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Biomedical subjects

P Jenks

Publications and source records attributed to P Jenks.

13 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Effect on MRSA transmission of rapid PCR testing of patients admitted to critical care.

We report a significant reduction in the rate of meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) transmission on a critical care unit when admission screening by culture was replaced with a same-day polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test. This was an observational cohort study, set in a 19-bed mixed medical and surgical adult critical care unit in southwest England. We studied 1305 patients admitted between April 2005 and February 2006. Standard MRSA culture methods were used to screen 612 patients between April 2005 and August 2005, and the IDI MRSA PCR test was used to screen 693 patients between September 2005 and February 2006. Standard infection control precautions were instituted when positive results were obtained by either method. Outcome measures included carriage rate, turnaround time for results and rate of subsequent MRSA transmission on the unit. The overall carriage rate on admission to the unit was 7.0%. Culture results were available in three working days, PCR results within one working day. The mean incidence of MRSA transmission was 13.89/1000 patient days during the culture phase and 4.9/1000 patient days during the PCR phase (relative risk reduction 0.65, 95% CI 0.28-1.07). PCR screening for MRSA on admission to critical care units is feasible in routine clinical practice, provides quicker results than culture-based screening and is associated with a significant reduction in subsequent MRSA transmission.

Bacterial Typing Techniques↗
PubMed1997

Imprinting of IGF2 and H19: lack of reciprocity in sporadic Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome.

Genomic imprinting is a novel form of control of gene expression in which the transcription of each allele of an imprinted gene is dependent on the sex of the gamete from which it was derived; to date > 15 genes have been demonstrated to show imprinting. The maintenance of a normal imprinting pattern in many loci has been shown to be essential for normal development and adult life. Many tumours, and some developmental disorders, exhibit loss of imprinting (LOI) in key genes such as insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF2) which often results in hyperplasia and is associated with cancer. The mechanism by which the genomic imprint is first established, then maintained, is not understood. However, in the case of IGF2, the expression of a neighbouring gene, H19, has been suggested to influence its transcription by competition for a common enhancer, thereby generating a mutually exclusive and allele-specific pattern of gene expression. Associated changes in CpG methylation in discrete areas of both genes have been implicated in maintenance of the imprint. We have examined the allele-specific expression of IGF2 and H19 in fibroblasts derived from patients with sporadic Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome (BWS), a fetal overgrowth syndrome associated with an imprinted locus on 11p15.5. We report that the majority of karyotypically normal patients show LOI of IGF2 with biallelic expression. In a proportion of these patients, loss of IGF2 imprinting was associated with complete suppression of H19 expression, as predicted by the enhancer competition model. However, in a significant number of cases, IGF2 showed biallelic expression even though H19 expression and methylation status were normal. This indicates that there must be an alternative H19-independent pathway by which allele-specific IGF2 expression is established or maintained.

Beckwith-Wiedemann Syndrome↗
PubMed1995

Candida glabrata epididymo-orchitis: an unusual infection rapidly cured with surgical and antifungal treatment.

We report a case of epididymo-orchitis and secondary fungaemia caused by Candida (previously Torulopsis) glabrata in an 83-year-old male patient who had diabetes mellitus, urinary outflow obstruction and previous bladder malignancy. We believe this to be a previously unreported site of infection with C. glabrata and we describe its rapid and successful treatment with combination anti-fungal therapy.

Aged↗
PubMed1994

Chimaerism shown by cytogenetics and DNA polymorphism analysis.

A child with ambiguous genitalia, brought up phenotypically male, had a 46,XX/46,XY karyotype. At laparotomy, he had a left sided ovary and uterus, and a right sided scrotal testis. The 46,XX line made up 50% of cells in the blood and 90% of cells in a skin biopsy. There were no cytogenetic polymorphisms. Analysis of lymphocyte DNA with seven polymorphic DNA markers showed him to be chimaeric, with four, three, and two parental alleles at different loci. He had one paternal and one maternal X chromosome at the marker DXS1053. Based on our data, we would suggest that chimaerism arose as a result of postzygotic fusion of two embryos. We have shown by DNA polymorphisms the presence of autosomal chimaerism in a case of sex chromosome chimaerism, and indicated the usefulness of DNA polymorphisms in determining the origin of chimaerism.

Chimera↗
PubMed1991

Long-term effects of single-dose metrifonate on the control of urinary schistosomiasis in an endemic area.

During 1989 a survey for urinary schistosomiasis was carried out in children attending Kanhukamwe primary school where, 5 years previously, infected children had been treated with a single dose of metrifonate. The treatment programme had been supplemented by improvements in water supply and sanitation, but no mollusciciding or other vector control measures had been used. The majority of children examined had not taken part in the treatment programme but had grown up in the community where transmission was reduced. While the prevalence of infection in the children in the current study was similar to that seen 5 years previously, the intensity of infection was markedly lower. In a nearby village where improved water and sanitation had been provided but no treatments had been given, the intensity of infection in school-children of similar age remained high. About 20% of the children originally with negative urines and so untreated had now started excreting S. haematobium ova, compared with 45% of children who had been cured following treatment. Children who had been treated in 1983 but who had continued to excrete ova were retreated in this study. It was noted that children who responded well to the previous treatment (greater than 90% reduction in egg excretion) generally responded well when retreated, while poor responders (less than 90% reduction in egg excretion on original treatment) showed only a small reduction in egg excretion on retreatment.

Adolescent↗