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Biomedical subjects

R E Brodsky

Publications and source records attributed to R E Brodsky.

7 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1977

Giardiasis in Colorado: an epidemiologic study.

A one-year retrospective laboratory survey in Colorado revealed that 691 (3%) of 22,743 stool examinations for ova and parasites were positive for Giardia lamblia, a higher percentage than that reported from surveys outside of Colorado. The majority of infected residents who were surveyed had experienced an episode of chronic watery diarrhea (median duration 3.8 weeks) with bloating, flatulence, and weight loss (averaging 5.1 kg), and had responded to a course of metronidazole or quinacrine. A statewide telephone survey of 256 cases and matched controls identified: 1) and increased incidence of giardiasis in persons between the ages of 16 and 45, p less than .001, with males and females equally affected; and 2) a higher proportion of cases than controls who visited Colorado mountains (69% vs. 47%), camped out overnight (38% vs. 18%), and drank untreated mountain water (50% vs. 17%), p less than .001. Also identified was a correlation between the seasonal distribution of cases and degree of fecal contamination of mountain streams. These results indicated that G. lamblia is endemic in Colorado and that drinking untreated mountain water is an important cause of endemic ifection.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1977

A communitywide outbreak of giardiasis with evidence of transmission by a municipal water supply.

Three hundred fifty residents of Rome, New York, had laboratory-confirmed cases of giardiasis between 1 November 1974 and 7 June 1975. A random household survey showed an overall attack rate for giardiasis (defined as a diarrheal illness of 5 days or more) of 10.6%. A significant association was discovered between having giardiasis and using city water and between having illness and drinking 1 or more glasses of water a day. The presence of human settlements in the Rome watershed area suggested that the water supply could have been contaminated by untreated human waste. The infectivity of municipal water was confirmed by producing giardiasis in specific pathogen-free dogs fed sediment samples of raw water obtained from an inlet of a city reservoir. A microscopic examination of the water sediments uncovered a Giardia lamblia cyst in one sample. This was the first time that a G. lamblia cyst has been found in municipal water in an epidemic and the first time that such water has been shown to infect laboratory animals.

Animals↗
PubMed1975

Imported African trypanosomiasis in the United States.

Since 1967, six cases of African trypanosomiasis have been diagnosed and treated in the United States. Five patients were Americans infected with Trypanosoma rhodesiense, and the other was an African student with T. gambiense. Presenting signs and symptoms for all cases were typical of the disease, but often the diagnosis was delayed. The five Americans had spent only brief periods in endemic areas. All cases responded to therapy although one relapsed. Cases of imported sleeping sickness are few, and the risk of Americans acquiring the disease while traveling to endemic areas is low. However, the early diagnosis of sleeping sickness requires that physicians be cognizant of the possibility of imported tropical diseases.

Adult↗