A NATURAL EPIDEMIC OF RUBELLA IN A CLOSED POPULATION: VIROLOGICAL AND EPIDEMIOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to D M HORSTMANN.
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The importance of rubella lies in the 15 to 20 per cent incidence of damage to the fetus when infection occurs in the first trimester of pregnancy. The "rubella syndrome" appears as various combinations of congenital defects, chiefly cardiac anomalies, cataracts and impaired hearing. Now that the rubella virus has been isolated and grown in tissue culture, it is possible to study the spread of the disease, to determine apparent and inapparent infection rates and to investigate the nature of fetal infection. It has been found that the disease is a highly contagious one in the family setting, and that inapparent infections are more common than overt cases with rash. Infection of the fetus in the early weeks of intrauterine life may become chronic, and virus has been recovered from placenta and fetal specimens collected at induced abortions many weeks after the maternal disease. Infants born with the rubella syndrome are still shedding virus at birth and may continue to do so for at least several months. Gamma globulin, which is effective in preventing measles and hepatitis, has not been highly effective in the prevention of rubella when given to those exposed to the disease. Successful control of the rubella problem will depend upon the development of an active vaccine, which is a possibility now that the virus can be grown in tissue culture.
The term enteroviruses was introduced in 1957 to bring together in one large family the polioviruses, Coxsackie A and B and echoviruses, all agents for which the human alimentary tract is the natural habitat. At present more than 60 distinct members are recognized: three polioviruses, 24 Coxsackie A, six Coxsackie B and 30 echoviruses. The list of new members, particularly in the echo-group, grows regularly. The viruses are frequently widely disseminated in the summer and fall of the year, circulating chiefly among young children, causing both apparent and inapparent infection. The enteroviruses are responsible for a wide spectrum of clinical manifestations, including non-specific febrile illness, sometimes with rash, aseptic meningitis, paralytic disease, respiratory infections, pericarditis and myocarditis. There is considerable overlap in biologic behavior, and the same syndrome can be induced by many different agents. In a few instances the clinical pattern is distinct enough to suggest the group of agents involved. Thus, herpangina is associated with the Coxsackie A viruses and epidemic myalgia (devil's grip) with the Coxsackie B group. Paralytic disease is caused primarily by the polioviruses, but recently it has been found that other members, particularly the Coxsackie B viruses and Coxsackie A7 can also cause "paralytic poliomyelitis."The ultimate potential of enteroviruses in terms of central nervous system disease and other manifestations is unpredictable. Great variety in terms of clinical and epidemiologic behavior of known and "new" viruses has been the pattern in the past, and is likely to continue.
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A mass poliomyelitis vaccination campaign, such as that under consideration in Guatemala, inevitably changes the immunological picture of a population by the artificial stimulation of antibodies in large numbers of individuals. It was therefore decided that before carrying out such a campaign, and to provide basic information for its conduct, a survey should be made to determine the degree of natural immunity to poliomyelitis and the amount of poliovirus and other enterovirus infection in the population, and to compare the poliovirus antibody titres of a small group of children who had already received Salk vaccine with those in unvaccinated children living in this area of probable high endemicity. The results of the survey show that both poliovirus and other enterovirus infections are common at an early age in Guatemala, and it is concluded that vaccination is most indicated for the 0-4-year-old group.
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