PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

C K Farhat

Publications and source records attributed to C K Farhat.

26 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

[Prevalence of Haemophilus influenzae resistant to ampicillin, cefaclor, cefotaxime, chloramphenicol and cotrimoxazol isolated from laboratories in the city of São Paulo, Brazil].

OBJECTIVE: To determine Haemophilus influenzae resistant to ampicillin and other antibiotics isolated from different clinical specimens. METHODS: Isolates of H. influenzae were identified by culture with V and X factors and the aminolevulinic test. Nitrocefin was used to detect beta-lactamase (betaLac) production isolates were tested for antimicrobial susceptibility by disc diffusion and agar dilution methods. Serotype b was assessed by slide co-agglutination. RESULTS: From 245 H. influenzae identified, 155 were tested for serotype b, 28% (43/155) of which were positive. The global rate of beta-lactamase-positive isolates was 9% (22/245). Resistance was similar among serotype b (11.6%) and non-type b H. influenzae (9.8%) (p>0.05). No difference on betaLac production was found according to specimen's origin or the patients' age. Resistances to other antibiotics (by agar dilution and disc diffusion method, respectively) were: chloramphenicol 3.3 to 7.1%; cefaclor: 1.6 to 3.9% and cotrimoxazol: 9.1 to 10.5%. No resistance to cefotaxime has been detected; 63% (5/8) beta-Lac-positive isolates by agar dilution showed also resistance to chloramphenicol, compared to 3% (4/118) in the ss-Lac-negative group (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: H. influenzae ampicillin-resistance has shown to be lower than other hospital-based-studies in São Paulo, and comparable to rates found in healthy carriers. The association between ampicillin and chloramphenicol resistance was significant: where this pattern is frequently found, the initial therapy for severe H. influenzae infections - like meningitis - should include a third generation cephalosporin.

English Abstract↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Comparison of seroconversion rates between well-nourished and malnourished children after measles immunization at nine months of age].

The study was based on activities developed at Embu, SP, between October 1989 and June 1990. Its purpose was to study serological turning after child vaccination against measles at the age of nine months. Two groups were compared, both within the same age limits. Group number I included eutrophic children and group number II included undernourished children. Gomes criteria was used to evaluate the childreńs nutritional state. Antibodies (AB) dosage was done through hemagglutination inhibition (HI) and ELISA. These two laboratory methods were also checked regarding its sensibility. Out of 130 children studied, 80 could be evaluated. From this total, 56 (70%) belonged to group I and 24 (30%) belonged to group II. When the ELISA method was used, a significantly higher seroconversion percentage (P < 0.05 or 5%) was found among children belonging to group II. This percentage was not detected when the HI method was used.

English Abstract↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[BCG test reaction in previously BCG Moreaux-Rio de Janeiro-vaccinated healthy children].

BCG-test reaction was carried out in 91 non-tuberculous children between 2 and 11 years old, who had received BCG vaccination during the first six months of life to critically evaluate the usefulness of this test in Pediatric practice. The BCG-test profile of the vaccinated group was shown to have a unimodal distribution, varying from 3 to 17 millimeters, with a median of 6 millimeters. It was demonstrated that the degree of reaction decreases with time. Nevertheless, false-positives could be expected in a significant percentage when reactions larger than 10 millimeters are considered as a cutoff. The specificity can be increased using only reactions with diameter equal or greater than 15 millimeters as an indicator of tuberculous disease.

English Abstract↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Persistence of colonization time in patients infected by Salmonella].

Salmonella is an important etiological agent of hospital infection in children, reaching endemic levels in some Brazilian states during the seventies and the eighties. We have prospectively studied twenty five children between four and one hundred eighty days old acutely infected with salmonella non typhi to determine the duration of carrier status and its clinical repercussion. After the diagnosis, the children were submitted monthly to clinical examination, and cultures were collected from skin, oropharynx, urine, stools, genitals, nostrils and auditive conduct. During the follow-up, eighteen (72%) children still had positive culture at four weeks after the diagnosis, ten (40%) at sixteen weeks, four (16%) at twenty weeks, and one (4%) at twenty four weeks. In eleven children, we performed biotype and antibiotic susceptibility study of the bacteria recovered at the diagnosis and during the follow-up. In every child the biotype of the bacteria recovered at the diagnosis and during the follow-up was the same. These data indicate that there is a persistent excretion of salmonella that can last for 24 weeks. Such bacterial elimination may be a dissemination source either to hospital or to home contacts. The use of specific antibiotics was effective for the clinical improvement of the patients during the acute disease, but it didn't avoid the carrier state.

Bacterial Typing Techniques↗