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S E Starr

Publications and source records attributed to S E Starr.

117 records · Page 7Linked to original sources

Micromethod system for identification of anaerobic bacteria.

A micromethod multitest system prepared by Analytab Products, Inc. and conventional tests employed at the Center for Disease Control for identification of anaerobes were compared. All procedures were conducted in an anaerobic glove box. A total of 104 cultures, including 18 reference strains and 86 diagnostic cultures, were examined. Ninety-one percent of the total tests performed with the two systems were in agreement. Greater than 90% agreement between the two systems was obtained with 12 of the 17 differential tests compared. The tests for nitrate reduction and H(2)S production gave the poorest agreement, 77.8 and 80.8%, respectively. Only 66% of the 86 diagnostic cultures could be presumptively identified with the micromethod system supplemented only with microscopy and colonial characteristics. However, when appropriate supplementary tests and gas-liquid chromatography were used with the micromethod system, 85% of the 86 strains could be identified. When Ehrlich reagent, instead of Kovac reagent, was used with the micromethod to test for indole, the agreement in identification was raised to 93%.

Anaerobiosis↗

Comparison of Schaedler agar and trypticase soy-yeast extract agar for the cultivation of anaerobic bacteria.

Schaedler agar (SA) and Trypticase soy-yeast extract agar (TSYEA), both supplemented with rabbit blood (5%, v/v) and menadione (0.5 mg/liter), were compared with respect to quantitative recovery, quality of growth, and rapidity of growth of selected anaerobic bacteria. The media were stored for 2 to 4 days prior to use in an anaerobic glove box, where all subsequent bacteriological procedures were performed. After 24 hr of incubation, colonies of Clostridium cadaveris (C. capitovale), C. haemolyticum, C. novyi A, and C. perfringens were larger on SA than on TSYEA, and the appearance of C. novyi B colonies on SA at 24 hr antedated their appearance on TSYEA. Quantitative recovery of C. novyi B was improved on SA; recovery of the other clostridia tested was comparable on the two media (inconclusive results were obtained with C. novyi A). Rough colonial types of some of the clostridia emerged on SA. No appreciable differences in results with the two media were noted for Bacteroides fragilis, B. melaninogenicus, or Fusobacterium fusiforme.

Agar↗

The status of cytomegalovirus vaccine.

Live attenuated Towne strain cytomegalovirus vaccine was evaluated in healthy volunteers and renal transplant recipients. Immunization induced humoral and cell-mediated immune responses in both groups, although responses were of a higher magnitude in healthy volunteers. Immunization of candidates for renal transplantation with Towne vaccine significantly reduced the incidence of moderately severe and severe cytomegalovirus disease in high-risk recipients after transplantation. Reactivation of vaccine-strain virus was not detected. While the use of live attenuated Towne strain vaccine for prevention of primary cytomegalovirus infections in solid-organ transplant recipients and pregnant women deserves further consideration, efforts are also under way to develop a subunit cytomegalovirus vaccine.

Antibodies, Viral↗

Vaccines for the prevention of human cytomegalovirus infection.

The status of vaccination against cytomegalovirus (CMV) at the end of 1988 was as follows: (1) The Towne live attenuated vaccine produces humoral and cellular immune responses without viral excretion or demonstrated latency. (2) The Towne vaccine partially protects seronegative renal transplant recipients from severe CMV disease but does not prevent them from getting infected. (3) In healthy subjects the live vaccine is also protective, but protection is related to challenge dose. Vaccine-derived immunity is equivalent to natural immunity for prevention of disease but at higher challenge doses is less protective for prevention of infection. (4) The viral envelope contains proteins that can stimulate humoral and cellular immune responses, although it is not yet clear whether the responses are as protective as those following infection. (5) One glycoprotein of the envelope, the 55-58K protein, can stimulate the same responses. If large amounts of this protein can be produced by molecular biologic techniques, this protein might be used as a subunit vaccine. (6) Target groups for vaccination would include seronegative healthy women and seronegative or seropositive recipients of solid organ transplants.

Antibodies, Viral↗