Childhood asthma and atmospheric conditions.

Bronchial asthma is the most common chronic respiratory illness in childhood. It is characterized by paroxysmal bronchospastic periods. There are many studies giving reasons to explain the bronchospasm periods. One of the reasons, atmospheric conditions, is effective in creating a clinical picture of asthmatic patients. In the present study, the correlation between atmospheric conditions and asthmatic symptoms in children was investigated using peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) as the respiratory function test. Twenty-one children with bronchial asthma were monitored in the study. They were followed as outpatients of the Ege University Medical Faculty, Department of Pediatric Allergy and Pneumotology, between November 1993 and June 1994. Atmospheric conditions were recorded from the local meteorology center. Complaints and the PEFR of children were compared with the meteorological data. Asthmatic symptoms were increased by low temperatures in all asthmatic children. An increase was detected in the extrinsic group by relative humidity and ratio of cloud, but in the intrinsic group only by relative humidity.

Chlamydial infection in infants.

Conjunctival and nasopharyngeal samples were collected from 51 infants aged 1 month-1 year, who have been hospitalized for lower respiratory tract disease which had begun on the 4-12th week of life and has shown recurrences since then. Acute period blood samples were available from 42 of these children. Chlamydia trachomatis antigen was searched for in the conjunctival and nasopharyngeal specimens by a direct fluorescence test (MikroTrak, Syva Co.), and serum anti-chlamydial IgM antibodies were detected by enzyme immunoassay (Sero ELISA Chlamydia, Savyon Diagnostics). Chlamydia trachomatis was detected from at least one site in 20 children, and 15 children were positive for anti-chlamydial IgM antibodies. Serum samples were available in 16 of 20 children who were positive for C. trachomatis antigens, and 12 had IgM antibodies. Three infants who were antigen negative, also had anti-chlamydial antibodies. Whether antigen positive or not, all patients with antichlamydial antibodies were considered to have pneumoniae due to C. trachomatis, and those who had only antigens without any antibodies, to be superficially infected and carry the organism symptomatically or asymptomatically.

Prevalence of Chlamydia pneumoniae specific antibodies in different clinical situations and healthy subjects in Izmir, Turkey.

Serological markers for Chlamydia pneumoniae were investigated by using the microimmunofluorescence (MIF) test in various age and patient groups in a specific area in Turkey. IgG seropositivity to C. pneumoniae was 64.3% and 18.7% in healthy adults and children, respectively. The highest positivity rate (77%) was in the 15-19 age group. Among the groups investigated, serological findings revealed a possible etiological association between C. pneumoniae and the clinical condition in the groups with acute myocardial infarction, atypical pneumoniae and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.