Epidemiological Investigation of an Outbreak of Enteric Fever.

BACKGROUND: Ninety five cases of enteric fever among military recruits from a regimental training centre at Maharastra were admitted to the local military hospital in a few weeks time. METHODS: A descriptive epidemiological study and detailed site survey was undertaken. Blood culture, antibiotic sensitivity test (ABST) with serotyping and phage typing of the isolates were done. RESULT: A total of 95 cases occurred from 31 March 2003 to 17 May 2003. Blood culture for Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi was positive in 60 (63.16%) cases. All the isolates showed same serotype - 9, 12: d: Vi and all belonged to phage type E1 biotype 1 indicating single source outbreak. There was one fatality. There was clustering in time and place indicating a common source outbreak. Exploration of water pipeline supply revealed sewage contamination due to pipeline passing close to a overflowing manhole. ABST revealed multi-drug resistance. CONCLUSION: The outbreak of enteric fever occurred due to sewage contamination of drinking water pipeline.

Epidemiological Investigation of an Outbreak of Viral Hepatitis.

BACKGROUND: There was a rise in the number of viral hepatitis cases in a regimental training centre in Mar 2003 and an epidemic of viral hepatitis was suspected. METHODS: The clinical case sheets and preliminary investigations carried out in the local military hospital (MH) were reviewed. A cross sectional descriptive epidemiological study was undertaken with survey odf the suspected sewage and water pipelines. RESULTS: A total of 36 cases occurred from Mar 2003 to Apr 2003. There was clustering in time and space suggesting common source epidemic. All the 36 serum samples tested for IgM anti HEV antibodies were positive. Exploration of the water pipelines revealed sewage contamination due to leakage in the pipeline passing close to the sewage line. The overall attack rate was 1.44%. CONCLUSION: The outbreak of viral hepatitis in the regimental training centre occurred due to sewage contamination of drinking water pipeline.

Will mixed chimerism cure autoimmune diseases after a nonmyeloablative stem cell transplant?

BACKGROUND: Mixed chimerism after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation has been shown to cure a number of genetic disorders in both the clinical and experimental settings. Although encouraging results have been reported from animal experiments, the role of mixed chimerism in eliminating autoimmune disorders is not clear. METHODS: A 50-year-old man with extensive psoriasis received an allogeneic transplant from his brother after nonmyeloablative conditioning with fludarabine, melphalan, and Campath-1H for relapsed non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. The chimerism status and the immunological recovery after the transplant were serially monitored. RESULTS: Twenty-one months after the transplant, the patient continues to be in complete remission from psoriasis and lymphoma with stable mixed chimerism (30% to 40% donor cells), despite significant recovery of T-cell subsets and antigen-specific response. CONCLUSIONS: If mixed chimerism can be achieved safely with novel low-intensity conditioning regimens and results in sustained remission of autoimmune diseases, allogeneic transplantation may become a realistic therapy in the management of some patients with autoimmune disease.

A new spray reagent for the detection of synthetic pyrethroids containing a nitrile group on thin-layer plates.

This paper describes a new spray reagent for selective detection of synthetic pyrethroids containing alpha-cyano group i.e. lambda-cyhalothrin, deltamethrin, cyfluthrin and fluvalinate by thin layer chromatography. These synthetic pyrethroids on alkaline hydrolysis, yield a cynohydrin derivative which degrades to give HCN and a corresponding aldehyde. This liberated HCN reduces 2-(4-iodophenyl)-3-(4-nitrophenyl)-5-phenyl tetrazolium chloride (INT) to formazan, a pink product in the presence of phenazonium methosulfate (PMS). The pink colour formed remain stable for more than 24 h. Other group of insecticides like organophosphorus, organochlorine and carbamate do not interfere in the determination. Pyrethroid insecticides not containing hydrolysable nitrile group also do not interfere. The limit of detection is from 0.5 to 1 mug.

Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic determination of cypermethrin and deltamethrin in emulsifiable concentrate formulations.

Fourier tranform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopic method has been developed for determination of cypermethrin and deltamethrin in emulsifiable concentrate formulations. The known concentration of formulation was subjected to preparative thin layer chromatography and the active ingradient zone was scrapped from the plate. Pyrethroids were eluted from the adsorbent with chloroform and estimated by measuring the ester carbonyl absorption band at 1749 cm(-1) in cypermethrin and at 1743 cm(-1) in deltamethrin using base line technique. Recoveries of cypermethrin and deltamethrin from commercial and laboratory prepared formulations were 90 to 97% in both the cases. The validity of FT-IR method was confirmed by comparing the results with standard HPLC method.

Spectrophotometric method for the microdetermination of bendiocarb standard residues in water.

A spectrophotometric method has been developed for the microdetermination of bendiocarb in water. The method is based on the reaction of bendiocarb phenol resulting from the hydrolysis of bendiocarb with nitric acid to form a yellow complex with an adsorption maximum at 420 nm. The method is applicable for estimation of residues of bendiocarb in the range of 10-100 micrograms/5 mL solution.

Metabolism of fluvalinate in chickpea plants under sub-tropical conditions of northern India.

The metabolism of fluvalinate in chickpea plants in the field under sub-tropical climatic conditions has been investigated. Ten days after spraying with fluvalinate, leaves were collected and extracted in acetone. The extract was fractionated and the metabolites were identified by co-chromatography using TLC, GLC, and GC-MS. The anilino acid, a metabolite derived from ester cleavage, was the major metabolite present as both free and conjugated forms in chickpea leaves. 3-PBacid and 3-PBalc were minor metabolites. Glucose was found to be the major sugar conjugating with the metabolites.

Detection and separation of fenpropathrin, flucythrinate, fluvalinate, and PP 321 by thin-layer chromatography.

Four synthetic pyrethroids having alpha-cyano ester groups, i.e., fenpropathrin, flucythrinate, fluvalinate, and PP 321, are separated by thin-layer chromatography and detected by a new set of chromogenic reagents. Synthetic pyrethroids containing the alpha-cyano group react with sodium hydroxide to liberate cyanide which forms pink spots with o-dinitrobenzene and p-nitrobenzaldehyde. The detection limit is 0.1 microgram and the method can be applied for identification and confirmation of these synthetic pyrethroids in vegetables.