Nutritional and Physical Activity Interventions to Improve Immunity.

Physical activity and nutrition are important in a healthy lifestyle with potential benefits to immunity often overlooked. Infection of the upper respiratory tract, and the associated symptoms, are the most frequent presentations to general practitioners and may have significant economic and social impact. In this review, we consider the role of physical activity and nutrition in improving immunity.

Extreme water-related weather events and waterborne disease.

Global climate change is expected to affect the frequency, intensity and duration of extreme water-related weather events such as excessive precipitation, floods, and drought. We conducted a systematic review to examine waterborne outbreaks following such events and explored their distribution between the different types of extreme water-related weather events. Four medical and meteorological databases (Medline, Embase, GeoRef, PubMed) and a global electronic reporting system (ProMED) were searched, from 1910 to 2010.

Relationships between human adenoviruses and faecal indicator organisms in European recreational waters.

Human adenoviruses (HAdV) may be implicated in some disease outbreaks associated with recreational water exposures, typically in swimming pools. Modern molecular methods can be used to detect HAdV in environmental water samples. During the EU FP6 Project VIROBATHE a database of over 290 HAdV analyses with corresponding faecal indicator organism (FIO) determinations was gathered and used to explore statistical associations between HAdV and FIO results.

Surveillance of adenoviruses and noroviruses in European recreational waters.

Exposure to human pathogenic viruses in recreational waters has been shown to cause disease outbreaks. In the context of Article 14 of the revised European Bathing Waters Directive 2006/7/EC (rBWD, CEU, 2006) a Europe-wide surveillance study was carried out to determine the frequency of occurrence of two human enteric viruses in recreational waters. Adenoviruses were selected based on their near-universal shedding and environmental survival, and noroviruses (NoV) selected as being the most prevalent gastroenteritis agent worldwide.

Development and application of a one-step low cost procedure to concentrate viruses from seawater samples.

A novel and simple procedure for concentrating adenoviruses from seawater samples is described. The technique entails the adsorption of viruses to pre-flocculated skimmed milk proteins, allowing the flocs to sediment by gravity, and dissolving the separated sediment in phosphate buffer. Concentrated virus may be detected by PCR techniques following nucleic acid extraction.

The microbiological quality of seven large commercial private water supplies in the United Kingdom.

Some 1% of the UK population derives their potable water from 140,000 private water supplies (PWSs) regulated by Local Authorities. The overwhelming majority of these are very small domestic supplies serving a single property or a small number of properties. Treatment for such supplies is rudimentary or non-existent and their microbiological quality has been shown to be poor in every published study to date.

Quantitative RT-PCR for the enumeration of noroviruses (Norwalk-like viruses) in water and sewage.

Aims: Aims of investigation: (i) develop a quantitative RT-PCR for noroviruses and (ii) evaluate it on environmental samples.

Methods And Results: Noroviruses in environmental water samples were concentrated by adsorption/elution/flocculation. Sewage was processed by clarification and protein flocculation.

Antibodies in crevicular fluid: an epidemiological tool for investigation of waterborne disease.

A significant challenge in the epidemiological investigation of recreational waterborne disease is the establishment of a definite association between exposure to a contaminated water and infection. An increase in specific antibodies as a result of infection is a potent measure of disease exposure and its determination would enhance epidemiological studies of waterborne diseases. We report on the automated detection of HAV antibodies in crevicular fluid and its use in a field study.

The detection of small round-structured viruses in water and environmental materials.

A procedure for concentrating small round-structured viruses (SRSVs) (Norwalk-like viruses) from water and other environmental materials is described. Primers based on the helicase region of the SRSV genome were confirmed as specific by reaction with typed specimens, and used to detect virus in concentrates of unseeded and seeded samples. Virus was detected in estuarine recreational water polluted by untreated sewage, although not in seawater samples taken some distance from outfall discharges.

The detection of enteroviruses in large volume concentrates of recreational waters by the polymerase chain reaction.

A rapid and simple method was developed to detect enteroviruses in large-volume water samples. It relies on the adsorption of the virus capsids to silica particles under acidic conditions, allowing their recovery by relatively gentle centrifugation. Different reagents used in enterovirus concentration and detection were seeded with Coxsackievirus B5 and used to optimise the recovery method, which was then used to detect the enteroviruses from seeded and unseeded 101 seawater samples in one PCR tube rather than in up to 50 sub-sample volumes, demonstrating its use for routine environmental monitoring.

An evaluation of methods for the simultaneous detection of Cryptosporidium oocysts and Giardia cysts from water.

Methods for the simultaneous detection of Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts and Giardia cysts from water are described and their relative recovery efficiencies are assessed for seeded samples of both tap and river water. Cartridge filtration, membrane filtration, and calcium carbonate flocculation were evaluated, and steps to optimize the concentration procedures were undertaken. Increasing centrifugation to 5,000 x g, coupled with staining in suspension, was found to increase the overall efficiency of recovery of both cysts and oocysts.

Detection of rotavirus by a latex agglutination test, Rotalex: comparison with electron microscopy, immunofluorescence, polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay.

A commercially available latex agglutination test, Rotalex (Orion Diagnostics, Finland), for detecting rotaviruses was evaluated in comparison with four other tests (electron microscopy, immunofluorescence, polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay) routinely used in our laboratories. Although Rotalex was the least complex method, it showed lack of specificity and sensitivity when carried out according to the manufacturer's instructions. Four basic modifications of Rotalex are described.

Induction of virus-neutralizing antibody by glycoproteins isolated from chicken cells infected with a herpesvirus of turkeys.

The production of virus-induced proteins in chicken embryo fibroblast cells infected with a herpesvirus of turkeys was studied. It was found that glycoproteins isolated from membrane-rich fractions of infected cells by affinity chromatography using concanavalin A induced neutralizing and precipitating antibody in rabbits and chickens. After analytical electrophoresis, such isolates were found to contain three polypeptide bands of between 100 x 10(3) and 120 x 10(3) molecular weight not present in glycoprotein extracts of uninfected cells, and these polypeptides were further purified by preparative polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis.

An investigation into the possible role of the family unit in the transmission of rotavirus infections of children.

A survey of young children hospitalized with viral gastroenteritis, and of the members of some of their families, was carried out. Results showed rotavirus to be the principal agent associated with the condition though other types were also detected. In addition, rotavirus was found in the stools of some of the members of each of the families investigated, and it is suggested that means of spread is the faecal-oral route within family groups.

Isolation of rotavirus from calves in the Federal Republic of Germany.

Summary: Faeces samples obtained from fourteen calves with acute enteritis were examined in the electron microscope. Two out of fourteen samples contained large numbers of rotavirus particles typically 60 nm. in diameter, lacking the outer layer of capsomeres.