Data on the epidemiology and pathology of anatipestifer disease in Hungary (2010–2014)

Anatipestifer disease is a contagious disease caused by Riemerella anatipestifer, affecting primarily ducks, geese and turkeys, and characterised by listlessness, diarrhoea, sneezing, nasal discharge, and nervous signs. Sporadically, it occurs in a wide range of other domesticated and wild birds as well. The incidence and characteristics of the disease seen in the three main host species are summarised based on birds submitted for routine laboratory investigation in Hungary over the period 2010–2014. The infection was diagnosed in a higher percentage in geese (9.9%) and ducks (7.5%). It occurred in 5-day-old to 17-week-old geese and 3- to 6.5-week-old ducks, respectively. The pathological lesions were comparable in these two species: enlarged spleen, serofibrinous pericarditis, perihepatitis, airsacculitis, catarrhal enteritis, subcutaneous oedema and hyperaemia over the cranium, mucopurulent exudate in the nasal cavity and occasionally pneumonia, conjunctivitis, purulent arthritis and caseous salpingitis. In some cases, R. anatipestifer produced only secondary lesions, which complicated other diseases such as circovirus infection, mycotoxicosis, mycoplasmosis, or Derzsy’s disease. In turkeys, the disease occurred rarely (0.5%) and at an older age (12 to 19 weeks). The lesions most frequently seen were purulent osteomyelitis of the cranium and seropurulent meningitis. Purulent osteomyelitis in the cranium caused by R. anatipestifer infection had not been reported in turkeys previously. To various extents, other local lesions such as serofibrinous pericarditis, airsacculitis, arthritis, and in one case septicaemia were also observed. The high incidence of the disease in waterfowl underlines the importance of appropriate treatment and prevention that should be based on accurate diagnosis and antimicrobial susceptibility testing, proper biosecurity and vaccination with regard to the serotype(s) present on the farm.

Thrombocytopenia and raised hematocrit-predictor in dengue hemorrhagic fever

Background: This study evaluated the symptoms and routine laboratory investigation to arrive at a bedside diagnosis of dengue hemorrhagic fever and to predict the prognosis on the basis of clinical features and investigation.Methods: This was a prospective study and included children age up to 15 years admitted in the pediatric ward over 2 years period. Dengue fever and dengue hemorrhagic fever were defined according to WHO guidelines.Results: Out of 90 Dengue positive children 44 (48.8%) were of Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever. The common clinical features were fever (100%), bleeding (100%), and rash (84%). 100% children had thrombocytopenia and 36% had raised hematocrit.Conclusions: Triad of fever, bleeding tendencies and rash along with thrombocytopenia and raised hematocrit can be considered as predictive marker for the early diagnosis of dengue hemorrhagic Fever before the specific test like NS1 antigen and antibodies are available.

Routine Laboratory Investigation of Urinary Catecholamine Metabolites in Sick Children

Simple and rapid thin-layer chromatographic methods have been used to investigate the catecholamine metabolites present in the urine of sick children. A semi-quantitative method for 4-hydroxy-3-methoxy-mandelic acid (HMMA) has been devised and compared with the quantitative spectrophotometric procedure. The methods have been performed on both normal subjects and children with catecholamine-secreting tumours, without dietary restriction, and have led to a 50% reduction in the number of samples requiring laborious quantitative determination of HMMA excretion.