[Technical evaluation of nested PCR for the diagnosis of experimental sporotrichosis].

Background: Sporotrichosis caused by the dimorphic fungus Sporothrix schenckii can presents in a variety of clinical forms. Routine diagnosis is made by mycology and serology studies. Few investigations have been focused on the evaluation of the molecular diagnosis.

An algorithm for the clinical differentiation of malaria and typhoid: a preliminary communication.

The objective of this study was to determine which clinical features of typhoid and malaria are most helpful in distinguishing the two diseases among Papua New Guinean highlanders. In a study of 35 patients with culture-positive typhoid and 49 with blood-slide-positive malaria (Group 1), the odds of typhoid were increased most in patients with altered bowel habit, an illness of more than 2 week's duration, tremor or the presence of typhoid facies. The odds of typhoid were lowest in patients with pallor or jaundice.

Clinical signs of pneumonia in children.

Clinical and chest radiographic findings were recorded prospectively in 185 children with cough who attended an outpatient clinic in Papua New Guinea. Children were studied if they were between 8 weeks and 6 years of age; patients with wheeze, stridor, measles, or pertussis were excluded. 56 children (30%) had radiological evidence of pneumonia.

Reduction in the incidence of acute bronchitis by an oral Haemophilus influenzae vaccine in patients with chronic bronchitis in the highlands of Papua New Guinea.

Following the administration of a standardized questionnaire, 62 adult patients with chronic bronchitis were enrolled into a double-blind controlled trial of an oral killed Haemophilus influenzae vaccine in the highlands of Papua New Guinea. A 3-day course of vaccine or placebo was given monthly for 3 consecutive months. Participants were monitored weekly over 12 months for acute exacerbations; early morning sputum specimens were collected monthly and during acute exacerbations.

Relationships between growth and acute lower-respiratory infections in children aged less than 5 y in a highland population of Papua New Guinea.

One hundred fifty-six children in the highlands of Papua New Guinea aged less than 5 y, studied for a total of 7019 child-weeks, had an incidence of 1.3 episodes per child-year of acute lower-respiratory-tract infections (ALRIs). There was a marked age trend with an incidence of almost three times this average for children aged less than 6 mo.