Retrobulbar neuritis associated with Borrelia afzelii infection.

Purpose: To report retrobulbar neuritis caused by Borrelia afzelii culturally proved from cerebrospinal fluid (CSF).

Methods: A 23 year old female underwent ophthalmologic, laboratory and other auxilliary examinations.

Results: CSF cultures grew spirochetal microorganisms, serotyped by monoclonal antibodies as Borrelia afzelii.

Significance of specific antibody determination in Lyme borreliosis diagnosis.

The diagnosis of Lyme borreliosis, except in cases characterised by pathognomonic clinical manifestation, usually requires confirmation by means of microbiological diagnostic assay, mainly by antibody detection methods. In our study antibodies to B. burgdorferi were tested in neurological patients with suspected Lyme borreliosis, depending on syndrome and clinical diagnosis.

[Lyme borreliosis: open questions and problems at the turn of the millennium].

At the beginning of new millennium, Lyme borreliosis is still the subject of intensive research, polemic discussions and open questions. The authors present minute analysis of the issues associated with Lyme borreliosis, concentrating on biological aspects and taxonomic classification of the agent, co-transmission and co-infection, diagnostic criteria and their validity, laboratory diagnostics an therapy of the disease including perspectives of active immunisation in the future. Special attention is paid to open questions in clinical and laboratory diagnostics of the disease and to the prospects for the near future.

Dynamics of antibodies in Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato infections.

Unlabelled: Antibody response in infections with Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato is generally considered to be slow and delayed, but exact studies concerning this question are hardly found in the scientific literature. During 1994-1998 at least two serum samples were submitted for serological testing from more than 1200 patients. An immunofluorescence test was performed paralelly with two pools of antigen (B.

[Specificity of serologic diagnostic tests for legionellosis].

Immune rabbit sera and sera of patients with legionellosis, leptospirosis, Q fever and antibodies against Borrelia burgdorferi were examined in cross reactions. In currently used serological tests, indirect immunofluorescence and the microagglutination test no antibodies were detected which could cause difficulties in the interpretation of results in the diagnosis of legionellosis. In one patient a mixed infection with Q fever and legionellosis was found.

Identification of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato tick isolates from Slovakia by PCR typing with 16S rRNA primers.

The first four strains of Borrelia burgdorferi isolated in Slovakia from ticks and mice were studied using monoclonal antibodies, the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with 16S rRNA specific primers and plasmid profiles. Two tick isolates were typed as Borrelia garinii, one strain isolated from Apodemus flavicollis was found to be B. afzelii and the fourth tick isolate reacted as a mixed culture of B.

Evaluation of the one-point microcapsule agglutination test for diagnosis of leptospirosis.

We have developed a one-point microcapsule agglutination test (MCAT) for the serodiagnosis of leptospirosis. The MCAT kit was evaluated for use in humans by six WHO Collaborating Centres for Reference and Research on Leptospirosis. The laboratories classified their serum samples on the basis of the microscopic agglutination test (MAT) and the following screening tests: enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), macroscopic (slide) agglutination test, or the complement fixation test.

[The ecology index, an epidemiologic marker of foci of Lyme borreliosis].

The ecological index (EI) as defined by Schulze et al. was determined in three localities of western Slovakia (Malacky, Podunajské Biskupice, Olichov) using the following criteria: suitability of the habitats for the occurrence of Ixodes ricinus ticks and their number, accessibility of habitat for men (I. phase); furthermore the abundance and infection rate of ticks (II.

[Infectious diseases yesterday and today].

The authors present examples demonstrating that in the last decades we witnessed the discovery of new nosological units and their infectious agents, the detection of the infectious origin of "old" diseases the aetiology of which was still recently obscure, infectious attacks of people by diseases which were considered animal infectious only, as well as the more frequent incidence of opportune infections due to impairment of the immune state of the human organism. These changes have many reasons such as the development of properties of microorganisms, lifestyle changes of the human population, advances in medicine, and last but not least improving microbiological diagnosis. Attention is drawn to the fact that even in a time when so-called diseases of civilization are in the foreground of interest our awareness of infectious diseases must not slacken.

[Legionella antibodies in domestic animals].

Serological examination of 420 domestic animals for the presence of antilegionella antibodies indicates their high exposure to legionellae. On examination by the microagglutination reaction with a serum dilution of 1:64 or more the highest positive values were recorded in horses which reacted with antigens of L. pneumophila 1-14 in 36.

[Leptospirosis in dogs in Slovakia].

Out of 571 serologically investigated dogs from Bratislava and all regions of Slovakia and Moravia, 26.1% presented antibodies reacting with leptospiral antigens. The lowing seropositivity in dogs from Bratislava was found in lap dogs--11.

A new leptospiral serovar in the Pyrogenes serogroup isolated in Nigeria.

Five leptospiral strains were isolated from bovine kidneys during a cultural survey for pathogenic leptospires in Nigeria. Preliminary test results indicated that the five strains were identical and serologically heterologous to the other members of the Pyrogenes serogroup. Further examination of the strains by the cross-agglutinin absorption test, factor analysis and restriction endonuclease analysis confirmed that the strains constitute a new serovar.

[Infestation of ticks with Borrelia burgdorferi and Francisella tularensis in Slovakia].

Examination of ticks for the presence of F. tularensis resulted in the isolation of 29 strains, predominantly from the species D. reticulatus (19x), further from I.

Antitumor activity of Borrelia burgdorferi cultures.

Cultures of B. burgdorferi, their supernatants as well as washed cells revealed in vitro a considerable antitumor activity against cells of Gardner lymphoma. Németh-Kellner lymphoma and LP-2 plasmacytoma.

A new serovar mogdeni of serogroup Tarassovi of Leptospira interrogans isolated from a sewage plant in England.

Among 30 strains of leptospires isolated from samples of sewage taken before and during treatment at two sewage plants in England, only one appeared to belong to Leptospira interrogans, the species that comprises the leptospires that are pathogenic to man and animals. That strain, Compton 746, was isolated from settled sewage, before treatment at a treatment plant that deals mainly with human sewage. It was shown serologically to belong to serogroup Tarassovi and appears to represent a new serovar that has been named mogdeni after the name of the sewage plant, Mogden, from which it was isolated.

[Effort to eradicate a focus of tularemia and leptospirosis].

An endemic area of tularemia and field fever was submitted to a complex surveillance over a period of more than 10 years. In 1977 an epizootic outbreak of tularemia appeared in all four localities studied. The infection rate in small mammals exceeded 10%.

Investigations of ticks for the presence of Borrelia in Czechoslovakia.

More than 570 ticks from different parts of the country were studied microscopically. In 45 cases (8%) Borreliae were found. The infectivity rate of ticks in different foci varied from 3-11%, in some instances nearly 20%.

What is the correct specific epithet for pathogenic Leptospirae?

The underlying documentation of the first descriptions of members of the genus Leptospira is carefully revised. Stimson's publication of? Spirochaeta interrogans (1907) is to be inadequate and not suitable to be recognized as the first valid description of a new genus being only a description of a spirochete-like microorganism without any documentation. The naming of the species of pathogenic leptospira interrogans is therefore not in confirmity with the requirements of the International Code of Nomenclature.

Differentiation of pathogenic and saprophytic leptospira strains.

Comparative studies of 249 pathogenic and 80 saprophytic leptospira strains, including 2 strains of the illini type, using the 8-azaguanine test, growth at 13 degrees C and growth on trypticase soy broth revealed their good differentiating potency if the recommended conditions were carefully observed. The same results were obtained by a simple hemolytic test using sheep and rat blood cells, having the advantage of providing results within 24 h. This test is suggested to replace the 8-azaguanine and the growth test at 13 degrees C.

[A type strain or a neotype strain of Leptospira].

A deep review of the scientific literature concerning the history of the two oldest icterohaemorrhagiae strains is given in order to promote a decision about the legitimate neotype strain on the genus Leptospira. The strain RGA was found to meet completely the requirements for a Neotype culture given by the International Code of Nomenclature of Bacteria. Its origin from a patient with Weil's disease through guinea pig passages in 1915 is well documented and its culture is unequivocally described by Ungermann in 1916.