Distribution of Streptococcus pneumoniae serotypes responsible for penicillin resistance and the potential role of new conjugate vaccines in New Caledonia.

Invasive pneumococcal disease is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The aim of this study was to establish the serotypes responsible for pneumococcal disease and the serotypes responsible for penicillin resistance in Noumea, New Caledonia. Isolates of Streptococcus pneumoniae from all body sites referred to the Microbiology Department of the Pasteur Institute in New Caledonia between May 1999 and May 2001 had serotyping and susceptibility testing performed.

10 year assessment of infant hepatitis B vaccination program, in the Loyalty Islands (New Caledonia).

Objectives Of The Study: To evaluate the decrease of hepatitis B prevalence in New Caledonia 10 years after the implementation of a neonatal vaccination program and discuss the need of any booster in preadolescents.

Method: A survey was conducted in the Loyalty Islands, involving 593 children aged 8-11 years. Serological profiles were determined using three parameters: antibodies to core and surface antigens and HBs Ag.

[Detection of leptospirosis reservoirs in Madagascar using the polymerase chain reaction technique].

A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique was used for detection of the Leptospira interrogans rrs gene in kidney tissue from 115 rats, 50 zebu cattles and 13 pigs in an attempt to identify a possible animal reservoir of leptospirosis in Madagascar. In addition, serological testing of 105 individuals in close contact with animals was carried out. The PCR analysis was negative for all the samples tested and only one person was found seropositive at a low titer.

Quantitative PCR assay to evaluate ampicillin, ofloxacin, and doxycycline for treatment of experimental leptospirosis.

The susceptibility of Leptospira interrogans serovar icterohaemorrhagiae strain Verdun to selected antibiotics used in medical practice (ampicillin, doxycycline, and ofloxacin) was evaluated in a Syrian hamster model, to determine the efficacy of these antibiotics during the course of the disease. A quantitative PCR assay was used to monitor the density of leptospires in blood and in target organs (liver, kidney, lung, heart, and spleen). Our results demonstrated the ability of ampicillin at a high dose (100 mg/kg of body weight) to clear leptospires from the host, except from kidneys and heart, where 10(2) leptospires/g remained at day 6.

Following the course of human leptospirosis: evidence of a critical threshold for the vital prognosis using a quantitative PCR assay.

In order to follow the course of acute human leptospirosis, an ELISA microtiter plate hybridization method was developed for the quantitative determination of Leptospira spp. in biological samples after PCR. The biotin-labelled amplified product (331 bp from the rrs gene) was hybridized with a complementary capture probe covalently linked onto aminated polystyrene wells, and detected using a colorimetric reaction.

Interest of partial 16S rDNA gene sequences to resolve heterogeneities between Leptospira collections: application to L. meyeri.

This paper describes the advantage of using the first 330 bp (positions 46 to 375, Escherichia coli numbering) of the 16S rDNA gene for comparison of Leptospira isolates. Phylogenetic analysis conducted from the whole 16S rDNA sequences available in databanks as well as that conducted from the partial sequences yielded quite similar results, in accordance with data inferred from previous DNA-DNA relatedness studies. This tool was used for the comparison of Leptospira strains from different reference collections.

Pulmonary haemorrhage as a predominant cause of death in leptospirosis in Seychelles.

We examined the cause of death during a 12-month period (1995/96) in all consecutive patients admitted to hospital with leptospiral infection in Seychelles (Indian Ocean), where the disease is endemic. Leptospirosis was diagnosed by use of the microscopic agglutination test and a specific polymerase chain reaction assay on serum samples. Seventy-five cases were diagnosed and 6 patients died, a case fatality of 8%.

Identification of a 36-kDa fibronectin-binding protein expressed by a virulent variant of Leptospira interrogans serovar icterohaemorrhagiae.

We investigated the ability of a virulent strain of Leptospira interrogans serovar icterohaemorrhagiae, its isogenic avirulent variant and a saprophytic strain to bind fibronectin using alkaline phosphatase-labelled fibronectin. A single 36-kDa fibronectin-binding protein was expressed only by the virulent strain and was located in the outer sheath according to proteinase K treatment results. The interaction of this protein with fibronectin was specific and the region of fibronectin bound to this potential adhesin overlapped the gelatin-binding domain.

Clinical aspects of ocular leptospirosis in New Caledonia (South Pacific).

Purpose: The incidence of leptospirosis is very high in New Caledonia (average annual incidence rate: 180/100 000 of the population). To investigate the role of pathogenic leptospires as an aetiological agent of ocular diseases, we report the results of a 5-year survey in New Caledonia.

Methods: We reviewed 13 patients (corresponding to 17 investigated pathologic eyes) retrospectively.

Factors associated with clinical leptospirosis: a population-based case-control study in the Seychelles (Indian Ocean).

Background: In Western countries, leptospirosis is uncommon and mainly occurs in farmers and individuals indulging in water-related activities. In tropical countries, leptospirosis can be up to 1000 times more frequent and risk factors for this often severe disease may differ.

Methods: We conducted a one-year population-based matched case-control study to investigate the frequency and associated factors of leptospirosis in the entire population of Seychelles.

Human leptospirosis in the Mekong delta, Viet Nam.

To estimate the seroprevalence of human leptospirosis in the Mekong delta in Viet Nam, an epidemiological survey was conducted in the province of Tien Giang, which is representative of the socioeconomic activities of the region (rice growing and cattle breeding). A cross-sectional study included 35 clusters representing 1400 people randomly selected and aged 15-60 years. Sex, age, occupation, contact with animals, type of water supply, and individual habits were recorded.

[Epidemiologic and clinical study of leptospirosis in Bourail (New Caledonia)].

Leptospirosis is a frequent zoonosis in New Caledonia, mostly in the Bourail area, with an incidence of 9.5/1000 inhabitants. This town is an important cross-roads between the main town, Noumea, and the bush.

Field evaluation of a one-step dipstick assay for the diagnosis of human leptospirosis in the Seychelles.

Objective And Method: To compare the response of a dipstick assay (DSA) detecting Leptospira-specific immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibodies with that of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), an indirect haemagglutination assay (IHA), the microagglutination test (MAT) and a polymerase chain reaction assay (PCR) in patients with leptospirosis confirmed by MAT alone or by MAT and/or PCR (MAT/PCR).

Result: In 75 patients with acute leptospirosis diagnosed by MAT (respectively, 90 patients diagnosed by MAT/PCR), the response in paired early and convalescent sera was positive in 78.9% (67.

Arbitrarily primed PCR to type Vibrio spp. pathogenic for shrimp.

A molecular typing study on Vibrio strains implicated in shrimp disease outbreaks in New Caledonia and Japan was conducted by using AP-PCR (arbitrarily primed PCR). It allowed rapid identification of isolates at the genospecies level and studies of infraspecific population structures of epidemiological interest. Clusters identified within the species Vibrio penaeicida were related to their area of origin, allowing discrimination between Japanese and New Caledonian isolates, as well as between those from two different bays in New Caledonia separated by only 50 km.

Human leptospirosis in the Seychelles (Indian Ocean): a population-based study.

A leptospirosis surveillance program was carried out for 12 months on the entire population of the Seychelles. Diagnosis was assessed by both microagglutination test and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay. In this population of 74,331, leptospirosis was clinically suspected in 125 subjects and confirmed in 75 patients (incidence of 101 per 100,000; 95% confidence interval = 79-126).

In vivo apoptosis of hepatocytes in guinea pigs infected with Leptospira interrogans serovar icterohaemorrhagiae.

To investigate the contribution of the previously demonstrated in vitro apoptosis to the pathogenesis of leptospirosis, guinea pigs were infected with Leptospira interrogans serovar icterohaemorrhagiae strain Verdun and sequentially killed to collect target organs involved in the natural history of the disease (liver, kidneys, lungs, spleen and heart). The combination of histopathological procedures and a specific TUNEL assay showed a significant Leptospira-induced programmed cell death of hepatocytes with a peak at 48 h post inoculation. Hepatocyte nuclei showed morphological changes including fragmented and condensed nuclei.

Serological titres to Leptospira fainei serovar hurstbridge in human sera in Australia.

A set of 723 diagnostic sera from human patients, submitted for the microscopic agglutination test (MAT) for antibodies to a group of 6 leptospiral serovars, was also tested by MAT for antibodies to the recently-discovered Leptospira fainei serovar hurstbridge. MAT titres of > or = 128 to serovar hurstbridge were detected in 13.4% of these sera, and titres of > or = 512 in 7.

Leptospira fainei sp. nov., isolated from pigs in Australia.

Pathogenic leptospires can be causative agents of reproductive problems in pigs. Cultures of uteri and kidneys from two pigs herds in New South Wales and Victoria (Australia) yielded five strains identified as Leptospira on morphological and cultural grounds. Phenotypic characteristics (growth at 13 and 30 degrees C, growth in the presence of 8-azaguanine) were intermediate between those of pathogenic and saprophytic leptospires.

Epidemiology of leptospirosis in New Caledonia (South Pacific): a one-year survey.

We describe a series of 144 cases of leptospirosis diagnosed in 1989 in New Caledonia. The incidence rate was 90 per 100,000 person-years, with a specific mortality rate of 4% patients. Those affected (100 males, 44 females) were mainly aged 20 to 40 years.

Invasion of Vero cells and induction of apoptosis in macrophages by pathogenic Leptospira interrogans are correlated with virulence.

Interactions of virulent Leptospira interrogans serovar icterohaemorrhagiae strain Verdun with Vero cells (African green monkey kidney fibroblasts) and a monocyte-macrophage-like cell line (J774A.1) were assayed by a double-fluorescence immunolabelling method. Infectivity profiles were investigated according to (i) the duration of contact between leptospires and eukaryotic cells and (ii) the number of in vitro passages after primary isolation from lethally infected guinea pigs.

Rapid identification of pathogenic Leptospira species (Leptospira interrogans, L. borgpetersenii, and L. kirschneri) with species-specific DNA probes produced by arbitrarily primed PCR.

Arbitrarily primed PCR (AP-PCR) assays can be used to discriminate between species of Leptospira. Comparative analysis of the fingerprints obtained from representative sets of serovar reference strains of Leptospira interrogans sensu stricto, L. borgpetersenii, and L.

Public health importance of human leptospirosis in the South Pacific: a five-year study in New Caledonia.

A retrospective study of 192 cases of human leptospirosis in New Caledonia (South Pacific) diagnosed between 1989 and 1993 showed that the disease was endemic throughout the territory. The annual incidence rate was 30 per 100,000 population, and the disease was more frequent in males (67.5%).

Comparison of polymerase chain reaction with microagglutination test and culture for diagnosis of leptospirosis.

Polymerase chain reaction assay (PCR) amplifying a fragment of the Leptospira rrs gene was compared with culture and microagglutination test (MAT) for the diagnosis of leptospirosis in a study of 200 patients with various clinical syndromes compatible with leptospirosis. For the first group of samples tested, PCR identified the 14 cases that later were unequivocally confirmed to be leptospirosis. Thirteen other systemic cases presenting decreasing leptospiral antibody titers were also detected by PCR.

Characterization of Leptospira isolates from serovar hardjo by ribotyping, arbitrarily primed PCR, and mapped restriction site polymorphisms.

Leptospira serovar hardjo isolates of the hardjoprajitno and hardjobovis genotypes were characterized by ribotyping, arbitrarily primed PCR (AP-PCR) fingerprinting, and the study of mapped restriction site polymorphisms (MRSPs) in rrs and rrl genes. After restriction of chromosomal DNA with BglII, EcoRI, or HindIII, each genotype was individualized with a distinct ribotype. The fingerprints produced by AP-PCR with seven primers clearly separated the two groups; primers KF and RSP produced species-specific products which assigned hardjoprajitno and hardjobovis isolates to the species L.