Cercarial dermatitis in the UK.

'Swimmer's itch' or cercarial dermatitis (CD) results from an immunological reaction to free-swimming non-human schistosome parasites released from aquatic snails. Affected bathers develop a self-limiting, pruritic, macular or papular eruption shortly after leaving the water. The condition is well-recognized in continental Europe, Asia and America, but has not to date been recorded in the UK.

The ascertainment and management of tuberculosis in Tayside, Scotland during 1993-94.

Objective: To evaluate whether utilising a database of dispensed prescriptions for anti-tuberculous chemotherapy could improve case ascertainment compared to standard methods. A further objective was to assess whether cases were managed according to standard guidelines.

Design: Retrospective case note audit.

Clostridium novyi type A infection: a sporadic fatal case.

Infection with type A Clostridium novyi is rare. We report the case of a previously healthy 31-y-old woman with no known risk factors who died suddenly with a necrotizing soft tissue infection. We compare this case with a simultaneous outbreak of this infection amongst Scottish IDUs (injecting drug users).

An outbreak of skin sepsis in abattoir workers caused by an 'unusual' strain of Streptococcus pyogenes.

An outbreak of indolent skin infections due to an 'unusual' serological type of Streptococcus pyogenes that lasted for 3 months and affected eight workers in an abattoir is described. The group A streptococcal (GAS) isolates were serotyped as M-type 59; however, they possessed a T-protein pattern (T5/27/44) that is not commonly associated with M-type 59. Further genotypic characterisation studies revealed that all eight isolates were indistinguishable by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and possessed the emm gene encoding for the M-type 59.

An outbreak of Escherichia coli O157 and campylobacteriosis associated with contamination of a drinking water supply.

Stream water into which treated sewage discharged contaminated the public water supply of a Fife village with a population of about 1100. Of 765 residents and workers who reported illness 711 had gastrointestinal symptoms and 633 were defined as cases. Mains water analysis revealed high faecal coliform counts.