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T J Papadimos

Publications and source records attributed to T J Papadimos.

10 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1990

Hepatitis B infection in a non-drug abusing prostitute population in Mexico.

The prevalence and risk factors of hepatitis B infection were studied in 354 non-drug abusing female prostitutes and 360 female controls in Tijuana, Mexico. Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) was found in the same percentage (0.8%) of prostitutes and controls. In contrast, antibody markers (anti-HBs or anti-HBc) were found in a significantly higher percentage of prostitutes than controls (8.2% vs. 2.2%, p = 0.0006). Prostitutes also had a higher prevalence of a positive RPR/FTA-ABS test for syphilis (p less than 0.0001). There was a significant association between the presence of hepatitis B markers and positive syphilis serology and a history of having had a STD. In this non-drug abusing population, prostitution was found to be a risk factor for total hepatitis B infection but not for surface antigenemia. Further studies are indicated to determine the incidence of chronic infection in adult women following sexual transmission of hepatitis B.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

The return of acute rheumatic fever in young adults.

The incidence of acute rheumatic fever (ARF) in the United States has been steadily declining for three decades, and by the mid-1980s had virtually disappeared. In the past 3 years, however, several scattered outbreaks have occurred among US schoolchildren, and there is speculation that ARF will again become a major public health problem in North America. We report a clustering of 10 cases of ARF in young men undergoing basic training at a recruit camp in San Diego, Calif. This was the first such outbreak in two decades among US military personnel and the largest reported series of ARF cases among adults in more than a decade in the United States. Adult-onset ARF was not benign in our patients. The rate of carditis (3 of 10 patients) was similar to that in older studies of adults with ARF. All patients in our series suffered severe polyarthritis, anemia, and fever, but only 60% gave any history of preceding pharyngitis. Rheumatic fever must again be suspected in adults, as well as children, who present with polyarthritis.

Acute Disease↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Antimicrobial susceptibility of Neisseria gonorrhoeae isolates from a military population in San Diego.

Neisseria gonorrhoeae isolates were studied to determine their patterns of antimicrobial susceptibility and possible chemotherapeutic implications. Of 370 consecutive isolates, 32 (8.7%) were penicillinase-producing N. gonorrhoeae (PPNG). The remaining 338 were subjected to disk-diffusion tests, and those apparently resistant to penicillin, tetracycline, or spectinomycin were tested by an agar-dilution method. The dilution test showed that 5.4% (20/370) were penicillin-resistant, non-PPNG strains, of which 100%, 90%, and 45% were also resistant to tetracycline, cefoxitin, and erythromycin, respectively. No resistance to spectinomycin or ceftriaxone was demonstrated, although there was an association between minimum inhibitor concentrations (MICs) of penicillin of greater than or equal to 1.0 microgram/ml and increased MICs of ceftriaxone. The overall incidence of penicillin resistant isolates, including PPNG, was 14.1% (52/370). Of the 20 penicillin-resistant, non-PPNG strains, all were also resistant to tetracycline, and another 21 exhibited tetracycline resistance but were sensitive to penicillin. The in-vitro data suggested that: (1) neither penicillin, tetracycline, nor cefoxitin were acceptable drugs for routine treatment of gonorrhea in our population during the study period; (2) spectinomycin and ceftriaxone continue to demonstrate adequate in-vitro activity against N. gonorrhoeae despite increasing in-vitro resistance to penicillin; and (3) non-plasmid-mediated resistance to penicillin may predict future resistance to ceftriaxone.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗