Vol 15, No 6 (2010)

The epizootic and epidemic anthrax situation was retrospectively analyzed in the Republic of Buryatia in 1995-2008. In Buryatia, the average long-term morbidity (0.163±0.072 per 100,000 population) was 9.1 times greater than that in Siberia (0.018±0.017). Four areas of the republic notified 88 cases of bovine anthrax. Twenty-three human cases of mainly its cutaneous form belonged to the non-occupationally contaminated farm-related type of the bovine subtype. All epizootologic and epidemiological complications of anthrax in this period are described. A package of preventive measures is proposed to improve epidemiological surveillance of anthrax in the Republic of Buryatia.

O1, O139, and nonO1/nonO139 Vibrio cholerae strains isolated in Russia, CIS, and other countries underwent polymerase chain reaction screening for their genomic pathogenicity/persistence determinants, including the type III secretion system (TTSS) genes. The TSS genes were first found in V. cholerae O1 serogroup. These genes were shown to be absent in the test toxigenic (ctxAB+) strains of all serogroups and nontoxigenic (ctxAB-) representatives of O139 serogroup, but present in a great deal of ctxAB- strains of O1 and nonO1/nonO139 V. cholerae, including those containing a pre-CTXo/ prophage. Many of the TTSS-positive strains were pathogens of sporadic cases and local outbreaks of non-epidemic cholera. The wide spread of the vcs cluster genes among the clinical and aqueous O1 and nonO1/ nonO139 V. cholera strains suggests the involvement in both their manifestation of virulence and ability to preserve in the environmental objects; however, pathogenicity/persistence factors seem to be interchangeable.

Morbidity during 2001 to 2007 was analyzed in children under 14 years of age in Kursk, Zheleznogorsk, and Kursk Regions. Higher total morbidity and higher incidence of respiratory, digestive, nervous and immune mechanism-involving diseases were found in Zheleznogorsk, the distinctive feature of which was increased geomagnetic field intensity.

The paper presents the results of a clinical observation and complex examination of 48 patients with Q-fever, the blood samples from 20 of them were tested for lysozyme, complement, and circulating immune complexes (CIC). The swing of the disease was characterized by the maximum clinical manifestations of the disease. Early reconvalescence was marked by a decrement in the clinical symptoms of the disease and a gradual recovery of the body's impaired functions. The study indicated a relationship between the level of nonspecific resistance factors and the stage of the pathologic process. The swing of the disease showed an increase in the amount of CIC with lower complement activity and normal lysozyme levels. In early reconvalescence, there was an increase in the levels of CIC and a decrease in total complementary activity as compared with those in the previous period. At the same time blood lysozyme activity substantially increased and exceeded the control values.

One hundred and ninety-six Vibrio parahaemolyticus strains that are etiological agents causing outbreaks and sporadic cases of food toxicoinfections and isolated from the environments of Russia, Ukraine, and Turkmenia are characterized by virulence-associated phenotypic and genotypic signs. Most clinical strains were found to contain the genes of the major pathogenicity factors - thermostable direct hemolysin (TDH) and/or TDH-related hemolysin (TRH); however, a large number of pathogens lack these genes. In all likelihood, these strains can cause human diseases, by producing other toxic substances. The presence of the trh gene correlated with that and expression of the urease genes. Comparative analysis of the findings has demonstrated that the results of polymerase chain reaction detection of the tdh gene do not always agree with the signs of hemolytic activity on the Wagatsum medium (Kanagawa phenomenon). Therefore, both tests that complement each other are recommended for a fuller evaluation of the potential danger of Vibrio parahaemolyticus strains.

The paper presents the experience in managing children with bacterial meningitis at the Department of Neuroinfections, Research Institute of Childhood Infections, Federal Biomedical Agency of Russia. It comprehensively characterizes the specific features of the clinical picture, premorbid background and outcomes of bacterial meningococcal, pneumococcal, and Hemophilus influenzae type b meningitides. New possibilities of primary prevention of pneumococcal meningitis, by using the 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, are described.