Diarrheal diseases and growth retardation in preschool Guatemalan children.

The relationship between diarrheal diseases and growth increments in total body length and weight was investigated in 716 rural Ladino Gautemalan children. Data on diarrheal diseases were provided by the mothers through retrospective surveys carried out at 14-day intervals. Increments in length and weight, semestral from near birth at four years and yearly thence to seven, were related to days ill with diarrheal diseases during the same time interval. Because the data here reported were collected over a two year period, a child may have had information for more than one period. In total, 1,343 child periods were investigated. Days ill with diarrheal diseases were found to be significantly associated with reduced growth in length and weight. It was assumed that the average differences in growth by seven years of age between children in the present sample and children from well-to-do societies, are mainly a function of environmental differences and consequently, a measure of the extent of growth retardation. By expressing the growth retardation specifically associated with diarrheal diseases as a fraction of the above differences it was then estimated that around 10% of this growth retardation was associated with diarrheal diseases.     

HIV infection in children perinatally infected

During the period from 1987 to the middle of 1996 only 20 children were born of HIV-infected women, while during the following 1.5 years the number of such children were 59, the maximum number of seropositive children being registered in Kaliningrad and the Kaliningrad region, in the Krasnodar Territory, Stavropol and Nizhny Novgorod (altogether 46 children). Out of 79 children born of HIV-infected mothers during the whole period of the epidemic, 8 children died. Out of the children born before 1995 who remained alive, 9 children were struck off the register after 3 years of observation due to the absence of HIV infection. By the end of 1997 63 children were registered, the majority of them born in 1996-1997.     

Seroepidemiological study of coronavirus infection in children and adults in St. Petersburg

As the result of prolonged (17 years) observations of patients with acute respiratory infections hospitalized in basic departments of clinics of the Research Institute of Influenza, coronavirus infection was found to be the cause of respiratory diseases, on the average, in 12% of cases (in some years in 6.8% to 28.6% of cases). The analysis of extensive morbidity rates among different age groups of the population showed that children were affected by coronavirus infection 5-7 times more often than adults. Three year cycles of this infection were established. The periods of coronaviruses activation were accompanied by their detection in patient material by electron-microscopy, a sharp increase of immune response of patients as well as in the number of nosocomial infections and the proportion of the monoinfection of the coronavirus nature. Coronaviruses played the leading role among other viruses in the etiology of hospital respiratory infections. Mucosal antibodies to coronaviruses in the secretions of the nasal cavity proved to be more important than serum antibodies not only in protection from infection, but also in the pattern of clinical manifestations of the disease.     

Intestinal parasitic infections and risk factors for infection in Kenyan children with and without HIV infection

It has been reported that HIV infection is not a risk factor for Entamoeba species infection but is for Giardia intestinalis assemblage B in children living in Western Kenya. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of and the risk factors for Entamoeba spp. and G. intestinalis infection in children living in Nairobi, Kenya. This cross-sectional study included 87 children with HIV [HIV(+)] and 85 without HIV [HIV(−)]. Stool and blood samples were collected for the detection of the parasites by PCR and immunological analyses using flow cytometry. Sociobehavioral and hygienic data were collected using questionnaires and analyzed statistically. The prevalence of Entamoeba spp. infection was significantly lower in the HIV(+) than in the HIV(−) children (63.2% vs. 78.8%, P = 0.024), whereas the prevalence of G. intestinalis infection was not (27.6% vs. 32.9%, P = 0.445). “Not boiling drinking water” (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 3.8, P = 0.044) and “helping in nursery care” (aOR: 2.8, P = 0.009) were related to G. intestinalis assemblage B infection, and “CD4/CD8 ratio ≥1” was related to Entamoeba spp. infection (aOR: 3.3, P = 0.005). In stratified regression analyses, HIV infection was negatively associated with G. intestinalis assemblage B infection in females (aOR: 0.3, P = 0.022), but positively associated in males (aOR 3.8, P = 0.04). These results suggest that G. intestinalis assemblage B infection is related to hygienic conditions, while Entamoeba spp. infection is an indicator of better immunological status, and that the role of HIV infection in Giardia infection may differ between Kenyan boys and girls.     

Poliovirus infection results in structural alteration of a microtubule-associated protein.

Poliovirus infection results in profound changes in cellular metabolism and architecture. To identify alterations in cellular proteins following poliovirus infection which might account for these changes, monoclonal antibodies were prepared by screening for differences in antigen pattern in infected and uninfected cell lysates. Further characterization of the antigen of one such antibody (25 C C1) is described in this report. The 25 C C1 antigen is a cytoskeleton-associated protein which decreases in size 4 to 5 h postinfection. It copurifies with some of the protein synthesis initiation factors but not with eucaryotic initiation factor (eIF)-4F, the p220 subunit of which is cleaved following infection (D. Etchison, S. C. Milburn, I. Edery, N. Sonenberg, and J. W. B. Hershey, J. Biol. Chem. 257:14806-14810, 1982). Unlike alteration of p220, alteration of the 25 C C1 antigen is not due to a protease which can be detected by cell lysate mixing experiments. Alteration of the antigen occurs during purification, suggesting progressive proteolysis, but the alteration is more extensive in preparations from infected cells than in those from uninfected cells. A recombinant phage expressing the antigenic determinant was isolated from a human fibroblast cDNA library, and the sequence of the cDNA insert was found to be entirely contained within the established sequence of microtubule-associated protein (MAP) 4 (R. R. West, K. M. Tenbarge, and J. B. Olmsted, J. Biol. Chem. 266:21886-21896, 1991). The antigen distribution, as detected by indirect immunofluorescence, was similar to, but more diffuse than, the distribution of tubulin. The antibody recognized the largest abundant HeLa cell MAP, which copurified with tubulin after three cycles of polymerization-depolymerization, thus confirming the identity of the antigen as MAP 4. These results indicate that poliovirus infection of HeLa cells affects the structural integrity of a cytoskeletal protein, MAP 4.     

Malignant tumours in patients with HIV infection.

One of the most important though somewhat neglected aspects of research in HIV infection concerns the development, clinicopathological characteristics, and treatment of malignant tumours in infected patients. With the improved survival of patients with AIDS owing to the better prevention and treatment of infectious complications there may well be an increase in AIDS related malignancies. This paper reviews the epidemiology, pathology, and treatment of malignant tumours in patients with HIV.     

Urinary excretion of immunoreactive prostaglandin F2 alpha in healthy children and adults

The 24-hours urinary excretion of immunoreactive prostaglandin F2 alpha (U-iPGF2 alpha) in normal children on a free diet was not significantly different in 30 boys (aged 3-15 years; geometric mean 589 ng/24 h) compared to 27 girls (aged 4-14 years; mean 473 ng/24 h). In both sexes this excretion rose with age until adolescence where it reached a plateau. In normal adults the men had significantly higher (p less than 0.001) excretions of U-iPGF2 alpha than the women; also body weight and urinary creatinine excretion were higher in men (p less than 0.001). In the children, as well as in the total population, U-iPGF2 alpha correlated best with body weight (r = 0.44 and r = 0.48 respectively; p less than 0.001) and the urinary creatinine excretion (r = 0.53 and 0.57 respectively; p less than 0.001); both body weight and urinary creatinine excretion are reflections of total body development. After the correction for urinary creatinine excretion or for body weight, the sex difference in the adult U-iPGF2 alpha totally disappeared.