Serologic survey of human hydatid disease in high risk populations from central Tunisia. Preliminary results.

The annual surgical incidence rate of hydatid disease in central Tunisia varies from 11.1 to 30.1 per 100,000 population depending on the district. In order to obtain more comprehensive data, we conducted a serologic survey in the district with the highest rate, using hemagglutination-inhibition to test 480 workers from a state farm and 190 inhabitants of villages in the neighborhood. The overall prevalence rate was 1.3% (9/670). Echotomography revealed liver cysts in all cases and the diagnosis was confirmed in the eight subjects who underwent surgery. If these preliminary results are confirmed by further surveys, mass screening might be considered in high risk districts.

Distribution of surgical hydatidosis in central Tunisia (1982-1985).

The mean annual surgical incidence rates (MASIR) of hydatidosis were measured for the 1982-1985 period in central Tunisia in order to investigate the natural history of human hydatidosis and provide baseline data for the evaluation of future prevention campaigns. 986 cases were identified from surgical records of regional hospitals to which cases from central Tunisia are mandatorily referred. The overall MASIR was 19.3 per 10(5) inhabitants. The MASIR according to district varied from 0 to 56.6 per 10(5), was higher in women than in men (22.6 versus 15.8 per 10(5] and increased with age (maximum 53.0 per 10(5) in the 50-59 age group for women and 27.1 per 10(5) in the 40-49 group for men). Among the 940 cases with single organ hydatidosis, liver ranged first (55.3%, 545/940), then lung (32.4% 320/940), kidney (2.7%) and spleen (1.8%). Among the 865 subjects with single lung or liver hydatidosis, liver was more often involved in women (349 out of 503) than in men (196 out of 362) (chi 2 = 20.9, p less than 0.001). In both sexes, the lung/liver ratio decreased with age. These data reveal the existence of highly endemic foci of hydatidosis within central Tunisia. The predominance of infection in women might be due to sex related behavioral differences. The causes of liver predominance in women and variation of lung/liver ratio are open to question.

[Phlebotomus perfiliewi Parrot, 1930 (Diptera, Psychodidae) from the southeast of France]. / Phlebotomus perfiliewi Parrot, 1930 (Diptera, Psychodidae) dans le sud-est de la France.

The authors report the result of an entomological study in the southeastern France. It is the first time that Phlebotomus perfiliewi is described in that country.

[Plasmodium vivax malaria seizure more than 5 years after a stay in Meknès (Morocco)]. / Accès palustre à Plasmodium vivax plus de cinq ans après un séjour à Meknès (Maroc).

The authors report a case of Plasmodium vivax malaria which happened more than five years after a stay of the patient in Morocco. The late appearance of parasite blood forms and especially gametocytes, as observed in this case, could explain, at least partially, the awakening of apparently extinguished foci and the renewal of the transmission of the epidemic, mediated by the presence of Anopheles. This phenomenon certainly contributed to the failure of malaria eradication campaigns in some countries with endemic P. vivax.

[Epidemiologic interrelation among intestinal protozoans by direct count. Statistical analysis of 9,471 examinations and a comparison with the literature]. / Interrelations épidémiologiques entre protozoaires intestinaux a contage direct. Analyse statistique de 9,471 examens et comparaison avec la littérature.

A statistical study of the results of coprological analysis allows us to appreciate the prevalence of the different parasites, depending on the geographic origin of the outpatients of a hospital situated in the suburbs of Paris. The multifactorial analysis shows, besides other problems, the epidemiological relations between these parasites or, in the contrary, the oppositions which can appear. These results are compared with those published since two decades; their study empowers to set the problem of the fiability of some statistics and, therefore, of the possibilities of an efficient epidemiological research.

[Efficacy of the combination of DEET (20%) and EHD (15%) against mosquito bites. Results of a study carried out in Senegal]. / Efficacité de l'association DEET (20%) et EHD (15%) contre les piqûres de moustiques. Résultats d'une étude de terrain effectuée au Sénégal.

The authors report the results of a survey on the efficacy against mosquito bites of a repellent, Mousticologne Spécial Zones Infestées (DEET 20%, EHD 15%). Two forms of the product, spray and gel, were tested in Senegal. Repellent efficacy was evaluated by exposing volunteers, both repellent-treated and untreated, to mosquito bites. The number of mosquito bites per person and per night was 0.63 in the spray treated group (group 1), 6.03 in the gel treated group (group 2) and 94.17 in the untreated group (group 3). The analysis of these results showed a significant difference between treated and untreated persons. Untreated persons were not protected against mosquito bites, persons treated with the spray were protected for 12 hours and those treated with the gel had over 8 hours' protection. We concluded that a single application of the repellent Mousticologne in the field is capable of ensuring all-night protection against mosquito bites.

[Human helminthiasis at the Gauls]. / Helminthoses humaines chez les Gaulois.

It was possible to realize a salvaging in urgency in a building site into the enclosure of the Hôpital Avicenne in Bobigny (seine-Saint-Denis). Into ditches, traces of a native farm from the second century AC, near miscellaneous objects (pots, hatchets, fibules, pieces) was found twelve skeletons. In the ground, extracted between the wings of ilium of an adult skeleton, with an appropriated technical, it was possible to find eggs of Trichuris trichiura and a lot of eggs of Ascaris lumbrocoides. It proves, the human manure was used very probably in the gaul gardens.

[Would not the Taenia be folium?]. / Le Taenia ne serait-il pas folium?

The name of Taenia solium is a problem for the latinists because solium cannot mean solitary. In some incunabula, appears the word folium. Because they studied latin and parasitology and because they know the possibility to confuse the s and the f in the gothic types, the authors are convinced, that the segment of the tapeworm, in the Breviarium attributed to Arnau de Vilanova, from which is originated the name of this worm was compared to a leaf (folium).

[Plasmodium chabaudi: changes in the surface sialic acids of red blood cells during infection (author's transl)]. / Plasmodium chabaudi: modification des acides sialiques de surface des hématies au cours de l'infestation.

Surface sialic acids of mice red blood cells infected with the malarial parasite Plasmodium chabaudi are increased as compared to extracts of red cells from normal mice. This increase occurs coincidentally when reticulocytes increase in the peripheral blood. The same increase of surface sialic acids is shown by studies of reticulocytes from phenylhydrazine treated mice. Similarly, neutral hexoses, fucose, were found in greater quantities in surface glycopeptides obtained after incubation with trypsin of reticulocytes from phenylhydrazine treated mice than in surface glycopeptides of red cells from normal mice. This increase occurs also in Plasmodium chabaudi infected red cells with the development of reticulocytosis, in the same way. These facts suggest the contribution of reticulocytes to the biochemical changes observed during malaria infection.

Clinical presentation of louse-borne relapsing fever among Ethiopian refugees in northern Somalia.

Louse-borne relapsing fever (LBRF) is still endemic among Ethiopian populations. In order to assess the clinical presentation of LBRF in an Ethiopian refugee camp in northern Somalia, a referral system was organized for all pyrexias of unknown origin. Among the 134 patients referred, 37 showed Borrelia in fresh and stained blood smears. Common clinical features were: high fever (above 39 degrees C in 73% of the cases), headache and general body pain (88%), liver tenderness (62%), petechia (54%), nausea and vomiting (46%), chills and rigors (30%) and epistaxis (11%). Jaundice was absent. No fatalities were observed. The clinical picture was less severe than in previous studies on LBRF. This difference might be due to the fact that the present study was community-based as opposed to the previous studies which were hospital-based.

Leishmaniasis in AIDS patients: results of leukocytoconcentration, a fast biological method of diagnosis.

Leukocytoconcentration is an easy, fast and inexpensive technique for the diagnosis of leishmaniasis from peripheral blood. The technique involves concentration of blood parasites on a small surface of a microscope slide while the red blood cells are removed by lysis. The results, compared with those of other methods (examination of cultures of blood samples and bone marrow smears), were very good and accurate. All but one of our cases of leishmaniasis were patients with HIV co-infection. Leukocytoconcentration facilitates follow-up of cases and fast detection of any relapse.

PIP: The biological diagnosis of an infectious disease is ideally based upon isolating and identifying the pathogenic agent in the host tissue and establishing cultures after direct examination under a microscope. That procedure allows both an accurate diagnosis and an epidemiological survey of the disease. When leishmaniasis occurs in an AIDS patient or any other immunocompromised patient, however, the procedure is often unsatisfactory for the following reasons: the samples are difficult to collect, there may be few parasites, and their growth is slow or impeded by other pathogenic agents. The clinical features, when they are not specific, may be attributed to an etiology other than leishmaniasis. This paper describes an easy, fast, and inexpensive technique for diagnosing leishmaniasis from peripheral blood. Leukocytoconcentration involves concentrating blood parasites on a small surface of a microscope slide while the red blood cells are removed by lysis. The results, compared with those derived from examining cultures of blood samples and bone marrow smears, were very good and accurate. All but one of the cases of leishmaniasis studied were patients co-infected with HIV. Leukocytoconcentration facilitates the follow-up of cases and fast detection of any relapse.

Serological screening for hydatidosis in households of surgical cases in central Tunisia.

Household members of surgical cases of hydatidosis were screened for the disease in two high-risk districts in Central Tunisia. Seventy-four index cases were identified from the 1980-1984 surgical records of Sousse University Hospital. Household members over five years of age were tested by ELISA, and if positive by counterelectrophoresis (CEP) for detection of band 5. Positive subjects underwent a chest X-ray and echotomography (ECT). Eight of the 355 household members (2.2%) living in four different houses were serologically positive. All eight had a normal chest X-ray; a hepatic cyst was detected in seven of them. Five of the seven subjects in whom a cyst was diagnosed lived in two neighbouring houses (19 household members from the same family). Among these 19 subjects, six had been previously operated on for hydatidosis (cumulative rate: 11/19). The comparisons of these results with results obtained through community-based screening in the same area suggest that households members of patients are not at particularly high risk of hydatidosis.