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R Killick-Kendrick

Publications and source records attributed to R Killick-Kendrick.

126 records · Page 7Linked to original sources
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Zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis in Saudi Arabia: results of a preliminary epidemiological survey in Al-Ahsa oasis.

This paper reports the results of a cross-sectional survey of lesions (active cases) and scars (past cases) of zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis (ZCL) carried out in 1986 in 2 villages in the eastern region of Al-Ahsa oasis in Saudi Arabia. The epidemiological pattern of ZCL was strikingly similar in both villages. Overall, 2.8% residents were found to have lesions. Only 3.7% were found with scars, presumably due to under-recording. The age distribution of lesions was bimodal, the number of cases being highest in the age-groups 0-3 and 24-27 years. The sharp fall between 3 and 15 years in the number of persons with lesions is typical of an active endemic infection which induces long-lasting immunity. The exceptional number of active adult cases were predominantly non-Saudi males. Infected non-Saudis also contributed substantially to statistically significant clustering of case in households and influenced the sex ratio of cases. More active cases were found in males than in females, and more active cases were male than were past cases. In 1985, residents reported a broad peak in the monthly discovery of lesions--from July to February. Interpretation of the available information was limited because it was not possible to standardize the data for age and sex.

Adolescent↗
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Leishmania infecting man and wild animals in Saudi Arabia. 8. The influence of prior infection with Leishmania arabica on challenge with L. major in man.

A clinical trial is described of an attempt to protect against Leishmania major by prior vaccination with live L. arabica. After a single, previously leishmanin-negative, adult male volunteer was bitten by 8 Phlebotomus papatasi infected with L. arabica, no infected lesions were observed. He remained leishmanin-negative and his lymphocytes reacted weakly to antigens of L. arabica or L. major. Subsequently he and 3 other leishmanin-negative adult male volunteers were vaccinated with cultures containing 4 x 10(6) promastigotes of L. arabica. All remained leishmanin-negative but their lymphocytes showed some response to both L. arabica and L. major antigens. 96 d after vaccination these 4, and another, non-vaccinated, volunteer were challenged with 2 x 10(6) promastigotes of L. major. Active cutaneous, ulcerated lesions developed in all 5 volunteers. The lesions in 3 vaccinated volunteers were associated with marked lymphadenitis and beading, but the lesions started to heal spontaneously within 120-250 d after challenge. The lesion in the fourth vaccinated volunteer was less severe and lymphadenitis was not observed. The lesion in the unvaccinated subject developed more slowly and was smaller, but more chronic, than those in the vaccinated individuals. Marked cross-reactivity in terms of lymphocyte proliferation and interferon-gamma production was observed between L. major and L. arabica in both directions in subjects exposed first to one or the other organism. Although the procedure followed in this trial failed to give protection against L. major, further studies in volunteers should be considered.

Adolescent↗
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Isoenzyme characterization of Leishmania from man, dog and sandflies in the Maltese islands.

As a part of a general survey on leishmaniases and sandflies of the Maltese islands, 22 Leishmania stocks were isolated from human visceral (1) and cutaneous (1) cases, dogs (16) and sandflies (4). They were characterized by the analysis of 15 enzymes. The commonest Mediterranean L. infantum zymodeme, MON 1, was found to cause human and canine visceral leishmaniasis; L. infantum MON 78, which has so far been isolated only in Malta, was the agent of human cutaneous leishmaniasis. Both zymodemes were isolated from the same sandfly species, Phlebotomus perniciosus.

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Anthroponotic cutaneous leishmaniasis in Kabul, Afghanistan: the low susceptibility of Phlebotomus papatasi to Leishmania tropica.

Females of a laboratory colony of Phlebotomus papatasi from Kabul were fed through a membrane on a high dose of amastigotes of Leishmania tropica from the same place. Less than one-third of the flies became infected and only 6% developed heavy infections of the stomodaeal valve. From these observations, and previous studies by other workers, it is concluded that P. papatasi probably plays little or no part in the transmission of anthroponotic cutaneous leishmaniasis in Kabul. As in Saudi Arabia and Morocco, the most likely vector in Afghanistan is P. sergenti.

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Parasitic Protozoa of the blood of rodents. V. Plasmodium vinckei brucechwatti subsp. nov. A malaria parasite of the thicket rat, Thamnomys rutilans, in Nigeria.

A description is given of the blood stages of a new subspecies of Plasmodium vinckei in the blood of naturally infected thicket rats (Thamnomys rutilans) from Nigeria and experimentally infected mice. Sporogony was obtained at 25 degrees C in Anopheles stephensi A. quadrimaculatus and A.l. atroparvus, but sporozoites in the salivary glands of the mosquitoes were never infective. The new parasite is differentiated from 7 other species of malaria parasites of African rodents principally on the morphology of the erythrocytic stages. It is designated as a subspecies of P. vinckei (P.v. brucechwatti subsp. nov.) because of the (i) zoogeography, (ii) morphology of sporogonic stages and (iii) forms isoenzymes of blood stages.

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Breeding places of Phlebotomus ariasi in the cevennes focus of leishmaniasis in the south of France.

In a search for sandfly breeding sites in the Cévennes, France, six larvae of Phlebotomus ariasi were found in rotted manure in a cellar housing goats, and six adult flies of the same species were collected from emergence traps, one in the same cellar and five on a disused refuse dump. No sandflies were found emerging from holes of long-tailed field mice (Apodemus spp.) and no sandfly larvae were extracted from 77 kg (dry weight) and 130 kg (undried weight) of samples of soil or litter from different places. Total catches and the proportions of male flies in CDC miniature light traps were much higher in peridomestic than silvatic stations. About 15% of males caught in 3 peridomestic stations had unrotated genitalia. It is concluded that the larval breeding sites of P. ariasi are probably peridomestic and have a high content of organic matter. Observations on colonized P. ariasi show that, although immature stages of this fly need moisture, their requirements are comparatively low. It is suggested that female P. ariasi choose oviposition sites by sensing the presence of immature stages already in an optimal place.

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[Ecology of leishmaniasis in the south of France. 11. Canine leishmaniasis: successful experimental transmission from dog to dog by the bite of Phlebotomus ariasi Tonnoir, 1921 (author's transl)].

As part of a study of visceral leishmaniasis in the Cévennes in southern France, an infection was transmitted from dog to dog by the bite of a single sandfly, Phlebotomus ariasi Tonnoir, 1921. The role of this species as a vector, suspected from earlier studies, is, therefore, confirmed. Twenty female sandflies, which had engorged on a naturally infected dog 23 +/- 2 days previously were put with a healthy dog which, after an incubation period of 15 months, developed viscero-cutaneous leishmaniasis. In dissections of the sandflies immediately after contact with the experimental dog, it was found that only one had engorged. All of 17 sandflies dissected had midgut infections: 10 of these also had infections in the pharynx. The engorged specimen additionally had parasites in the proboscis, a condition thought by many workers to be necessary for the parasite to be transmitted by bite.

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[Ecology of leishmaniasis in the south of France. -- 12. Horizontal dispersion of Phlebotomus ariasi Tonnoir, 1921. Preliminary experiments (author's transl)].

By use of mark-release-recapture methods, evidence was obtained of the distance of the dispersion of Phlebotomus ariasi Tonnoir, 1021. Female flies, collected in a valley in the Cévennes mountains (at Roquedur, Gard), were marked with fluorescnt powders, released an then recaptured by searching with ultra-violet lamps. The majority of the flies recapture were among ones given a blood meal shortly before release. Recaptures were made from the second day after release. A number of females migrated with blood in the midgut; their ovaries were up to and including stage V. The distance between the extreme points of recapture was about 1 km, and the maximum recorded distance between points of release and recapture was 750 m. The epidemiological interest of these observations is that, at least in the Cévennes foci, the sandfly as well as the dog must now be considered as capable spreading the pathogenic agent of visceral leishmaniasis.

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[Ecology of leishmaniasis in the south of France. 13. Middle slopes of hillsides as sites of maximum risk of transmission of visceral leishmaniasis in the Cévennes (author's transl)].

In the Cévennes, the distribution of canine leishmaniasis and, therefore, of human visceral leishmaniasis is usually on the middle slopes of hillsides. From previous work, it was assumed that the reason is that the same places are the preferred habitats of the sandfly vector, Phlebotomus ariasi Tonnoir, 1921. An investigation was made throughout one season (13.05.1977 to 7.10.1977) of the comparative densities of sandflies at different altitudes on two opposite sides of a selected hill (le massif d'Oiselette) in the department of Gard. Oiled papers, changed every 15 days, were distributed at 22 points at altitudes from 165 to 600 m above sea level. A total of 5,050 sandflies were collected and analysed according to altitude and time of year. Of the sandflies collected, 86,2% were P. ariasi, 0,3% were P. perniciosus Newstead, 1911, 0,1% were P. mascittii Grassi, 1908 and 13,4% were Sergentomyia minuta (Rondani, 1843). P. ariasi was present at all altitudes with maximum densities between 300 and 500 m. This species was present from mid May until late September, with a maximum density at the end of July. The results support the notion that, in the Cévennes, inhabitants of farms and villages on the slopes of hillsides at altitudes of 300-500 m are at the greatest risk of acquiring leishmaniasis because these places are the preferred habitat of the sandfly vector, P. ariasi.

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[Ecology of leishmaniasis in the south of France. 15. The gonotrophic cycles in nature of Phlebotomus ariasi and P. mascittii in the Cévennes. Epidemiological significance (author's transl)].

The number of gonotrophic cycles of phlebotomine sandflies in a leishmaniasis focus in the Cévennes was determined by the examination of the ovaries. The method was to count the number of dilatations on the ovariolar stalks which showed how many times the females had laid eggs. It was found that females of P. ariasi undergo at least three gonotrophic cycles. From mid-June at the beginning of the season, until the middle of August the proportion of parous females was low. After this time until the end of the season in mid-September, the frequency of 2 parous and 3 parous individuals steadily rose. It is concluded that the end of the summer is the period of maximum risk for the transmission of leishmaniasis in this focus.

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