The regulatory effects of whey retentate from bifidobacteria fermented milk on the microbiota of the Simulator of the Human Intestinal Microbial Ecosystem (SHIME).

Aims: To investigate the effects of whey retentate from Bifidobacteria fermented milk.

Methods And Results: The simulator of the human intestinal microbial ecosystem (SHIME) was used. The composition of the microbiota and its metabolic activities were analysed.

Severe respiratory syncytial virus disease in Alaska native children. RSV Alaska Study Group.

Hospitalization rates for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection range from 1 to 20/1000 infants. To determine the rate and severity of RSV infections requiring hospitalization for infants in the Yukon-Kuskokwim (YK) Delta of Alaska, a 3-year prospective surveillance study was conducted. The annual rate of RSV hospitalization for YK Delta infants <1 year of age was 53-249/1000.

RSV-associated hospitalizations in Alaska Native infants.

Purpose: Retrospective reviews for 1986-1992 suggested that Alaska Native children experience high rates of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)-associated hospitalization; however, the epidemiology of RSV infections has been poorly characterized.

Methods: A prospective hospital-based surveillance study was undertaken to determine rates of RSV-associated hospitalization in Alaska Native children < 36 months from the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta.

Results: During the first study year, October 1993 to September 1994, there were 40 RSV cases (hospitalization rate, 53/1,000 infants < 1 year of age); however, during the second year, October 1994 to September 1995, there were 251 RSV cases (hospitalization rate, 294/1,000 infants).

Decline of Haemophilus influenzae type b disease in a region of high risk: impact of passive and active immunization.

Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) is a major cause of serious childhood bacterial infections. Before 1989 Alaska Native infants in the Yukon Kuskokwim Delta (YKD) had the highest recorded Hib disease rate, 2960:100,000 in children less than 1 year of age with 6 to 35 (mean, 13) cases/year between 1980 and 1988. In July, 1989, Alaska Area Native Health Service initiated a passive immunization project in the YKD using bacterial polysaccharide immunoglobulin (BPIG) administered at 3-month intervals to prevent Hib infections in infants less than 13 months of age.