Biomedical subjects

R S Faulkner

Publications and source records attributed to R S Faulkner.

18 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1985

Community-acquired pneumonia requiring hospitalization. Is it different in the elderly?

The authors studied 138 patients, 57 of whom were younger than 65 years of age and 81 who were 65 years of age and older, with community-acquired pneumonia to determine whether or not such pneumonia is different in the elderly and to define how such patients are investigated and treated. Pneumonia in the elderly was characterized by a higher mortality, 30 v 10%; more likely to be of unknown etiology, 54 v 30%; and more likely to show radiographic progression after the patient had been admitted to the hospital, 48 v 11%. In addition, elderly patients were more likely to be afebrile when admitted, 57 v 26%. Twenty-seven etiologic categories were present in 77 patients in whom a cause for the pneumonia was established. Streptococcus pneumoniae accounted for 9.4% of the pneumonia overall and for 27% of the pneumonia among patients who had sputum cultures performed before antibiotic therapy. The diagnostic yield was 11.6% for blood cultures, 38.2% for sputum cultures, 2.3% for throat washing, and 22.1% for serological studies. Twenty-seven percent of patients were receiving antibiotics of the time of admission to the hospital. Most (79%) received more than one antibiotic after admission. This study indicates that community-acquired pneumonia is a serious illness and that an algorithm approach to diagnosis and treatment of such pneumonia is necessary.

Aged↗

PubMed1985

Seroepidemiology of Q fever among domestic animals in Nova Scotia.

We used the indirect microimmunofluorescence test to determine the presence of antibodies in sheep, cattle, goat, cat, and dog sera to phase I and II Coxiella burnetii antigens in Nova Scotia. Only 6.7 per cent of the 329 sheep tested had antibodies to phase II antigen and none had antibodies to phase I. Of 29 goats tested, 7 per cent and 3.5 per cent had antibodies to phase II and phase I antigens, respectively. In contrast, 23.8 per cent of the 214 cattle tested had antibodies to phase II antigen, and 24.2 per cent had antibodies to phase I antigen; 24.1 per cent of 216 cats tested had antibodies to phase II antigen and 6 per cent had antibodies to phase I antigen. None of the 447 dogs tested had antibodies detected. We conclude that cattle and cats may be reservoirs for human Q fever in Nova Scotia.

Animals↗

PubMed1985

Does cytomegalovirus play a role in community-acquired pneumonia?

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is recognized as an important pathogen in the immuno-suppressed patient. Sporadic case reports of cytomegalovirus community-acquired pneumonia have appeared. We studied 443 patients with community-acquired pneumonia requiring hospitalization to define the role of cytomegalovirus in this illness. Four patients (0.9%) had good evidence that cytomegalovirus caused their pneumonia: 2 had the virus isolated from pulmonary tissue and 2 had cytomegalovirus inclusion bodies visualized in this tissue. An additional 14 patients had serologic evidence (a fourfold rise in the complement fixation tests) of cytomegalovirus infection. Analysis of these 18 patients suggest, that cytomegalovirus plays a role in community-acquired pneumonia. Six (33%) of the patients were immunosuppressed. Six others had concomitant infections: Chlamydia trachomatis (3); Epstein-Barr virus and M. pneumoniae (1); and bacteremia with Group B streptococcus and Bacteroides fragilis plus Eubacterium lentum (1 each). Seven patients (39%) required assisted ventilation, four of whom developed secondary bacterial pneumonia. Five (28%) died. Only two patients had a clinical and radiographic picture suggestive of a viral illness as a cause of the pneumonia. Three patients had atypical lymphocytes in their peripheral blood film. We found that the prevalence of complement fixing antibody to cytomegalovirus increased with age. Such antibody was lacking among those in the 16-20 year group while it peaked at 65% for males and at 78% for females ages 91-100 years. Despite the fact that 42.2% of the adults lacked antibody to cytomegalovirus, community-acquired pneumonia due to this virus is uncommon and does not justify routine serological testing for such infection among patients with community-acquired pneumonia.

Adult↗

PubMed1984

Seroepidemiology of Q fever in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.

The prevalence of Coxiella burnetti infection (Q fever) was determined among Nova Scotia (N.S.) and Prince Edward Island (P.E.I.) blood donors by using the complement fixation and microimmunofluorescence (IF) test. The complement fixation and IF antibody tests measured antibody prevalence for the phase II or phase I and II antigens, respectively. Complement-fixing antibodies to phase II antigen were detected in 4.1% of 997 N.S. and 5.0% of 219 P.E.I. blood donors. Anti-phase II antibodies were detected by microimmunofluorescence in 11.8 and 14.6% of the blood donors in the two provinces, respectively. Anti-phase I antibodies were detected among 2.8% of the N.S. blood donors and 6.3% of the P.E.I. blood donors. Comparison of rates of anti-phase II IF by counties in N.S. revealed that there was at least one county where infection by C. burnetti is hyperendemic. Rates of antibody prevalence were similar in all three areas of P.E.I. examined. We conclude that "Q fever" is endemic in N.S. and P.E.I. and that the microimmunofluorescence test is more suitable than the complement fixation test for seroepidemiologic studies.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1983

Endocarditis due to Q fever in Nova Scotia: experience with five patients in 1981-1982.

Q fever endocarditis is rarely reported in North America; only four cases have been documented since 1953. In 1981-1982, five cases were identified in the Victoria General Hospital, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Four patients were from widely separated areas of Nova Scotia and one was from Prince Edward Island. Four patients with long-standing valvular abnormalities, including two with prosthetic valves, presented with recurrent febrile episodes. The fifth patient, who was previously well, had recurrent septic embolic episodes. Clinical features and laboratory findings were variable. Diagnosis by serology was confirmed in four patients by culture of Coxiella burnetii from excised tissue. Histopathology varied from nonspecific inflammatory changes to two more distinctive patterns; electron microscopy showed C burnetii in two patients. Therapy with tetracycline and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole was beneficial, although three patients required valve replacement for hemodynamic deterioration. Q fever endocarditis may be more common than is recognized, and serological investigations should be performed in all cases of culture-negative endocarditis.

Adult↗

PubMed1983

Serological evaluation of O fever in humans: enhanced phase I titers of immunoglobulins G and A are diagnostic for Q fever endocarditis.

Serological parameters were compared in 15 cases of Coxiella burnetii infection comprising 5 cases each of primary Q fever, chronic granulomatous hepatitis, and endocarditis. The diagnosis was made on the basis of clinical history and serology and on the isolation of C. burnetii phase I from biopsy specimens of liver and bone marrow from two patients with granulomatous hepatitis and from the aortic valve vegetations of five patients with endocarditis. The temporal sequences of immunoglobulin levels, rheumatoid factor, and specific antibody responses to phase II and phase I antigens of C. burnetii were evaluated as predictive correlates of the three Q fever entities. Serum levels of immunoglobulin classes G, M, and A were variable in all the entities of Q fever. Increased mean levels (in milligrams per deciliter) of immunoglobulin G (IgG) and IgA were noted with chronic disease in the sera of some patients, whereas IgM levels were not significantly different from normal values. Rheumatoid factor was significantly elevated in chronic disease but not in primary Q fever. The temporal sequence of C. burnetii phase II and phase I antibodies were compared by microagglutination, complement fixation, and indirect microimmunofluorescence tests. All of these serological tests were useful in distinguishing primary from chronic disease. Thus, the ratio of anti-phase II to anti-phase I antibodies was greater than 1, greater than or equal to 1, and less than or equal to 1 for primary Q fever, granulomatous hepatitis, and Q fever endocarditis, respectively. Moreover, the high phase-specific IgA antibody titers in the indirect microimmunofluorescence test were diagnostic for endocarditis.

Antibodies, Bacterial↗

PubMed1982

Q fever in maritime Canada.

Only nine cases of Q fever were recorded in Canada in the 20 years prior to 1978. In the 18 months from August 1979 to January 1981 the disease was diagnosed serologically in six patients from the Maritime provinces. All were epidemiologically unrelated and none had been exposed to animals. Five had pneumonia and one had chronic Q fever with probable prosthetic valve endocarditis. Three of the five pneumonia patients presented with signs and symptoms of an acute lower respiratory tract infection and were indistinguishable clinically from other patients with atypical pneumonias. The other two with pneumonia presented with nonresolving pulmonary infiltrates and complained of decreased energy. Four of the five pneumonia patients responded well to treatment with erythromycin; the fifth required two courses of tetracycline. The patient with chronic Q fever had a large amount of cryoglobulins in his serum and evidence of immune complex disease. These cases indicate that Q fever should be considered as a possible cause of atypical pneumonia in Canada.

Adult↗

PubMed1982

Rotavirus infection in a geriatric population.

An outbreak of gastroenteritis affected 19 of 34 geriatric patients and four of 23 staff assigned to the ward in a period of 3 1/2 weeks in January 1980. Fourteen of the 19 patients with gastroenteritis (17 were tested properly) and four of the ten asymptomatic patients (five asymptomatic patients were not tested) showed evidence of rotavirus infection by virus positivity and/or a significant antibody response to rotavirus. One of the four staff members with gastroenteritis showed serologic evidence (three were tested) of rotavirus infection. Nine of the 18 asymptomatic staff members (two remaining staff members were not tested) showed a fourfold rise in antibody to rotavirus but four had antibody titers of 1:32 or more. The patients had diarrhea for a mean of 2.6 days. Most of them had five or fewer diarrheal stools in one day. Six patients had a severe illness and two died. Thirteen of 15 symptomatic patients who had serum samples, collected during the acute and convalescent phases, tested manifested high titers (greater than or equal to 1:32) of complement-fixing antibody to rotavirus antigen.

Adult↗

PubMed1982

Clostridium difficile: epidemiology and clinical features.

To determine the epidemiologic features of Clostridium difficile in Halifax, Nova Scotia, the authors studied two groups of hospitalized patients, one group of outpatients and a fourth group of 54 healthy subjects. The first group consisted of 29 patients with diarrhea, whose stool was found to contain C. difficile or its cytotoxin, or both. Twenty-two underwent sigmoidoscopic examinations; of these, 18 had abnormal colonic mucosa and 6 of the 18 had pseudomembranous colitis. In the second group of 127 patients on general medical wards, 22 (17%) carried C. difficile. Thirteen of the 22 had diarrhea, and 3 had pseudomembranous colitis. Clustering of patients with C. difficile was evident. In vitro production of toxin by isolates of C. difficile from these patients was more likely if antibiotics had been given. Only 1 (4.5%) of the 22 outpatients with various gastrointestinal disorders (group 3) and none of the 54 healthy subjects (group 4) carried C. difficile. The clinical spectrum of infection with C. difficile extended from asymptomatic patients to those with nonspecific colitis and pseudomembranous colitis.

Adult↗

PubMed1981

Causes of atypical pneumonia: results of a 1-year prospective study.

In a protocol study of cases of atypical pneumonia over a 1-year period an etiologic agent was established in 16 cases: Legionella pneumophila in 8, Coxiella burnetii in 3, Chlamydia trachomatis in 2, Mycoplasma pneumoniae in 1, para-influenza 3 virus in 1 and cytomegalovirus in 1. In the remaining 11 cases no agent was identified; the illnesses in these cases tended to be less severe. The pneumonia took much longer to resolve in the patients with Legionnaires' disease than in all the other patients (mean interval from onset of symptoms to clearing of the chest roentgenogram: 69 days v. an average of 16 days). However, the length of stay in hospital was similar for the three groups: those with Legionnaires' disease, those with atypical pneumonia of unknown cause and those with atypical pneumonia of various other established causes. L. pneumophila infection may explain a proportion of atypical pneumonias that previously could not be diagnosed, although in this series the cause of 41% of the pneumonias remained unexplained.

Chlamydia Infections↗

PubMed1978

Pseudomembranous colitis: isolation of two species of cytotoxic clostridia and successful treatment with vancomycin.

Lincomycin-resistant Clostridium sporogenes obtained from the stools of a patient with lincomycin-associated pseudomembranous colitis produced a heat-stable cytotoxin in low titre when grown in chopped meat medium. Vancomycin eradicated this strain and all other clostridia, and controlled the symptoms. When diarrhea recurred 7 days after treatment with vancomycin was stopped, clostridia including C. sporogenes and C. difficile were again isolated. The C. difficile produced a heat-labile cytotoxin in high titre that was unaffected by growth in various media and induced colitis in hamsters. Treatment with vancomycin, to which all the clostridia were sensitive, eradicated both toxic species and controlled the diarrhea. Antibiotic-induced pseudomembranous colitis may be associated with more than one species of toxin-producing clostridia. Vancomycin therapy should be continued for 10 days or more in patients with severe disease to eradicate the responsible organism.

Aged↗

PubMed1976

Rubella 1974 and its aftermath, congenital rubella syndrome.

An epidemic of rubella reached its peak in the Atlantic provinces in 1974, subsiding in early 1975. With the exception of Quebec the remainder of Canada showed a reverse trend, with a large increase in the numbers of cases reported in the first 41/2 months of 1975. The Halifax virus laboratory reported 106 serologically proven cases of rubella in 1974, 44 of them in pregnant women. In the aftermath of the epidemic many infants were born with the congenital rubella syndrome (CRS). A study carried out from Sept. 1, 1974 through Apr. 30, 1975 showed an 80% correlation between clinical diagnosis and the presence of rubella-specific IgM antibodies in 35 of these infants. Of the 23 infants in whom the diagnosis of CRS was made by laboratory or clinical findings or both, laboratory criteria were met in 20 (87.0%), clinical criteria in 19 (82.6%) and both laboratory and clinical criteria in 16 (69.6%).

Antibodies, Viral↗

PubMed1973

Echovirus type 17 in the neonate.

An outbreak of echovirus type 17 in a neonatal nursery with recovery of virus from the stools of the seven affected infants and the cerebrospinal fluid of one is described. Intensive nursing care and supportive therapy prevented a possible fatal outcome in all instances. A further case in another community is described in which a 5-week-old child succumbed to his illness and echovirus type 17 was isolated from autopsy tissues - lung, liver, kidney and spleen. This child had presumably received poor home care. The suggestion is made that while echovirus type 17 is not frequently associated with adult disease, it may exhibit affinity for infant tissues. This is thought to be the first time that this virus has been associated with clinical disease in a neonatal nursery and also the first account of its recovery from postmortem tissues.

Animals↗

PubMed1973