OBJECTIVETo clarify the diagnosis of one suspected case of diphtheria in Guangdong province by epidemiological analysis and etiologic detection.

METHODSOn July 6th 2010, the corynebacterium diphtheria was detected from the nasal secretions of one nasopharyngeal carcinoma patient in a college-town hospital in Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province. The patient and the close contacts were asked to participate in the epidemiological survey; and their nasopharyngeal swabs (3 samples) and the nasal secretions of the patient (1 sample) were collected. The bacteria of the samples were isolated and cultured by blood plate and agar loefflera. The smears of positive strains were dyed and identified by BioMerieux API Coryne biochemical card. Gene tox of β-Corynebacteriophage, Corynebacterium diphtheriae was tested by PCR method, the aliphatic acid was analyzed by gas chromatography method and the Corynebacterium diphtheriae (CMCC 38009) was selected as positive control.

RESULTSThe patient had not gone out, neither had been visited. The patient denied history of vaccines or the immunizations. From the survey on patient's family members and close contacts, no similar symptoms had been found. One strain of Corynebacterium diphtheriae was isolated from the patient's nasal secretions, Gram positive and shape diversified. After cultured by agar loefflera and Gram-dyed and Neisser-dyed, one end or both two ends of the strain showed typical metachromatic granule. API Coryne was identified to Corynebacterium diphtheriae mitis/belfanti (99.4%). The result of gas chromatography method also indicated Corynebacterium diphtheriae. No Corynebacterium diphtheriae was isolated from the nasopharyngeal swabs, neither of the patient nor of the close contacts. The gene tox of β-Corynebacteriophage, Corynebacterium diphtheriae was negative according to the PCR test.

CONCLUSIONThe isolated Corynebacterium diphtheriae did not produce toxin as there was no biological structure gene of toxin. The patient was a health carrier of nontoxic Corynebacterium diphtheriae.

China ; epidemiology ; Corynebacterium diphtheriae ; isolation & purification ; Diphtheria ; epidemiology ; microbiology ; Female ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Nasopharynx ; microbiology ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; methods

OBJECTIVETo develop fluorescent amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) method and to evaluate the its typing capability with pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) in molecular typing of Vibrio cholerae.

METHODSForty-seven strains of V. cholerae, with different PFGE patterns, were selected as the reference group to optimize the selective primers of AFLP analysis. Eighty-three strains including 20 strains from one epidemic episode, isolated from different provinces during 1961 and 2005, were used to compare the typing abilities of AFLP and PFGE. LI-COR4300 DNA sequencing system was used for AFLP electrophoresis. The images were recorded by Saga(MX) software and transferred to BioNumerics for clustering analysis. A standard protocol for V. cholerae from PulseNet was used in PFGE.

RESULTSWhen comparison was made with different selective primers on AFLP based on the 47 strains, results showed that the optimized selective primer pair was EcoR I-G/Mse I-T, and the reproducibility of the tests was 99.2%. Eighty-three isolates showed 52 AFLP patterns and 44 PFGE patterns, with D values as 0.9545 (AFLP) and 0.9251 (PFGE) respectively.

CONCLUSIONThe protocol of fluorescent AFLP on V. cholerae typing was established. AFLP was higher than PFGE in discrimination of V. cholerae which could be used for molecular typing. When combined with PFGE, AFLP became a more insightful tool to identify genome difference of different isolates.

Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism Analysis ; methods ; Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field ; Genotype ; Phylogeny ; Vibrio cholerae ; classification ; genetics

OBJECTIVETo prepare a DNA Microarray that can detect 8 common species of food borne bacterial pathogens in south China.

METHODSAll the 70mer oligo probes were designed on the characteristic genome loci of the 8 species of food borne bacterial pathogens. Eight subarrays corresponding to the 8 food borne bacterial pathogens were spotted onto the slide and integrated into a pan-array on the chip. A number of identified and known bacterial samples from the storage bank were selected for the validation test.

RESULTSBased on the PPR ranking, for LM sub-array, the PPR of the 3 Listeria bacteria LM, Lin and Liv was 68.8%, 51.8% and 59.6%, respectively, while that of the non-Listeria bacterial samples was all below 43%. For VC sub-array, the PPR of VC sample was 54.1% and that of the non-VC bacterial samples was lower than 17.2%. For VP sub-array, the PPR was 66.7% for VP sample and below 24.2% for non-VP bacterial samples. For Sal sub-array, the PPR was 55.9% for Sal sample and below 50.5% for non-Sal bacterial samples. For Shi sub-array, the PPR of Shi sample and the non-Shi bacterial samples was 53.8% and below 36.6%, respectively. For SA sub-array, the PPR of SA sample and non-SA bacterial samples was 65.2% and below 22.7%, respectively. For CJ sub-array, the PPR of the 2 Campylobacter bacteria CJ and CC were 88.2% and 58.8%, respectively, and that of the non-Campylobacter bacterial samples was lower than 35.3%. For EC sub-array, the PPR of EC sample was 47.9%, and that of the non-EC bacterial samples was lower than 41.6%. Evaluation of the Biosafood-8 chip developed in this study by 18 biological samples from different origins demonstrated its good specificity and accuracy in the identification of the pathogens.

CONCLUSIONThe chip we developed can clearly differentiate the target food borne pathogenic bacteria and non-target bacteria and allows specific and accurate identification of the species of the tested bacteria isolates.

Bacteria ; classification ; isolation & purification ; China ; Food Contamination ; analysis ; Food Microbiology ; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis ; methods

Objective To determine the prevalence rates and risk factors of hyperuricemia(HUA) and gout among residents aged over 20 years in Foshan areas. Methods A randomly stratified cluster sampling was conducted, and 7403 inhabitants were investigated on their prevalence rates of HUA and gout. Results (1) The prevalence of HUA was 15.09%, and the standardized rate was 15.27%, in which the prevalence in males was 19.90% and females was 10.54%. The prevalence of gout was 1.04% and the standardized rate was 1.08%,in which the prevalence in males was 1.73%and females was 0.39%. The prevalence of gout in patients with HUA was 6.89%. (2) Average serum uric acid was (336.4 ± 81.5) μmol/L, with (347.1 ± 88.6) μmol/L in males and (289.7±78.6) μmol/Lin females. The serum uric acid levels in male patients with HUA was higher than those in women.(3) Age, body mass index, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, serum uric acid, blood sugar, triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol were significantly higher in patients with HUA and gout than in the normal group (P＜0.05-0.01). The incidence rates of patients with hyperuricemia and gout in the following indices as: overweight and obesity, high blood pressure, high blood sugar were significantly higher than those in the normal group (P＜0.05). Patients having gout in the following indices as age, TG, serum uric acid levels were significantly higher than the HUA group (P＜0.05).(4) Data from non-conditional logistic regression analysis showed that age, overweight, hypertension,diabetes, hyperlipidemia, use of diuretics, family history, alcohol uptake, eating seafood and drinking meat broth, post-menopausal women, and other factors were similar to those factors as patients with hyperuicemia. Tea, fresh vegetables, fruits seemed to be the protective factors. Conclusion Both the prevalence rates of HUA and gout had significantly increased in Foshan areas in recent years.Restricting the intake of food with rich purine, alcohol intake as well as controlling obesity and blood pressure, improving the status of lipid metabolic disorder together with programs as hypertension control etc. were important measures in the strategies on prevention and treatment on hyperuricemia and gout.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the molecular characteristics of phage-type 6b isolates emerging in 1998-2001 cholera epidemics in Sichuan province.

METHODSIsolates were analyzed by phage-typing, pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and ompW gene sequencing.

RESULTSAll phage-type 1b and 6b isolates in Sichuan province from 1998 to 2001 were toxigenic. A total of 24 patterns were identified after PFGE analysis, and one predominant pattern consisted of 13 isolates. Several 1b and 6b isolates from Sichuan and isolates of the 1b from other provinces showed the same PFGE pattern. Mutation in ompW gene was found in 6b isolates.

CONCLUSIONV.cholerae O1 6b isolates in Sichuan province from 1998 to 2001 have special genetic markers, and might genetically correlate with contemporaneous 1b isolates.

Bacterial Typing Techniques ; Bacteriophage Typing ; China ; epidemiology ; Cholera ; epidemiology ; microbiology ; DNA, Bacterial ; genetics ; Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field ; Genes, Bacterial ; Genotype ; Vibrio cholerae ; classification ; genetics ; isolation & purification

Objective:To develop a list of basic and expanded medical laboratory tests in community health service centers in Shanghai.Methods:The status quo of human and equipment resource allocation, the test items and quality control currently performed, the perspectives of various stakeholders, the capacity building of community clinical laboratory in community health service centers in Shanghai were investigated by quantitative survey and qualitative interview; and the rating scores of each test item were assessed by expert consultation using Delphi method. The expert focus discussion was conducted, and each test item was rated and classified. Finally a list of the basic tests and expanded tests in clinical laboratories of community health service center was developed.Results:A total of 247 questionnaires were distributed and 192 (77.7%) were answered. A list of 94 laboratory test items was screened out based on the questionnaire survey of the laboratories of the community health centers. Thirty one experts in the relevant areas were invited to rate the test items, the average authority coefficient of experts was 0.90, with which the weighted average of the expert ratings was made. There were 45 (47.9%) items scored 7 or higher, 38 (40.4%) scored between 5 and 7, and 11 (11.7%) scored less than 5. Based on the results of the expert focus discussion, 48 items were recommended as the basic tests and 46 items as the extended tests.Conclusion:In this study a list of tests recommended to clinical laboratories in Shanghai community health service centers has been developed, which contains 48 basic tests and 46 extended tests.

OBJECTIVETo analyze the effectiveness and costs of the eversion carotid endarterectomy (eCEA) and the carotid endarterectomy with patch angioplasty (pCEA) in treating carotid artery stenosis.

METHODSPatients with carotid artery stenosis who underwent the carotid endarterectomy in the vascular surgery department of Peking Union Medical College Hospital from October 2009 to October 2012 were enrolled in this study. According to the two different surgical procedures, the patients were divided into eCEA group and pCEA group.

RESULTSThe two groups were not significantly different in terms of gender ,age ,risk factors, stenosis degree of carotid artery, and the ratio of bilateral lesions (all P>0.05).The ratio of shunt and antibiotics application, operative time, hospitalization cost, and length of hospital stay in the eCEA group were significantly lower than those in pCEA group (P<0.05).The therapeutic effectiveness, complications, surgery-related death, restenosis, and ipsilateral stroke were not significantly different between these two groups (P>0.05).

CONCLUSIONBoth surgical procedures are safe and effective in treating the carotid artery stenosis;however, eCEA has lower cost when compared with pCEA and therefore can be used as the first choice.

Aged ; Carotid Artery, Internal ; surgery ; Carotid Stenosis ; surgery ; Endarterectomy, Carotid ; methods ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies