1/26. A case of human infection with newcastle disease virus.A case of newcastle disease virus infection in a female laboratory technician is reported for the first time in malaysia. Infection was acquired by droplet infection of the eye while grinding infected chicken in the laboratory. The case was confirmed by isolation of newcastle disease virus from an eye swab taken from the subject on the first day of clinical signs. A four-fold rise of haemagglutination-inhibition titre was shown when sera on the third day of infection and 15 days later were compared.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = virus (Clic here for more details about this article) |
2/26. brucellosis in laboratory workers at a Saudi Arabian hospital.BACKGROUND: saudi arabia is hyperendemic for brucellosis, with more than 8000 cases reported each year to public health authorities. During 1998, brucellosis ranked as the No. 1 reportable communicable disease (22.5%) in Saudi Arabian National Guard communities. King Fahad Hospital is the major referral center for National Guard personnel in the nation's central region.methods And Results: From 1991 to 2000, brucellosis developed in 7 expatriate hospital employees. Six employees were bacteriology technologists, and one was a pathologist. Each had a clinical syndrome compatible with brucellosis (headache, fever, rigors, sweats, and myalgias) plus elevated brucella sp serum agglutinin titers > or = 1:1280; one patient also had positive blood cultures. All patients responded to anti-brucella therapy. Two patients had relapses, and complications occurred in four patients (septic endophlebitis of the leg, infected prosthesis, epididymoorchitis, and lumbar spondylitis). In all these employees except the pathologist, the infection was associated with processing brucella sp cultures. CONCLUSION: Despite the enforcement of stringent infection control measures including the use of a class II biosafety hood in the laboratory, the problem of nosocomial brucellosis persists because of the large number of infected specimens handled by the laboratory (17,500 specimens per year). Ultimately, risk reduction depends on efforts to reduce disease endemicity in the country. In the meantime, conversion of the laboratory to biosafety level 3 is under way.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.0019678745731734keywords = fever (Clic here for more details about this article) |
3/26. scrub typhus pneumonitis acquired through the respiratory tract in a laboratory worker.We report a case of scrub typhus pneumonitis in a laboratory worker who apparently acquired it through the respiratory tract. The patient was suffering from fever, cough and dyspnea. He had both cervical and axillary lymphadenopathy, and hepatomegaly. A chest X-ray showed interstitial infiltrates. A diagnosis of scrub typhus was established upon isolation of orientia tsutsugamushi. 12 days before the patient showed symptoms, he had purified O. tsutsugamushi proteins from infected cells using an ultrasonication method which could generate aerosols containing O. tsutsugamushi.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.0019678745731734keywords = fever (Clic here for more details about this article) |
4/26. Laboratory acquired infection with recombinant vaccinia virus containing an immunomodulating construct.Handling of vaccinia virus represents a risk for laboratory-acquired infections, especially in individuals without completed vaccination. We report the case of a Vaccinia infection in a previously vaccinated researcher working with various genetically modified strains. We could confirm the infection by electron microscopy, positive cell culture, virus-specific PCR, sequence analysis, and viral neutralization test. The isolated virus carried a functionally inactivated cytohesin-1 gene of human origin, which had been shown to impair leukocyte adhesion by interacting with the LFA/ICAM-1 axis. The immunomodulating nature of the inserted construct might thus have added to the infectivity of the virus. We emphasize on the necessity of Vaccinia vaccination in laboratory staff working in the field.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1.3333333333333keywords = virus (Clic here for more details about this article) |
5/26. Accidental infection of laboratory worker with vaccinia virus.We report the accidental needlestick inoculation of a laboratory worker with vaccinia virus. Although the patient had previously been vaccinated against smallpox, severe lesions appeared on the fingers. Western blot and polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism were used to analyze the virus recovered from the lesions. The vaccinia virus-specific immunoglobulin g levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Our study supports the need for vaccination for laboratory workers that routinely handle orthopoxvirus.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1.3333333333333keywords = virus (Clic here for more details about this article) |
6/26. Laboratory outbreak of q fever.An outbreak of q fever in a university department where sheep placentas were being used for research is described. Of six persons exposed to the sheep, four had positive titers with only one person developing an acute febrile illness and liver disease. This report illustrates the value of the family physician obtaining an occupational history and conducting an outbreak investigation.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.0098393728658671keywords = fever (Clic here for more details about this article) |
7/26. Laboratory-acquired vaccinia infection.BACKGROUND: Complications following vaccination with vaccinia virus have been well described but are not commonly observed. The use of vaccinia as a tool in molecular biology, in the development of therapeutics, and the anticipated increase of vaccinations in the general population due to the threat of bioterrorism have created a renewed awareness of the post-vaccination complications and the consequent need for clinical and laboratory diagnosis. OBJECTIVES: To report the clinical presentation and subsequent diagnosis of generalized vaccinia that resulted from a laboratory accident in an unvaccinated subject. STUDY DESIGN: The patient was seen by a local infectious disease's specialist and evaluated clinically and with laboratory support relative to a differential diagnosis. RESULTS: Careful assessment of the patient's history, an evaluation of the workplace, and the elimination of likely microbial etiologies led to the diagnosis of generalized vaccinia. Laboratory confirmation was obtained by use of electron microscopy (EM) to observe poxvirus particles in infected cell cultures. CONCLUSIONS: Exposure to vaccinia virus should raise the index of suspicion for patients with skin lesions. Rapid diagnosis may be accomplished by direct examination of lesion material by EM. The virus also readily replicates in commonly available cell cultures and in the absence of immune reagents, typical poxvirus particles may be observed in the infected cells by EM.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.83333333333333keywords = virus (Clic here for more details about this article) |
8/26. Seroconversion to simian immunodeficiency virus in two laboratory workers.Simian immunodeficiency viruses (SIVs) are lentiviruses that cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)-like illnesses in susceptible macaque monkeys and are used in the study of AIDS (1). In November 1988, CDC published guidelines to minimize the risk of SIV transmission to research laboratory workers (2). This report summarizes the investigation of two laboratory workers who seroconverted following occupational exposures to SIV.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = virus (Clic here for more details about this article) |
9/26. encephalitis and chorioretinitis associated with neurotropic African horsesickness virus infection in laboratory workers. Part I. Clinical and neurological observations.Four laboratory workers from the same vaccine-packing facility developed at different times over an 8-year period an illness characterised by encephalitis (in 3 workers) and uveochorioretinitis (in 4). Low complement fixation titres were detected in all 4 patients to African horsesickness (AHS) virus and enzyme immunoassay and plaque reduction neutralising tests were positive, the latter against both serotypes 1 and 6. Five of 15 laboratory workers from the same facility who were healthy on clinical and ophthalmological examination showed positive plaque reduction neutralising tests but none to both serotypes 1 and 6. It is postulated that the encephalitis with the predominant temporal lobe involvement was caused by an airborne transnasal route of infection of the neurotropic AHS virus released in dried powder form, secondary to the accidental breaking of vaccine bottles. This is possibly the first report of subclinical and probable clinical neurotropic AHS infection in man.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = virus (Clic here for more details about this article) |
10/26. encephalitis and chorioretinitis associated with neurotropic African horsesickness virus infection in laboratory workers. Part II. Ophthalmological findings.Four laboratory workers developed uveitis-chorioretinitis, associated with encephalitis in 3 cases. The retinitis was characterised by haemorrhages and areas of retinal oedema, most marked over the posterior polar regions, and was associated with exudative retinal detachments. The lesions progressed over weeks and showed a severe retinal arterial vasculopathy with arteriolar narrowing, ghost vessel formation and the development of optic atrophy. The picture in 2 of the patients resembled that of the acute retinal necrosis syndrome (ARN). antibodies to African horsesickness (AHS) virus were detected. The serology for AHS virus was positive in all 4 patients as well as in 5 of 15 laboratory workers from the same facility who were clinically and ophthalmologically normal. This is to our knowledge the first description of subclinical and probable clinical neurotropic AHS virus infection in man. AHS is a hitherto-unrecognised possible cause of viral retinitis and the ARN syndrome.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1.1666666666667keywords = virus (Clic here for more details about this article) |
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