scholarly journals THE DISTRIBUTION OF RICKETTSIA IN THE TISSUES OF INSECTS AND ARACHNIDS

1923 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 431-456 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. V. Cowdry

In the absence of a satisfactory definition of Rickettsia the observations herein recorded were arbitrarily limited to bacterium-like organisms which are intracellular and Gram-negative. Rickettsia of this type were found in the following species: Amblyomma americana, Amblyomma hebræum, Boophilus decoloratus, Atomus sp., Casinaria infesta, Chrysopa oculata, Ctenocephalus canis, Dermacentor variabilis, Lepisma saccharina, Lucoppia curviseta, Margaropus annulatus, Margaropus annulatus australis, Ornithodoros turicata, Pulex irritans, Rhipicephalus sanguineus, Rhipicephalus evertsi, and Salticus scenicus. Since intracellular, Gram-negative Rickettsia have been recorded in the literature as existing in Cimex lectularius, Dermacentor venustus, Melophagus ovinus, and Pediculus humanus, the occasional occurrence of such bodies must be conceded in the following groups not closely related phylogenetically: Attidæ, Trombidiidæ, Argasidæ, lxodidæ, Cinura, Acanthiidæ, Pediculidæ, Hippoboscidæ, Chrysopidæ, Pulicidæ, and Ichneumonidæ. The species which harbor Rickettsia differ widely in diet and habitat. One such species is insectivorous throughout life, two are insectivorous in larval stages, becoming vegetarian in the adult condition, one is chiefly vegetarian but partakes of some animal products, and two are usually entirely vegetarian; while the remainder subsist wholly upon a diet of mammalian blood. Rickettsia are associated, in only a few cases, with diseases in mammals. The evidence at hand does not lead beyond the conclusion that the Rickettsia mentioned above are true Gram-negative microorganisms, easily distinguishable from mitochondria and all other cytoplasmic and nuclear granulations, rather completely adapted to an intracellular existence, exhibiting in some cases a remarkable degree of host specificity, and often inherited through the eggs.

2015 ◽  
Vol 122 (5) ◽  
pp. 1096-1112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Athanasios A. Konstantelias ◽  
Konstantinos Z. Vardakas ◽  
Konstantinos A. Polyzos ◽  
Giannoula S. Tansarli ◽  
Matthew E. Falagas

OBJECT The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of antimicrobial-impregnated and -coated shunt catheters (antimicrobial catheters) in reducing the risk of infection in patients undergoing CSF shunting or ventricular drainage. METHODS The PubMed and Scopus databases were searched. Catheter implantation was classified as either shunting (mainly ventriculoperitoneal shunting) or ventricular drainage (mainly external [EVD]). Studies evaluating antibioticimpregnated catheters (AICs), silver-coated catheters (SCCs), and hydrogel-coated catheters (HCCs) were included. A random effects model meta-analysis was performed. RESULTS Thirty-six studies (7 randomized and 29 nonrandomized, 16,796 procedures) were included. The majority of data derive from studies on the effectiveness of AICs, followed by studies on the effectiveness of SCCs. Statistical heterogeneity was observed in several analyses. Antimicrobial shunt catheters (AICs, SCCs) were associated with lower risk for CSF catheter–associated infections than conventional catheters (CCs) (RR 0.44, 95% CI 0.35–0.56). Fewer infections developed in the patients treated with antimicrobial catheters regardless of randomization, number of participating centers, funding, shunting or ventricular drainage, definition of infections, de novo implantation, and rate of infections in the study. There was no difference regarding gram-positive bacteria, all staphylococci, coagulase-negative streptococci, and Staphylococcus aureus, when analyzed separately. On the contrary, the risk for methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA, RR 2.64, 95% CI 1.26–5.51), nonstaphylococcal (RR 1.75, 95% CI 1.22–2.52), and gram-negative bacterial (RR 2.13, 95% CI 1.33–3.43) infections increased with antimicrobial shunt catheters. CONCLUSIONS Based on data mainly from nonrandomized studies, AICs and SCCs reduce the risk for infection in patients undergoing CSF shunting. Future studies should evaluate the higher risk for MRSA and gram-negative infections. Additional trials are needed to investigate the comparative effectiveness of the different types of antimicrobial catheters.


Author(s):  
Edna Michelly de Sá Santos ◽  
Ricardo César De Souza Carneiro da Cunha ◽  
Márcia Paula Oliveira Farias ◽  
Cristina Farias da Fonseca ◽  
Jaqueline Bianque de Oliveira ◽  
...  

Objetivou-se identificar as espécies de pulgas e carrapatos de Cerdocyon thous provenientes do estado Pernambuco. Foram examinados 20 animais, estando 30% (6/20) ectoparasitados. Foram coletadas 16 pulgas e 17 carrapatos em cachorros-do-mato de vida livre e de cativeiro no estado de Pernambuco. As pulgas foram identificadas como: Pulex irritans e Ctenocephalides felis; e os carrapatos foram: Rhipicephalus sanguineus sensu lato e Amblyomma ovale. A presença de ectoparasitos de animais domésticos parasitando C. thous, sugere a aproximação de indivíduos desta espécie ao peridomicílio. Além disso, este é o primeiro relato da ocorrência de A. ovale em C. thous no nordeste brasileiro.


2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (6) ◽  
pp. 1304-1309 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katharine R. Dean ◽  
Fabienne Krauer ◽  
Lars Walløe ◽  
Ole Christian Lingjærde ◽  
Barbara Bramanti ◽  
...  

Plague, caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, can spread through human populations by multiple transmission pathways. Today, most human plague cases are bubonic, caused by spillover of infected fleas from rodent epizootics, or pneumonic, caused by inhalation of infectious droplets. However, little is known about the historical spread of plague in Europe during the Second Pandemic (14–19th centuries), including the Black Death, which led to high mortality and recurrent epidemics for hundreds of years. Several studies have suggested that human ectoparasite vectors, such as human fleas (Pulex irritans) or body lice (Pediculus humanus humanus), caused the rapidly spreading epidemics. Here, we describe a compartmental model for plague transmission by a human ectoparasite vector. Using Bayesian inference, we found that this model fits mortality curves from nine outbreaks in Europe better than models for pneumonic or rodent transmission. Our results support that human ectoparasites were primary vectors for plague during the Second Pandemic, including the Black Death (1346–1353), ultimately challenging the assumption that plague in Europe was predominantly spread by rats.


Development ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 126 (24) ◽  
pp. 5739-5747 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Martin-Blanco ◽  
F. Roch ◽  
E. Noll ◽  
A. Baonza ◽  
J.B. Duffy ◽  
...  

The Drosophila EGF receptor (DER) is required for the specification of diverse cell fates throughout development. We have examined how the activation of DER controls the development of vein and intervein cells in the Drosophila wing. The data presented here indicate that two distinct events are involved in the determination and differentiation of wing cells. (1) The establishment of a positive feedback amplification loop, which drives DER signaling in larval stages. At this time, rhomboid (rho), in combination with vein, initiates and amplifies the activity of DER in vein cells. (2) The late downregulation of DER activity. At this point, the inactivation of MAPK in vein cells is necessary for the maintenance of the expression of decapentaplegic (dpp) and becomes essential for vein differentiation. Together, these temporal and spatial changes in the activity of DER constitute an autoregulatory network that controls the definition of vein and intervein cell types.


1981 ◽  
Vol 97 (3) ◽  
pp. 551-555
Author(s):  
I. A. Gaaboub ◽  
A. E. E. Widaatalla ◽  
N. L. Kelada

SUMMARYSix species and subspecies of rats and mice, Arvicanthis niloticus, Rattus norvegicus, R. rattus frugivorus, R. rattus alexandrinus, R. rattus rattus, and Mus musculus, were found associated with cotton, wheat, maize, sugar-cane, vegetables, fruit and berseem in the vicinity of Alexandria, Egypt. A. niloticus comprised 42·2% of all species collected. Maize, wheat, cotton and berseem were infested most. The lowest infestation was recorded in the fruit fields. Infestation in sugar-cane and vegetables was intermediate. R. norvegicus, M. musculus, R. rattus frugivorus, R. rattus alexandrinus and it. rattus rattusformed 23·9, 16·7, 10·4, 4·2 and 2·7% of the species collected respectively. Of the seven crops investigated, only two (cotton, wheat) were not infested with R. rattus rattus, but all were plagued with some species of rodents. The abundance of these rodents in fields seemed to be positively correlated with temperature and relative humidity. Winter represents a definite off-season for all species recorded.Six species of fleas (Xenopsylla cheopis, Nosopsyllus fasciatus, Ctenocephalides felis felis, Leptopsylla segnis, Pulex irritans and Echidnophaga gallinacea), three of sucking lice (Polyplax abyssinica, P. spinulosa and Hoplopleura capitosa), five of parasitic mites (Ornithonyssus bacoti, Laelaps echidnina, L. keegani, Androlaelaps zulu and Haemolaelaps sp.) and the tick Rhipicephalus sanguineus sanguineus were recovered from the rodents. Fleas (especially X. cheopis) and lice generally showed a certain degree of host specificity. A close relationship has been shown to exist between the abundance of fleas and lice and the abundance of some rodent hosts and climate. However, no definite host specificity or relation to climate was shown by infestation with mite species. Only B. sanguineus sanguinetie was recovered from S. rattus frugivorus during July, October and December; from R. rattus alexandrinus during November; and from R. rattus rattus during September. Its rate of infestation did not exceed one specimen per rodent host.


Blood ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 120 (21) ◽  
pp. 3042-3042 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua Lukenbill ◽  
Lisa Rybicki ◽  
Mikkael A. Sekeres ◽  
Megan DiGiorgio ◽  
Thomas Fraser ◽  
...  

Abstract Abstract 3042 Central line-associated blood stream infection (CLABSI) surveillance is increasingly utilized as an objective measure of quality of care provided by individual hospitals. CLABSI is defined by the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) as a primary bloodstream infection (BSI) in a patient with a central line within the 48-hour period before the development of the BSI (NHSN CLABSI). This traditional definition of CLABSI includes pathogens better described as hospital-acquired blood stream infections (HABSI), such as enteric gram-negative bacilli (GNB) and streptococcus viridans - pathogens inherently more common in patients undergoing hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) due to the resultant neutropenia and disruption of mucosal barriers, and unlikely to be line-related. To avoid this misclassification, we have developed a modified CLABSI definition (MCLABSI) which excludes HABSI (DiGiorgio, Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 33: 865–8, 2012). MCLABSI includes all of the pathogens under the NHSN definition of CLABSI except Viridans group streptococci species in patients with mucositis, and Enterococcus, Enterobacteriaceae, or Candida species in patients with neutropenia or graft-vs-host disease of the gut. We compared the incidence of CLABSI and its impact on survival using both definitions in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) patients undergoing SCT. AML and MDS patients undergoing HCT between August 2009 and December 2011 were identified from the Cleveland Clinic Unified Transplant Database, and NHSN CLABSI and MCLABSI rates were obtained from the infection control database. CLABSI incidence was estimated using Kaplan-Meier method, and risk factors for mortality were identified using stepwise Cox proportional hazards analyses. Of the 73 patients identified (median age 52, range 16–70), 48 were male, 44 had AML, and 29 MDS. Patients received a median of 2 prior chemotherapy regimens (range 0–6), 3 had prior radiation, and 6 had prior transplant. 54 underwent myeloablative and 19 reduced-intensity preparative regimens; stem cell source included bone marrow (BM, n=34), peripheral stem cells (PSC, n=24), and cord blood cells (CBC, n=15). The median CD34+ count was 2.42 × 106/kg and median time to neutrophil recovery (absolute neutrophil count > 500/μL) was 14 days (range 6–24) with BM/PSC and 28 days (range 19–77) with CBC. Most (88%) had mucositis, including 17 (28%) with grade 3 or 4. Twenty-three (31.5%) developed NHSN CLABSI, compared to 8 (11.0%) who developed MCLABSI following HCT, of whom 16 (69.6%) and 7 (87.5%) died, respectively. The majority (16/23) of NHSN CLABSI occurred within 14 days (median 9 days, range 2–211 days) of HCT (Figure), varying from a median of 5 days (range 2–12 days) for CBC and 78 days for BM/PSC (range 7–211 days, p<.001). Pathogens in NHSN CLABSI included 11 enteric Gram-negative bacilli, 7 Streptococcus viridans group, 6 enterococcus (3 vancomycin resistant), 5 Staphylococcus (3 methicillin resistant), 2 fungal species, 2 Gram-positive bacilli, 1 Pseudomonas, 1 other Streptococcus species, and 1 Stenotrophomonas. MCLABSI occurred a median of 12 days (range 5–176 days) from HCT (Figure), 7 days for CBC (range 5–12 days) compared to 77 days (range 13–176 days) for BM/PSC (p<.001). Pathogens isolated in MCLABSI included 5 Staphylococcal species (3 MRSE), 2 Streptococcus viridans group, 2 GPB, 1 VRE, and 1 Pseudomonas. 4 NHSN CLABSI and 2 MCLABSI were polymicrobial, and 4 patients had recurrent CLABSI (all of whom died, including 3 MCLABSI). When NHSN CLABSI was analyzed as a time-varying covariate in univariable analysis, it was associated with an increased risk of mortality (HR 3.72, 95% CI 1.88 – 7.36, p<.001), as was MCLABSI (HR 2.96, CI 1.27–6.89, p=.012). CLABSI remained a significant risk factor for mortality in multivariable analysis, by both the NHSN (HR 7.14, CI 3.31 – 15.31, p<.001) and MCLABSI (HR 6.44, CI 2.28–18.18, p<.001) definitions. CLABSI is a common complication in AML and MDS patients undergoing SCT, and is associated with decreased survival. CLABSI is identified less commonly with the exclusion of HABSI in the modified definition, which more precisely identifies patients with BSI related to their central lines. The distinction between these definitions is important to guide preventative infectious control measures, particularly given CLABSI's role as a quality measure influencing reimbursement. Disclosures: Hill: Teva Pharmaceuticals: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau.


Blood ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 122 (21) ◽  
pp. 2984-2984
Author(s):  
Minako Sugiyama ◽  
Yukayo Terashita ◽  
Junjiro Ohshima ◽  
Tomonobu Sato ◽  
Yuko Cho ◽  
...  

Abstract Introduction The use of central venous (CV) catheters is crucial for administering chemotherapy to children; however, catheter-related bacterial infections can be life threatening. The guidelines of Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention recommend ensuring sterile access to CV catheters by scrubbing the access port with an appropriate antiseptic, such as chlorhexidine, povidone-iodine, or 70% alcohol, and accessing the port only with sterile devices. For pediatric patients receiving chemotherapy, our institution uses the Hickman catheter as a CV catheter. Between April 2008 and March 2010, 83% alcohol was used to sterilize the access port. Because a large number of patients acquired subsequent infections including with Bacillus cereus, we used 10% povidone-iodine before accessing the catheter between April 2010 and March 2012. We compared the rates of bacterial infections during these two periods. Patients and Methods We performed blood cultures of patients receiving chemotherapy using venous puncture or a CV catheter before starting antibiotics. We determined the number of positive cultures, identified the infectious agent, and clinically evaluated the infected patients. Between April 2008 and March 2010, we investigated297 patients, of which 207 were treated using CV catheters. The median age of the 207 patients (129 males and 78 females) was 8 years (range, 2 months to 30 years). The indications for chemotherapy included stem-cell transplantation to treat the diseases as follows: hematological malignancies (n=127), malignant solid tumors (n=62), and congenital immune deficiencies (n=18). Between April 2010 and March 2012, we investigated 291 patients, of which 185 were treated using CV catheters. The median age of the 185 patients (129 males and 56 females) was 6 years (range, 10 months to 16 years). The indications for chemotherapy included the following conditions: hematological malignancies (n=98), malignant solid tumors (n=81), pure red-cell aplasia (n=4), and congenital immune deficiencies (n=2). We defined catheter-associated bloodstream infection by detection of common commensal pathogens, such as Staphylococcus species and Bacillus cereus, according to the definitions of the CDC/NHSN along with detection of pathogens from cultures collected from the access port of the CV catheter. Results There was no significant difference between the two groups in patient characteristics such as median age and the period of neutropenia. The frequency of positive blood cultures were 16.4% (34/207) and 11.9% (22/185) (p = 0.224) for the former and latter periods, respectively. In the first period, 61.8% (21/34) of the pathogens isolated were gram-positive (e.g., S. epidermidis) and 41.2% (14/34) were gram-negative (e.g., B cereus). Our definition of catheter-associated bloodstream infection was met by 12.6% (26/207) in these cases. In the second period, 40.9% (9/22) of the pathogens isolated were gram-positive and 40.9% (9/23) were gram-negative (e.g., Enterobacter cloacae). Our definition of catheter-associated bloodstream infection was met by 6.5% (12/185) (p = 0.0658) Notably, B. cereus was not detected in the second period. Conclusion Sterilization of the access port of CV catheters using povidone-iodine decreased catheter-associated bloodstream infection. A significant advantage of using povidone-iodine was eliminating infections with the fatal pathogen, B. cereus. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


2004 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 426-432 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan B. Wells ◽  
Lance A. Durden ◽  
John H. Smoyer

Ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) were collected from family-owned domestic dogs, Canis familiaris L., in Bulloch Co., GA, from 1996 to 2003 and from dogs maintained in a shelter in Emanuel Co., GA, in 2002 and 2003. A total of 2,466 ticks representing 9 species was recovered. The most frequently recovered species from family-owned dogs were the blacklegged tick, Ixodes scapularis Say (54.6% of all ticks from this group of dogs), and American dog tick, Dermacentor variabilis (Say) (27.7%). Collections from shelter-maintained dogs were dominated by the brown dog tick, Rhipicephalus sanguineus (Latreille) (73.6%). Except for 39 nymphs of the lone star tick, Amblyomma americanum (L.), 12 nymphs of R. sanguineus, 7 nymphs of the Gulf Coast tick, Amblyomma maculatum Koch, 1 nymph of D. variabilis and 72 larvae of the gopher tortoise tick, Amblyomma tuberculatum Marx, only adult ticks were present. Seasonally, I. scapularis adults were recorded from October through May and were most common in the fall; whereas, A. americanum, A. maculatum, A. tuberculatum, D. variabilis, and Ixodes affinis Neumann were all found only during the spring, summer and/or early fall. Two species of ticks collected during this study, A. tuberculatum and I. affinis, have Coastal Plain distributions in the southern U.S. and would only be expected to parasitize dogs within this region.


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