Biomedical subjects

I Grotto

Publications and source records attributed to I Grotto.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1998

Influenza vaccine efficacy in young, healthy adults.

Findings concerning influenza vaccine efficacy in young, healthy adults are inconsistent. A high incidence of influenza in the winter of 1995 provided an opportunity to study the efficacy of influenza vaccine among young, healthy military personnel. Influenza activity was confirmed by isolation of influenza A and B viruses from nasopharyngeal swab specimens from hospitalized soldiers. Self-administered questionnaires concerning vaccination status and disease symptoms were used in two study groups: recruits and veteran soldiers serving in different camps. Six hundred eighty-four individuals had received influenza vaccine and 652 had not. Vaccine efficacy was found to be 38.1% (P = .002) for preventing febrile illness with or without symptoms and slightly higher (41.6%; P < .001) for preventing fever together with upper respiratory tract symptoms. The current influenza vaccine significantly reduced febrile illness among healthy military personnel.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1997

[Epidemiological characteristics of outbreaks of diarrhea and food poisoning in the Israel Defense Forces in the years 1978-1995].

Acute infectious diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and food poisoning are problems of great importance in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). They involve individual and epidemic morbidity, with impairment of health of individual soldiers and in the activities of units. Outbreaks of gastrointestinal infectious diseases must be reported to the IDF army health branch, which conducts epidemiological investigation. This study is based on data from yearly epidemiological reports for 1978-1989, and from a computerized database for the years 1990-1995. The incidence of outbreaks is characterized by an unstable trend. It was highest at the end of the 80's (68.3 per 100,000 soldiers on active duty) and lowest for the last 2 years (1994-1995, 36.3 per 100,000). The incidence of soldiers involved in food-borne outbreaks has been more stable, constantly declining during the course of the years. There was marked seasonality with a peak in the summer months. Sporadic morbidity was constant in 1990-1995, with a yearly attack rate of 60% in soldiers on active duty. Shigella strains were the leading cause of outbreaks until 1993, while in 1994-1995 their proportion decreased, with an increase in the proportion of Salmonella strains. As to Staphylococcus aureus, its role in causing food poisoning has been characterized by marked changes. Shigella sonnei replaced Shigella flexneri as the leading strain. 73.3% of outbreaks were small, with fewer than 40 soldiers involved, while 5.4% of outbreaks affected more than 100 soldiers. Outbreaks in which a bacterial agent was identified or which occurred in new-recruit bases were larger than those in which a bacterial agent was not identified, or which occurred in active field unit bases. In conclusion, the rates of infectious disease of the gastrointestinal tract are still high, although there has been a marked decrease since 1994. The incidence of outbreaks has also decreased, as well as the role of Shigella as a leading causative agent.

Bacterial Infections↗

PubMed1995

[Cholera].

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Cholera↗

PubMed1995

Meningococcal disease in the Israel Defense Force: epidemiologic trends and new challenges.

To determine recent trends in its epidemiology and the need to reconsider prophylactic interventions, meningococcal disease in the Israel Defense Force (IDF) from 1975 through 1993 was studied. All cases of meningitis or meningococcemia were included. A considerable increase in the number of cases has been observed since 1991, with serogroup C becoming predominant (76% of cases) since then. Serogroup Y was the second most frequent serogroup during this period, while serogroup B, predominant in the civilian population of Israel, was rare. Most cases occurred during the first 6 months of military service. Seasonality was important, with most of the cases occurring between December and March, although a small summer peak was also noted. Since 1992, three small clusters of meningococcal disease were encountered in the IDF, for the first time, with all cases caused by group C meningococci. In one cluster, the emergence of rifampicin resistance resulted in failure of chemoprophylaxis. The rise in group C and Y cases since 1991, and the occurrence of rifampicin resistance, necessitate considering meningococcal vaccines and new antimicrobial agents for prophylaxis.

Bacterial Vaccines↗

PubMed1993

Bile and plasma lipid composition in non-obese normolipidemic subjects with and without cholesterol gallstones.

A two-stage study was carried out to characterize the bile and plasma lipid composition in normolipidemic non-obese patients with and without cholesterol gallstones. The first stage involved 11 patients with cholesterol gallstones admitted for elective cholecystectomy and a control group of 16 patients without cholesterol gallstones undergoing elective laparotomy. Bile samples were obtained intraoperatively by aspiration from the gallbladder. The bile of all the gallstone patients was supersaturated with cholesterol and its nucleation time was much shorter than that of bile in the control group (2.5 days vs 22.5 days, respectively, P < 0.001). The biliary fatty acid profile of phosphatidylcholine (PC) and free fatty acids (FFA) of gallstone patients was similar to that of the control group. C-22 fatty acids were found in a higher concentration in the FFA than in the PC fatty acids (P < 0.05) in both groups of patients. Plasma triglyceride levels in the gallstone patients were significantly higher than those in the control group and the biliary cholesterol level correlated with that of plasma triglycerides. In the second stage of the study, plasma lipid profiles were obtained in two additional groups of patients, 20 patients with and 24 patients without cholesterol gallstones, for an in-depth characterization of the differences in plasma lipid profiles. The gallstone patients were found to have not only significantly higher concentrations of plasma triglycerides but increased cholesterol and phospholipid level as well. These differences were essentially due to a higher lipid content of the plasma VLDL fraction, similar to the pattern of patients with type IV hyperlipoproteinemia.

Bile↗