Histopathologic and immunohistochemical features of fatal influenza virus infection in children during the 2003-2004 season.

Background: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention enhanced national surveillance for influenza-associated deaths among children because of early reports of pediatric deaths during the 2003-2004 influenza season.

Methods: We studied lung and upper airway specimens from 47 case patients who died who had at least 1 positive result for influenza virus tests using hematoxylin and eosin, special stains for bacteria and fungi, and immunohistochemical (IHC) assays for influenza A and B viruses and other potential viral and bacterial respiratory pathogens.

Results: Nineteen (40%) of the 47 patients were View Article and Find Full Text PDF

A large outbreak of Brainerd diarrhea associated with a restaurant in the Red River Valley, Texas.

Background: In June 1996, an outbreak of chronic diarrhea was reported to the Texas Department of Health (Austin).

Methods: We initiated active case finding, performed 2 case-control studies, and conducted an extensive laboratory and environmental investigation.

Results: We identified 114 persons with diarrhea that lasted > or = 4 weeks.

Diagnosis of invasive group a streptococcal infections by using immunohistochemical and molecular assays.

Invasive group A streptococcus (GAS) infections cause 1,100 to 1,300 deaths annually in the United States. Diagnosis is made when Streptococcus pyogenes is isolated from pus or body fluids; however, cultures are not always obtained, and antibiotic treatment can preclude bacterial growth. An immunohistochemical assay for GAS was applied to formalin-fixed tissue samples from 122 patients with suspect GAS infection.

Thalassomonas agarivorans sp. nov., a marine agarolytic bacterium isolated from shallow coastal water of An-Ping Harbour, Taiwan, and emended description of the genus Thalassomonas.

A marine agarolytic bacterium, designated strain TMA1(T), was isolated from a seawater sample collected in a shallow-water region of An-Ping Harbour, Taiwan. It was non-fermentative and Gram-negative. Cells grown in broth cultures were straight or curved rods, non-motile and non-flagellated.

Zobellella denitrificans gen. nov., sp. nov. and Zobellella taiwanensis sp. nov., denitrifying bacteria capable of fermentative metabolism.

Two denitrifying strains of heterotrophic, facultatively anaerobic bacteria, designated ZD1(T) and ZT1(T), were isolated from sediment samples collected from mangrove ecosystems in Taiwan. The isolates were Gram-negative. Cells grown in broth cultures were straight rods that were motile by means of a single polar flagellum.

Transmission of lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus by organ transplantation.

Background: In December 2003 and April 2005, signs and symptoms suggestive of infection developed in two groups of recipients of solid-organ transplants. Each cluster was investigated because diagnostic evaluations were unrevealing, and in each a common donor was recognized.

Methods: We examined clinical specimens from the two donors and eight recipients, using viral culture, electron microscopy, serologic testing, molecular analysis, and histopathological examination with immunohistochemical staining to identify a cause.

Intussusception after administration of the rhesus tetravalent rotavirus vaccine (Rotashield): the search for a pathogenic mechanism.

Objectives: The rhesus tetravalent rotavirus vaccine (RRV) was withdrawn from the routine program for childhood immunization in the United States because of the rare and unexpected occurrence of intussusception in the 2-week period after administration of the first dose.

Methods: To search for the pathogenesis of this association, we compared the pathology of surgical specimens from infants who had surgical reduction of their intussusceptions within 2 weeks of receiving the vaccine (case patients; n = 8) with the pathology of specimens from children who had surgery > 2 weeks after immunization (n = 6) or who had never been immunized (n = 26). Tissue was examined for evidence of the vaccine strain of rotavirus by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), in situ hybridization, and immunohistochemical staining.

Pseudidiomarina taiwanensis gen. nov., sp. nov., a marine bacterium isolated from shallow coastal water of An-Ping Harbour, Taiwan, and emended description of the family Idiomarinaceae.

Two strains of heterotrophic, aerobic, marine bacteria, designated strains PIT1T and PIT2, were isolated from sea-water samples collected at the shallow coastal region of An-Ping Harbour, Tainan, Taiwan. Both strains were Gram-negative. Cells grown in broth cultures were straight rods that were non-motile, lacking flagella.

Performance of an aerobic/anaerobic hybrid bioreactor under the nitrogen deficient and low F/M conditions.

A bioreactor system without a biomass-liquid separation unit is evaluated for its chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal and biomass retention capabilities under the nitrogen deficient and low F/M conditions that are known to produce bulking biomass. A fully oxygenated stream recycled from an external oxygenator delivers the oxygen to an upflow bioreactor in which a biomass zone is formed and maintained in the absence of gas effervescence. COD is removed with up to 90% efficiency by means of aerobic and anaerobic bacterial activities occurring in the biomass zone.

A single intranasal inoculation with a paramyxovirus-vectored vaccine protects guinea pigs against a lethal-dose Ebola virus challenge.

To determine whether intranasal inoculation with a paramyxovirus-vectored vaccine can induce protective immunity against Ebola virus (EV), recombinant human parainfluenza virus type 3 (HPIV3) was modified to express either the EV structural glycoprotein (GP) by itself (HPIV3/EboGP) or together with the EV nucleoprotein (NP) (HPIV3/EboGP-NP). Expression of EV GP by these recombinant viruses resulted in its efficient incorporation into virus particles and increased cytopathic effect in Vero cells. HPIV3/EboGP was 100-fold more efficiently neutralized by antibodies to EV than by antibodies to HPIV3.

Influenza-associated deaths among children in the United States, 2003-2004.

Background: Although influenza is common among children, pediatric mortality related to laboratory-confirmed influenza has not been assessed nationally.

Methods: During the 2003-2004 influenza season, we requested that state health departments report any death associated with laboratory-confirmed influenza in a U.S.

Fatal toxic shock syndrome associated with Clostridium sordellii after medical abortion.

Endometritis and toxic shock syndrome associated with Clostridium sordellii have previously been reported after childbirth and, in one case, after medical abortion. We describe four deaths due to endometritis and toxic shock syndrome associated with C. sordellii that occurred within one week after medically induced abortions.

Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis: more cases of this fatal disease are prevented by measles immunization than was previously recognized.

Background: The most severe sequela of measles virus infection is subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE), a fatal disease of the central nervous system that generally develops 7-10 years after infection. From 1989 through 1991, a resurgence of measles occurred in the United States, with 55,622 cases of measles reported. The purpose of the present study was to identify cases of SSPE that were associated with the resurgence of measles and to calculate the risk of developing SSPE.

Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease death, United States.

The only variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) patient identified in the United States died in 2004, and the diagnosis was confirmed by analysis of autopsy tissue. The patient likely acquired the disease while growing up in Great Britain before immigrating to the United States in 1992. Additional vCJD patients continue to be identified outside the United Kingdom, including 2 more patients in Ireland, and 1 patient each in Japan, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Spain, and the Netherlands.

Plasma free amino acids and their metabolites in Taiwanese patients on hemodialysis and continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis.

Background: The high prevalence of protein-energy malnutrition is a critical issue for patients with end stage renal disease (ESRD) on hemodialysis (HD) or continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD). Levels of plasma and intracellular amino acids are significant indicators of protein metabolism and nutritional status assessment. We measured plasma FAAs in patients on maintenance dialysis and to provide information in monitoring the therapeutic strategy, particularly in AA supplementary therapy or protein restriction.

Persistent Yersinia pestis antigens in ischemic tissues of a patient with septicemic plague.

In November 2002, a couple from New Mexico traveled to New York where both had fever and unilateral inguinal adenopathy. The husband was in septic shock when he sought medical care and was admitted to an intensive care unit, where he developed ischemic necrosis of his feet which later required bilateral amputation. Yersinia pestis was grown from his blood.

Immunohistochemical, in situ hybridization, and ultrastructural localization of SARS-associated coronavirus in lung of a fatal case of severe acute respiratory syndrome in Taiwan.

This article describes the pathological studies of fatal severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in a 73-year-old man during an outbreak of SARS in Taiwan, 2003. Eight days before onset of symptoms, he visited a municipal hospital that was later identified as the epicenter of a large outbreak of SARS. On admission to National Taiwan University Hospital in Taipei, the patient experienced chest tightness, progressive dyspnea, and low-grade fever.

CD8-mediated protection against Ebola virus infection is perforin dependent.

CD8 T cells have been shown to play an important role in the clearance and protection against fatal Ebola virus infection. In this study, we examined the mechanisms by which CD8 T cells mediate this protection. Our data demonstrate that all normal mice infected s.

The significance of mycobacterium tuberculosis antibody, antigen 60 IgG in patients with abnormal chest radiography.

Background: The identification of acid-fast bacilli (AFB) in sputum or tissue is the definite diagnosis of tuberculosis. However, this method of diagnosis is restricted by certain limitations. The serologic diagnosis of tuberculosis has been used for a long time.

Risk factors of mortality for nosocomial pneumonia: importance of initial anti-microbial therapy.

Nosocomial pneumonia is a common nosocomial infection and has high mortality rate. Risk factors of mortality of nosocomial pneumonia were studied in 132 hospitalised patients who developed nosocomial pneumonia. The overall mortality rate was 64/132, 48.

Human metapneumovirus persists in BALB/c mice despite the presence of neutralizing antibodies.

Human metapneumovirus (HMPV) has emerged as an important human respiratory pathogen causing upper and lower respiratory tract infections in young children and older adults. Recent epidemiological evidence indicates that HMPV may cocirculate with respiratory syncytial virus, and HMPV infection has been associated with other respiratory diseases. In this study, we show that BALB/c mice are susceptible to HMPV infection, the virus replicates in the lungs with biphasic growth kinetics in which peak titers occur at days 7 and 14 postinfection (p.

Pseudovibrio denitrificans gen. nov., sp. nov., a marine, facultatively anaerobic, fermentative bacterium capable of denitrification.

Two denitrifying strains of heterotrophic, facultatively anaerobic, marine bacteria, designated DN34(T) and DN33, were isolated from sea-water samples collected in Nanwan Bay, Kenting National Park, Taiwan. They were Gram-negative. Cells in late exponential to early stationary phase of growth were predominantly straight or curved rods, but Y- or V-shaped forms were also observed.

Replication of SARS coronavirus administered into the respiratory tract of African Green, rhesus and cynomolgus monkeys.

SARS coronavirus (SARS-CoV) administered intranasally and intratracheally to rhesus, cynomolgus and African Green monkeys (AGM) replicated in the respiratory tract but did not induce illness. The titer of serum neutralizing antibodies correlated with the level of virus replication in the respiratory tract (AGM>cynomolgus>rhesus). Moderate to high titers of SARS-CoV with associated interstitial pneumonitis were detected in the lungs of AGMs on day 2 and were resolving by day 4 post-infection.