 women, ages 18 to 70, with no known underlying reason for immunodysfunction. Twenty-three of these women (exposed group) consumed groundwater with detectable levels of aldicarb, and 27 (unexposed group) consumed water from a source with no detectable levels of aldicarb.

Diagnosis of HTLV-III infection by ultrastructural examination of germinal centers in lymph node--a case report.

Serum from a patient suspected of having AIDS showed positive ELISA tests but the diagnostic p 41 band was absent and the p 24 band was barely discernible on a Western blot. Before another Western blot was performed lentivirions were detected between dendritic reticulum cells in a lymph node biopsy. It is suggested that samples of biopsies of lymph nodes from patients with or at risk for AIDS should be embedded in resin for future ultrastructural study if indicated.

Detection of infectious mononucleosis heterophil antibody by a rapid, standardized enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay procedure.

A rapid, specific, sensitive, standardized, a reproducible enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) procedure has been developed for detecting the heterophil antibody associated with infectious mononucleosis (IM). The IM heterophil antibody used for the solid phase was purified from bovine erythrocyte stroma. The test uses heavy-chain-specific anti-immunoglobulin M (IgM) labeled with alkaline phosphatase and three 10-min incubations.

Maternal serum diamine oxidase in fetal death and low-birth-weight infants.

Serum diamine oxidase was measured at different gestational ages in 681 pregnancies resulting in live births and 102 pregnancies resulting in fetal deaths. Statistical analysis revealed that gestational age-adjusted diamine oxidase levels in the fetal-death group were significantly lower (P less than 0.001) than those in the live-birth group.

Chlamydial prostatitis in dogs: an experimental study.

Ten adult male mongrel dogs were inoculated with Chlamydia trachomatis by injections of 10(6) or 10(7) organisms directly into the prostate. We were able to recover Chlamydia 3 to 7 days later in three of four dogs receiving injections of 10(7) organisms. Eight of ten dogs developed detectable serum antibody to Chlamydia 14 to 68 days following inoculation.

Clinical evaluation of a single antibody RIA assay for alpha-fetoprotein.

Open neural tube defects have been associated with elevated levels of alpha-fetoprotein in maternal serum and amniotic fluid. In the present study, specimens were collected during 14 to 20 weeks of gestation in five laboratories. Dates were confirmed by ultrasound.

Hepatitis-B surface antigen and antibody: prevalence and persistence in institutionalized and noninstitutionalized persons.

A total of 426 persons were studied in an attempt to more clearly define the high prevalence of hepatitis-B surface antigen (HBsAg) seen among institutionalized persons. HBsAg was found in 63.4 percent of the children and young adults with Down's syndrome (DS) at the Central Wisconsin Center (CWC) and in 45.

Comparative study of antistreptolysin O, antideoxyribonuclease B and multienzyme tests in streptococcal infections.

The results of antistreptolysin O (ASO), antideoxyribonuclease B (ADB), and a multienzyme test, Streptozyme, with 162 sera from a stratified random sample of Wisconsin school children, and specimens routinely submitted for serodiagnosis of Group A streptococcal infections are described. A review of the results of Streptozyme tests of laboratories participating in the State Division of Health Proficiency Testing Program, is also presented. The results of these various tests have revealed both false positive and false negative results with the Streptozyme procedure.

A study of Cytomegalovirus, Epstein-Barr virus and Herpesvirus hominis (types 1 and 2) antibody in institutionalized and non-institutionalized children.

In an attempt to demonstrate differences in antibody prevalence between free-living and institutionalized children, antibodies to Cytomegalovirus (CMV), Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), and Herpesvirus hominis (HVH), types 1 and 2, were assayed in 123 children. The children comprised three groups consisting of 41 institutionalized patients with Down's syndrome (all non-disjunctive trisomy-G karyotype and equal numbers of age-, sex-, and race-matched non-mongoloid institutionalized subjects and non-institutionalized normal controls. CMV antibody titer values were statistically similar in the three groups.

[Serologic survey for the determination of antibodies against various virus infections, Mycoplasma, beta hemolytic A Streptococcus and Toxoplasma gondii, performed on children of a State-of-Mexico municipality].

A seroepidemiologic inquest was carried out in 667 children from the county of Huixquilucan, Mexico, looking for serum antibodies against infections caused by the following microorganisms: Epstein-Barr virus; cytomegalovirus; syncytial respiratory; para-influenza 1, 2 and 3; measles; rubella; mumps; Mycoplasma pneumoniae, beta hemolytic A Streptococcus and Toxoplasma gondii. The findings are reported. Considerations are made on the incidence of these diseases in different age groups and a comparison is established with the findings in other countries, since there is no previous information in Mexico for some of the viral agents studied.

Serologic study of specimens with borderline FTA-ABS test reactivity.

The treponemal group-specific absorbed fluorescent antibody test (FTA-ABS) does not yield clearly positive or negative results in all instances. This study was designed to analyze those sera showing borderline reactivity, in order to determine whether additional tests may help to resolve serodiagnostic problem cases. FTA-ABS tests on 23,807 sera submitted to the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene yielded borderline results with 479 specimens (2%).