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G Zissis

Publications and source records attributed to G Zissis.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1987

Seroepidemiological study on sexually transmitted diseases and hepatitis B in African promiscuous heterosexuals in relation to HTLV-III infection.

A seroepidemiological study was performed on HTLV-III, T. pallidum, C. trachomatis and Hepatitis B virus (HBV), in Butare, Rwanda, among 33 female prostitutes, 25 male customers of prostitutes, and 60 male and female controls. As compared with female controls the prostitutes had a higher prevalence of antibodies to HTLV-III (29/33 versus 4/33, p less than 0.001), T. pallidum (TPHA: 27/33 versus 6/33, p less than 0.001; RPR: 19/33 versus 2/33, p less than 0.001; FTA-Abs: 27/33 versus 5/33, p less than 0.001) and C. trachomatis (IgG IF: 31/33 versus 13/33, p less than 0.001). HBV serological markers were more often detected in the prostitutes than in the female controls (31/33 versus 18/33, p less than 0.001) although HBs antigen carriage rate was similar in both groups. As compared with male controls, the male customers of prostitutes had more frequently detectable antibodies to HTLV-III (7/25 versus 2/27, p = 0.05), and a positive RPR (10/25 versus 1/27, p less than 0.01). Among the 118 individuals studied, odds ratios and trend analysis disclosed a significant association between HTLV-III seropositivity and a positive TPHA, RPR, FTA-Abs, Chlamydia IgG IF test and serological markers to HBV. No association was found between HTLV-III seropositivity and HBs Ag carriage. This study suggests that HTLV-III has to be considered as an infectious agent transmitted among promiscuous Central African heterosexuals by sexual contact and/or parenteral contact with unsterile needles used for STD treatments.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1987

Risk factors for HIV seropositivity in selected urban-based Rwandese adults.

In January 1987, HIV antibodies were detected by means of an immunoenzymatic assay, indirect immunofluorescence and Western blot in 52 out of 302 male urban-based professionals and in 28 out of 150 health workers in Kigali, Rwanda. Univariate analysis showed an association between HIV seropositivity and a history of sexually transmitted diseases (STD), blood transfusion, medical injections for treatment of STD, and medical injections for treatment of febrile illnesses. However, injection related to treatment of other conditions were not associated with HIV seropositivity. Among health workers, no association between HIV seropositivity and professional or accidental exposure to HIV-infected patients or to their body fluids was identified. Discriminant analysis showed that HIV seropositivity was associated only with a history of STD and with a history of blood transfusion. In central Africa, a history of STD and a history of blood transfusion should be considered as risk factors for HIV seropositivity. Medical or accidental injections do not seem to play a major role in the transmission of HIV among adults in central Africa.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1987

HIV antibodies in a remote rural area in Rwanda, Central Africa: an analysis of potential risk factors for HIV seropositivity.

Detection of HIV antibodies by means of an immunoenzymatic assay, an indirect immunofluorescence technique and Western blot was attempted on 375 serum samples collected in the Murunda area, a remote rural area situated in Rwanda, central Africa. Two out of 147 (1.4%) adults from a strict rural area, five out of 59 (8.5%) adults from an adjacent market place, and 49 out of 169 (30%) STD clinic attenders from the same area were HIV seropositive. In the first two groups, HIV seropositivity was associated with a history of sexually transmitted disease (STD) in the previous 2 years (P less than 0.001) and with a history of travel to a Rwandese urban centre in the previous 5 years (P less than 0.05). This study suggests that HIV seroprevalence is low in rural central Africa compared with urban centres. Risk factors for HIV seropositivity are similar in rural and urban-based adults in Rwanda, i.e. heterosexual promiscuity and STDs. Many HIV seropositive rural subjects from this study are likely to have acquired HIV infection through sexual contacts in Rwandese cities.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1986

A comparative trial of rhesus monkey (RRV-1) and bovine (RIT 4237) oral rotavirus vaccines in young children.

Heterologous live, oral rotavirus vaccines of rhesus monkey (RRV-1) and bovine (RIT 4237) origin were tested for immunogenicity, excretion of virus, and clinical reactions in six- to eight-month-old infants. Antibody response, indicating infection with the vaccine virus, was detected in 21 (88%) of 24 children receiving the RRV-1 vaccine and in 18 (75%) of 24 receiving the RIT 4237 vaccine. Excretion of virus in the stools within one week after vaccination was demonstrable in 84% of the RRV-1 and in 21% of the RIT 4237 vaccinees. RRV-1 vaccination was associated with a febrile response (over 38 C) that clustered on days 3 or 4 postvaccination in 64% of the recipient children. In addition, 20% of the RRV-1 vaccinees had watery stools on days 4 or 5. Fever on days 3 and 4 and loose stools were not seen in the RIT 4237 vaccinees. We concluded that in young children the RRV-1 (rhesus monkey) rotavirus vaccine is more immunogenic than the RIT 4237 (bovine) rotavirus vaccine, but vaccination with RRV-1 is associated with significant adverse reactions.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMed1986

Oral "hairy" leucoplakia in an African AIDS patient.

A 34-year-old African patient with AIDS developed a new form of oral leucoplakia closely resembling the "hairy" leucoplakia described by Greenspan in male homosexuals in the San Francisco area. A herpes-like virus was seen on ultrastructural analysis with electron microscopy. This case supplies further evidence suggesting that the syndrome in patients originating in Central Africa is similar to the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) reported in American patients.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1978

Epidemiology of human rotavirus Types 1 and 2 as studied by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

To determine the relative importance of two known serotypes of human rotavirus, we developed an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to differentiate serotype-specific rotavirus antigen and antibody. Using this technic, we studied the epidemiology of the two serotypes in acute gastroenteritis. Seventy-seven per cent of 414 rotavirus isolates were Type 2, and the remainder were Type 1. The serotype distribution was similar in specimens from children in Washington, D.C., and other parts of the world. Sero-epidemiologic studies revealed that most children living in the Washington, D.C., area acquired antibody to both types by the age of two years. An analysis of children who were reinfected indicated that sequential infections usually involved different serotypes and that illness caused by one serotype did not provide resistance to illness caused by the other serotype. These results suggest that, to be completely effective, a vaccine must provide resistance to both serotypes.

Antibodies, Viral↗
PubMed1978

Routine diagnosis of human rotaviruses in stools.

Electron microscopy, immune electron microscopy and complement fixation as methods of detecting rotavirus in the stools of young children with gastroenteritis were compared in a blind study during the winter of 1975-6. Complement fixation was the simplest to perform, was as sensitive as the other two, and allowed a quantitative measurement of viral excretion. Absorption of faecal extracts with fetal calf serum usually removed the anticomplementary activity of faecal extracts.

Child↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Factors affecting antibody response of newborns to repeated administrations of the rotavirus vaccine RIT 4237.

The safety and immunogenicity of repeated doses of RIT 4237, an oral live attenuated rotavirus vaccine of bovine origin, as well as the influence of gastric acidity and maternal antibodies on the vaccine "take rate" were studied in newborns. The vaccine was given orally on the first day of life, at 1 month, and at 2 months of age. Fifty-seven newborns entered the study but only 36 completed the trial. No adverse reaction was observed after vaccination. Immune responses were evaluated by titrating pre- and postvaccination serum antibodies to RIT 4237 by a neutralization technique. Eight of 43 (18.6%) tested infants responded to the first dose of vaccine. Subsequently another six and 11 infants responded to the second and third dose, respectively. The total cumulative response after the third dose was 23 of 36 vaccinees (63.9%). The geometric mean neutralizing antibody titers was lower in responders than in nonresponders before the first dose of vaccine indicating that maternal antibodies interfered with vaccine "take." Since the RIT 4237 strain is acid sensitive, gastric pH was measured at the time of each vaccination. Mean pH values in responders were not significantly different than those found in nonresponders. Therefore, vaccine failures cannot be due to inactivation of the rotavirus vaccine in the stomach but instead they can be attributed to high levels of maternal antibodies. At each vaccination, additional subjects seroconverted. Therefore, a multiple dose scheme is advisable to obtain an optimal immune response.

Administration, Oral↗