Immunoserodiagnosis of acute Streptococcus pneumoniae and Chlamydia pneumoniae infections in the period of epidemic rise of non-hospital pneumonia in children in St. Petersburg, 1998-2001

The dynamics of the antibody formation to S. pneumoniae and C. pneumoniae in children during the epidemic outbreak of non-hospital pneumonia in St. Petersburg in 1998-2001 was studied. For the first time the inhibiting influence of acute C. pneumoniae infection on the synthesis of antibodies to S. pneumoniae in acute mixed infection was established. The prolonged (up to days 29-39 of the disease) circulation of IgM and IgG antibodies in acute chlamydial infection, as well as the prevalence of the primary infectious process, were detected.     

Grandmaternal age in children with Down syndrome in St. Petersburg

Advanced maternal age is a well-established factor of DS occurrence. However the majority of DS cases are born to young couples. Some studies suggested that the risk for Down syndrome may be related to an aging grandmother. We obtained data on grandmaternal ages in 243 families of DS and 330 families of healthy children born in 1990-1999. The data were analyzed according to two categories of maternal ages, <30 yr and > or =30 yr. We did not find systematic differences in grandparental age distribution between the studied groups. Specifically, in 102 young couples with DS, medians for both maternal and paternal grandmother's age appeared to be equal (26 yr). Similar figures were observed in 284 young controls (27 yr). There was no difference in age distribution between 141 older couples with DS and 104 control couples. Therefore we failed to support the suggestion that advanced age of the DS grandmother is responsible for meiotic disturbance in her daughter. Neither the hypothesis suggesting a significant contribution of parentally transmitted trisomy 21 to DS population rate has been confirmed.     

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.     

Laboratory diagnostics in community-acquired pneumonia outbreak investigation in town Verkhnyaya Pyshma

Data on laboratory study of 367 clinical samples from patients with community-acquired pneumonia diagnosis, 70 samples of cold and hot water from the systems of cold and hot water supply, 15 samples of technical water, 4 samples from open basins, 35 lavage samples from environmental objects, which came to laboratory of control for biological factors in Center of Hygiene and Epidemiology in Sverdlovsk region during outbreak pneumonia caused by Legionella in town Verkhnyaya Pyshma in July-August 2007, were presented. Procedure for laboratory diagnostics was developed, complex of laboratory methods considering the pressure of time in outbreak situation was determined.     

Molecular typing of the strains of Bordetella pertussis circulating in St. Petersburg during an outbreak of the disease

Growth of the whooping-cough morbidity during the last years in Russia and other countries with 40-year-long history of immunization gave rise to significant interest of researchers to variability of the Bordetella pertussis population. Comparative assay of the genomes of the B. pertussis strains circulating in St. Petersburg in 1998-2000 and strains used to produce domestic vaccines AKDS was performed using the pulse-field electrophoresis and sequencing. It was found that most strains of B. pertussis circulating during this period were distinguished from the vaccine strains by the DNA-profile and structure of genes involved in encoding of biosynthesis of the S1 subunit of the whooping-cough toxin (ptxS1) and pertactin (prn). It was shown that 62% of wild-type strains had electrophoretic profiles IV alpha and IV beta, whereas vaccine strains had electrophoretic profiles II and III. Circulation of strains with profiles IV alpha and IV beta was found to correlate with the whooping-cough morbidity rate in vaccinated children. Our results and data of other researchers were compared and analyzed.     

Current features of HIV-infection in St. Petersburg

Dynamics of HIV-infection epidemic in St. Petersburg was analyzed. New features of epidemic process, which were not observed in St. Petersburg earlier, whereas noted in other territories of Russia, were revealed and described.     

Etiology and treatment of pneumonia in children]

The most widespread pathogens of pneumonia in children i.e. Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae and their antibiotic susceptibility are described. The ways of selecting starting antibacterial drugs for the treatment of community-acquired and hospital pneumonia are recommended proceeding from the original findings and some literature data. Oral drugs for the treatment of uncomplicated pneumonia are shown to be preferential. In the treatment of nosocomial or hospital pneumonia the starting regimen should allow for the previous antibacterial therapy.     

Grandmaternal ages at birth of parents of children with down syndrome in St. Petersburg

Data on the age of grandparents of 243 children with Down syndrome (DS) born between 1990 and 1999 are considered in this work in comparison with control families of 330 healthy children. In 102 families, where the age of the mother at the birth of a child with DS was younger 30 (or less than 30) years, the median ages of both maternal and paternal grandmothers of probands were actually the same (26 years). Actually, the median age of grandmothers in 226 young families having healthy children were also the same (27 years). No differences in the indicators in question were revealed between 141 families with DS and 104 families with healthy children, where the mothers were older than 29 years. Thus, our results have not confirmed the hypothesis about the influence of the age of DS probands’ grandmothers on the segregation of chromosomes in their daughters’ oogenesis, as well as the hypothesis about a significant contribution of the inherited trisomy of chromosome 21 to the frequency of DS in the general population.     

Etiology of influenza according to the data of serological diagnostics in hospital patients in St. Petersburg at the period of 1968 - 2000

The specific features of the etiology of influenza in children and adults at the period of the simultaneous circulation of two subtypes of influenza virus A, according to the results in the hemagglutination-inhibition reaction in 261,490 influenza and ARD patients hospitalized in St. Petersburg in the course of 32 years, were analyzed. The results of serological diagnostics was shown to correspond to the data of the identification of influenza viruses in Russia and all over the world. At the period of epidemics diseases caused by the main infective agents of the epidemics were detected in 11.0% - 51.0% of cases and by concomitant infective agents, in 0.6% - 12.4% of cases. After the reappearance of influenza virus A(H1N1) in circulation higher frequency of mixed forms of infection and the presence of competition between the subtypes of influenza virus A was noted. In young children a decrease in differences in the proportion of influenza cases, caused by the main and concomitant infective agents, as well as between the detection of influenza in epidemic and in summer periods, was registered.     

Molecular-biological characteristics of rubella virus strains isolated in St. Petersburg

In the surveillance of the incidence of rubella in the northwestern region of Russia, an analysis was conducted of swabs from the noses and pharynxes of 37 patients with rubella treated in Solovev District Military Clinical Hospital No. 442. To isolate the virus, the RK-13 cell line was used, in total 22 strains were allocated. The strains of the Rubella virus isolated in St. Petersburg during the 2007 outbreak belong to the 1E genotype. In the culture of RK-13 cells, changes of cellular morphogenesis and the formation of replicative complexes, as well as the shells of virions of rubella viruses, were detected.     

Etiology of pneumonia in children in the absence of pneumococcal and antihaemophilus vaccines

Childhood pneumonia represents an important pathology, a cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Our study aims to determine etiology of pneumonia in hospitalized children using several laboratory methods. We performed a prospective study that enrolled 560 children age 1 up to 18 years old all diagnosed with pneumonia by clinical and radiological features. We applied various laboratory methods (serologic, bacteriologic: bronchial aspirate, sputum, pleural effusion and blood culture) in order to identify a pathogen agent that caused pneumonia. Statistics used Statistical Package for Social Science. An etiology was established in 68.92% of all cases included in the study, as follows: in 33.93% viral etiology, in 25.13% we identified Streptococcus pneumoniae, in 20.2% Mycoplasma pneumoniae, Klebsiella pneumoniae in 8.29%, Staphylococcus aureus in 7.51%, Haemophilus influenzae in 4.92%. Mixed bacterial and viral infection was identified in 4.40% of all cases. A potential causative agent of childhood pneumonia was determined in most cases, S. pneumoniae being the main agent involved in community acquired childhood pneumonia in our country.     

Post-socialism and notions of context in St Petersburg

The anthropology of post-socialism has largely been framed around a suspension of judgement of the so-called 'transition to market capitalism'. In this article I explore this theme as an ethnographic question and ask how social context is marked locally. I argue that while suspending judgements about the nature of context is nearly impossible in a sustained fashion – marriages must be planned, universities attended, etc. – in many ways people have a practical disposition that does in fact resemble the anthropological hesitance to pass judgement. I argue that ways of imagining context have more to do with historically informed practices of personhood and 'pretence' than with crisis and chaos.     

Genetic Demography of the Population of St. Petersburg: Migration Processes

Russian Journal of Genetics - The principal genetic demographic parameters that describe migration processes affecting the structure of the St. Petersburg population gene pool were determined on...     

Pharmacogenetics of community-acquired pneumonia

The rate of acetylation of xenobiotics affects the course and prognosis of infectious diseases. The efficacy of antibiotic therapy of community-acquired pneumonia in RA-patients is lower than that in LA-ones. In order to ensure the best antimicrobial effect on the onset of the disease it is required to use regimens with the maximum permissible dose of antibacterial drugs in the regions where the rapid type prevails.     

Airborne fungi in four stations of the St. Petersburg Underground railway system

The fungal and bacterial aerobiota of four St. Petersburg Underground stations has been examined over a 4-month period. In the indoor air of St. Petersburg Underground 50 fungal species were found, among which were likely deteriogenic fungi. The most prevailing genera were Acremonium, Aspergillus, Cladosporium and Penicillium. Fungal spore density in the underground air was within the sanitary level accepted for public buildings. The spore densities and specificities correlated with the station type. A more specific (independent of outdoor) air mycobiota was found in deeper stations. All fungal isolates were tested in laboratory conditions for their ability to produce extracellular proteinase, phospholipase, and hemolytic activities which can be associated to virulence. Only 2 of the 75 isolates expressed a high level of all three activities. Assuming this figure can serve as a rough assessment of pathogenicity potential, the risk of invasive mycoses was not considered significant. But taking into account the situation with peak-hours overcrowding, it may be concluded that the risk of “mould” allergic diseases for some categories of the underground passengers in St. Petersburg does exist.