Suzel Nogueira Neme

Etiology of acute diarrhea among children in Ribeirão Preto-SP, Brazil

To study the main enteropathogens causing diarrhea in the region of Ribeirão Preto regarding serogroups and serotypes, the feces of 1836 children under 10 years old, from both sexes, attack of acute gastroenteritis, were analysed during a period of 4 years in Adolfo Lutz Institute - Ribeirão Preto, SP. The pathogens identified by standard methods were the following: Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp., Shigella spp., Campylobacter spp., Yersinia spp., and Cryptosporidium spp. Positive samples were 22.8% (419) with 1.7% association of pathogens. Larger isolates were mainly from children 0 to 11 months old. Enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC) was most frequent (8.7%) with predominance of serogroup O119 (40.2%), followed by Shigella (6.2%), 63.6% of which S. sonnei.

Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae as etiological agents of conjunctivitis outbreaks in the region of Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil

In the study of conjunctivitis outbreaks occurring from September 1994 to September 1996 in the region of Ribeirão Preto, conjunctival exudates of 92 patients were cultivated in Instituto Adolfo Lutz Laboratory I, Ribeirão Preto. Most cases occurred in the age range 2-7 years. The etiological agents which were most frequently isolated from the analyzed cases were: Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae, in 40.22% and 21.74%, respectively. 51.35% of the S. pneumoniae isolated strains were not typable. The oxacillin-resistant S. pneumoniae strains were submitted to the minimum inhibitory concentration test (MIC) and three of them presented intermediate resistance, whereas only one was highly resistant to penicillin.

Rotavirus genotype G4P[8] and enteric adenovirus in HIV-positive patients with and without diarrhoea in São Paulo State, Brazil

The present study was carried out in order to identify rotavirus and enteric adenovirus in HIV-positive patients with and without diarrhoea, collected in a pre- and early highly active antiretroviral therapy era. Rotavirus was detected in 2.5% (3/118) and adenovirus in 14.4% (17/118) of the samples from patients without diarrhoea. In the patients with diarrhoea, rotavirus was identified in 1.5% (2/133) and adenovirus in 7.5% (10/133). These findings suggest no increased frequency of virus excretion in HIV-infected patients with diarrhoea. The genotype G4P[8] was characterized in all positive rotavirus samples, and this is the first report of rotavirus molecular characterization in HIV-positive patients in Brazil.

Nasopharyngeal colonization by Haemophilus influenzae in children attending day-care centers, in Ribeirão Preto, State of São Paulo, Brazil

Nasopharyngeal carriage of Haemophilus influenzae (Hi) was studied in 114 healthy children < 3 years old, attending day-care centers (DCCs) in Ribeirao Preto, State of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Biotype, serotype (by specific antisera and PCR) and antibiotic susceptibility to 14 antibiotics of each isolate were determined. Carriage rates of Hi were 72.0%. Isolates belonged to biotype II (36.5%), I (21.5%), V (18.2%) and III (16.1%). The prevalence of encapsulated Hi carriers was 3.2% for type f, 1.0% for type b, 1.0% for type d and 1.0% for type e. Resistances to trimethoprim-sulphamethoxazole and ampicillin were 46.2% and 10.7% respectively. Multidrug resistance was found in 14 (15.0%) of the isolates tested. Among the isolates, 13.9% were b-lactamase producers; there were no b-lactamase negative ampicillin resistant isolates. DCCs are niches with a high potential for the spread of microorganisms and should be continuously monitored to detect elimination or replacement of H. influenzae type b colonization.

Marcadores epidemiológicos de Salmonella typhimurium e Salmonella agona

Entre as cepas de S. typhimurium e S. agona isoladas no periodo 1971-1987 foram caracterizados os biotipos, colicinotipos e antibiotipos de 734 cepas de S. typhimurium e 631 de S. agona. As 734 cepas de S. typhimurium foram classificadas em 65 biotipos com o predominio dos biotipos 1a com 28,34%, 1b com 29,84% e 9bi com 18,25%. Com relacao a S. agona, o biotipo 1a com 87,16% representou entre nos o clone amplamente disseminado. Foram encontradas frequencias baixas de cepas colicinogenicas, entretanto, a colicinotipia parece ser um bom metodo quando aplicada ao estudo de amostras homogeneas provenientes de surtos. Acentuada multirresistencia aos agentes antimicrobianos, foi observada principalmente entre aquelas cepas de origem humana quase sempre representadas por cepas hospitalares

COMPARISON OF TWO SLIDE AGGLUTINATION SEROTYPING METHODS AND PCR-BASED CAPSULE TYPING FOR THE CHARACTERIZATION OF HAEMOPHILUS INFLUENZAE SEROTYPES

Ninety-three nasopharyngeal Haemophilus influenzae isolates were serotyped by two slide agglutination methods (SAST 1 and SAST 2) and the results compared with those obtained by capsule type-specific PCR. SAST 1 presented a low correlation with results obtained by PCR (75.2%) while SAST 2 showed a better agreement with the molecular technique results (93.5%). These findings suggest that SAST 2 could be an alternative method for adequate detection of H.influenzae type b.