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PubMed1995

Correlation between proinflammatory cytokines and antiinflammatory mediators and the severity of disease in meningococcal infections.

Pro- and antiinflammatory cytokines and mediators were measured in 39 patients with acute life-threatening meningococcal infections classified into 3 groups: A, meningitis without shock (n = 20); B, meningitis with shock (n = 9); and C, shock without meningitis (n = 10). The plasma concentrations of proinflammatory endotoxin, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin (IL)-6, and IL-8 and antiinflammatory cytokines and mediators IL-1 receptor antagonist, IL-10, and soluble TNF receptors p55 and p75 were strongly associated with this classification; the highest concentrations were in group C. IL-4 was not measurable. IL-1 beta was increased only in rapidly fatal cases. In addition, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was analyzed in 21 patients for TNF-alpha and its soluble receptors. In CSF, these compounds were mainly increased in group A, reflecting an intrathecal compartmentalized cytokine production. It is concluded that both pro- and antiinflammatory mediators are simultaneously increased and are strongly associated with a classification based on simple clinical parameters.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

Lack of immunity in university students before an outbreak of serogroup C meningococcal infection.

Immunity to meningococci was determined in infected and uninfected students before and during an outbreak of serogroup C meningococcal infection at a university in the United Kingdom. No immunity against the outbreak strain was detected in serum taken from infected students prior to the outbreak or at the time of admission; bactericidal activity developed during convalescence. Carriage of all strains of serogroup C meningococci in asymptomatic students was low (0.9%), and no carriage of the outbreak strain could be detected. Immunity in the at-risk student population before the outbreak was low: 90% of students had no significant bactericidal activity against the outbreak strain. A low prevalence of carriage of the outbreak strain, together with a low prevalence of protective immunity within the student population, was associated with a high incidence of invasive disease in those who acquired the outbreak strain.

Blood Bactericidal Activity↗
PubMed1981

[Experience with the use of aminalon in the complex treatment of children with meningococcal infections].

The results of using the Soviet drug aminalon in combined therapy of 143 children aged 7 months to 16 years suffering from generalized meningococcal infection are presented. According to the data of catamnestic observation the use of the drug in the early convalescence period contributed to a reduction of the incidence of residual manifestations in the patients, and prevented development of the cerebrospinal syndrome. In the late restorative period, the repeated courses of aminalon in combination with vitamins and other biostimulants are indicated in children with asthenohypodynamic states or having difficulties of learning at school.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1981

[Risk of meningococcal infection in children with different hla phenotypes].

A total of 104 children aged 4 months to 13 years with meningococcal infection were examined. For control 600 healthy donors were used. Histocompatibility antigens were determined by the lymphotoxic test. Altogether 36 antigens of the loci, A, B and C were determined. The data thus obtained indicate that the risk of contacting the infection is 6 times greater for persons with Hl A-Bw16 phenotype and 3 times greater for persons with HL A-A12 phenotype than for persons with Hl A-A1 phenotype.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1983

Inherited deficiency of C8 in a patient with recurrent meningococcal infections: further evidence for a dysfunctional C8 molecule and nonlinkage to the HLA system.

An adult male with recurrent meningococcal infections is reported whose serum lacked functional C8 activity but possessed antigenic C8. The addition of 1500 U of purified C8/ml of serum restored hemolytic activity to normal. Four to five times more C8 was required to restore bactericidal activity than to restore hemolytic activity. Bactericidal activity could also be restored by mixing the patient's serum with a second C8-deficient serum that lacked detectable antigenic or functional C8. The patient's serum contained bactericidal antibody for groups A, B, C, and Y meningococci and specific antibody to group Y capsular polysaccharide. There was two to three times more bactericidal antibody activity in the serum than in a pool of normal sera for the infecting strain. Family studies disclosed a sibling who was HLA identical to the patient but whose serum contained normal amounts of total hemolytic and C8 functional activity.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1978

[Characteristics of the morphofunctional state of the adrenals in generalized forms of meningococcal infection].

Changes in the cortical and medullar substances of the adrenals were found to develop in generalized forms of meningococcal infection, the picture of the adrenal involvement changing in relation to the clinical form of infection. In meningococcemia, the leading findings are disturbed circulation and marked affection of the vessel walls in the microcirculatory bed. In meningitis, with spasm of arterioles and small arteries and involvement of the large arteries most important are dystrophic changes in the adrenal parenchyma which depend upon the duration of the disease. Constant finding of lipids, cholesteron and RNA in cells of the extended cortex and RNA, noradrenaline and adrenaline in chromaffin cells, as well as cell proliferation indicate the functional activity and high potentials of the adrenals.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

[Morphology of recent meningococcal infections in children].

An analysis of 108 cases of children's death which occurred in 1981-1991 from hypertoxic meningococcal infection (MI) in St. Petersburg is presented. Serogroup B meningococcus as a causative agent was found in 44% of the cases. The role in the thanatogenesis of inflammatory and immune reactions, viral-bacterial associations was shown on the basis of detailed study of 47 cases. Hemorrhagic adrenal necrosis was diagnosed in 94.7% of the cases. Two clinicomorphological variants of the disease are distinguished: 1) variant with a moderate hemorrhagic eruption without pronounced kidney lesion, 2) variant with an abundant confluent rash and pronounced kidney lesions and choroid plexus immune lesions.

Adrenal Glands↗
PubMed1975

Meningococcal infections in Bolton, 1971-74.

Between December 1970, and the end of June, 1974, there were 82 cases of meningococcal infection, including 14 deaths, in the metropolitan borough of Bolton. This outbreak, caused by a sulphonamide-sensitive group-B strain, was characterised by a high attack-rate in young children, reaching a peak of 184 per 100,000 per year in the 6-11-month age-group. All the deaths were in children under 3 years of age. Nasopharyngeal carriage of the epidemic strain was found in 34% of close family contacts investigated before receiving sulphonamide prophylaxis.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1992

[The evolution of meningococcal infection in Mongolia].

On the basis of the generalization and analysis of the results of bacteriological and immunological investigations the epidemic process of meningococcal infection (MI) in Mongolia was found to undergo definite changes during the last 20 years. Group A meningococci prevailing in the etiology of MI were replaced by strains belonging to group B affecting mainly young children (aged up to 3 years). MI morbidity rate caused by group B meningococci was found to be higher in Mongolia than in other countries of the world. These data substantiate the necessity of using more effective remedies for the control of this infection and, in particular, specific immunization with vaccines against group B meningococci; profound study of the properties of the circulating meningococcal strains is to be carried out.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1980

Meningococcal infections in the Hamilton area during 1978.

During 1978 there was a marked increase in the number of patients with meningococcal infection in the Hamilton area. Of 21 patients admitted to St. Joseph's Hospital, Hamilton, two thirds were under 5 years of age. Four patients died. All the isolates were sulfonamide-sensitive strains of serogroup B Neisseria meningitidis. Although no infections developed in contacts, several errors were made in the management of the hospital and household contacts of the infected patients: chemoprophylaxis was given to many contacts not considered to be at risk; ineffective antibiotics, particularly penicillin, were given for chemoprophylaxis; and chemoprophylaxis was often delayed while the results of cultures of nasopharyngeal and throat secretions were awaited. Circulation to local physicians of guidelines on proven prophylactic regimens was followed by a reduction in the frequency of these errors.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1982

[Evaluation, based on experimental data, of the coefficients of a mathematical model of a meningococcal infection focus].

The method for the determination of the coefficients of the dynamic model of the epidemic process in the focus of meningococcal infection is discussed. The method is based on the statistical evaluation of the coefficients of the system of common differential equations, the confidence interval for these coefficients and for dynamic characteristics. The minimization of the root-mean-square value of the output characteristics of the model serves as the criterion for the determination of the coefficients.

Computers↗
PubMed1990

Detection and prevalence of hearing loss in a cohort of children following serogroup B, meningococcal infection 1983-1987.

A study of hearing loss in 50 surviving children aged 2 months to 17 years, hospitalised with serogroup beta meningococcal infection between 1983-1987, indicated that 35 (70%) had a hearing assessment. The majority were admitted under the care of the paediatricians. Older children tended not to have a follow-up hearing assessment. Impairment of hearing was found in 3, (8.6% of those tested, or 6% of the whole group). Two similar studies in the early and late 1970s indicate comparable prevalence estimates. There is little indication that over the past 17 years the prevalence of hearing loss has declined.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

[Prevention of secondary cases of invasive meningococcal infection: role of chemoprophylaxis and vaccination].

Prevention of secondary cases of invasive meningococcal disease is based on the rapid administration of chemoprophylaxis and depending on circumstances, conjugate vaccine against group C meningococci. The targeted group is close contacts of the patient, mainly household members. When two or more cases take place in schools, chemoprophylaxis and vaccination are offered to classmates and teachers. First-line antimicrobials are quinolones for adults, rifampin for children and ceftriaxone for pregnant and lactating women. Three highly efficacious (> 90%) conjugate vaccines that provide long-lasting protection have been recently made available in Switzerland.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Lipid composition of erythrocyte membranes and blood serum in meningococcal infections in children].

Significant impairments of lipid homeostasis were observed in lipid composition of erythrocyte membranes and blood serum in acute period of meningococcal infection, involving pronounced alterations in content of phospholipids, phospholipid fractions, total cholesterol, unesterified fatty acids as well as activation of phospholipase A2. The degree and pattern of dyslipidemia depended on clinical form, severity of the disease and age of children. The most serious deteriorations were found in the patients with a mixed form of the disease, at early age and during the critical period of meningitis. Studies of lipid composition in erythrocyte membranes, as compared with that of blood serum, enabled to obtain more clear-cut and certain information on the state of lipid homeostasis in the disease. Estimation of main components of lipid metabolism might be used as informative criterion for evaluation of the disease severity and for prognosis of unfavourable outcome.

Adolescent↗