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Biomedical subjects

A Antoniadis

Publications and source records attributed to A Antoniadis.

102 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

Serological evidence of human leptospirosis in northern Greece.

a) 1069 human blood samples were tested for the presence of C. F. antibodies to leptospirae. 98 of these sera were from patients suffering from Weil's syndrome. 13 out of 98 patients were found to be suffering from leptospirosis; one of these died. 460 sera were from patients with febrile (acute) illness of unknown origin and 511 sera from patients with respiratory disease (especially "influenza like disease"). None of these patients was found to be suffering from leptospirosis. b) 191 human sera from healthy people at risk to leptospiral infection were examined by microscopic agglutination test (MAT). A high percentage (14.1%) was found to have antibodies against one or two leptospiral serogroups. The results obtained suggest that the incidence of leptospiral infections in humans in Northern Greece is higher than previously reported and the predominant serogroups were found to be Icterohaemorrhagiae followed by Autumnalis and Canicola.

Agglutination Tests↗

Diphtheria immunity of Albanian and other eastern European immigrants in Greece compared with the local population--the risk of reemergence in Greece.

A large number of immigrants have come to Greece from diphtheria-endemic countries during the past 8 years. Information on the immune status against diphtheria among immigrants from Albania and the New Independent States (NIS) of the former USSR, as well as the Greek population, is essential in planning public health control measures. The main objective of the study was to determine the risk of the spread of diphtheria if new cases arrived in the country. Diphtheria antitoxin (DAT) in sera from 185 healthy individuals from northern Greece and 227 immigrants from Albania and the NIS was titrated using a quantitative ELISA test. The participants were adults aged 22 to 46 years. Titers were considered as protective when DAT levels were higher or equal to 0.1 IU/ml. Albanian immigrants exhibited the highest rates of protective titers (99 of 167, 59.3%), while lower immunity rates were detected among immigrants from the NIS (20 of 60, 33.3%) (1.5 < OR = 2.9 < 5.4, p = 0.0007) as well as among Greek participants (47 of 185, 25.4%) (2.8 < OR = 4.4 < 7.0, p = 0.00001). Immunity rates did not differ between Greek and NIS participants. DAT levels of persons with protective titers differed between the three population groups (analysis of variance, p = 0.0005), with the highest mean DAT values detected among NIS immigrants (0.613 IU/ml). Lower values were found among protected Albanians (0.482 IU/ml) and Greeks (0.314 IU/ml). There was no significant age- and sex-related difference in immunity rates and DAT levels among the groups. The low immunity rates among Greek adults might suggest that they have had no natural contact with toxigenic strains of corynebacteria. A booster dose of diphtheria toxoid for local adults is recommended, to reduce their risk of acquiring toxigenic strains from individuals who may carry the bacteria without exhibiting clinical disease.

Adult↗

Epidemiology as an essential tool for establishing prevention programs and evaluating their impact and outcome.

Emerging trends in health care place speech-language pathologists and audiologists on the threshold of role expansion. To include prevention efforts within this new role, clinicians need to ask about the determinants of communication disorders that are preventable within the general population or within sub-populations. In this article, epidemiology is presented as a tool for the primary prevention of a broad range of factors associated with increased rates of communication disorders. "Old" epidemiologic theory, based on populations, blends with the "new" epidemiologic approach emphasizing the contribution of individual behaviors to adverse health outcomes, to provide the working clinician with a framework from which to determine the direction prevention efforts must take. The PRECEDE-PROCEED model of program planning and evaluation (Green and Kreuter, 1991) is utilized in public health and holds potential for use by clinicians in preventing communication disorders. Application of communication disorders to the PRECEDE-PROCEED model is offered as an example of prevention planning.

Communication Disorders↗

Hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome in Greece: clinical and laboratory characteristics.

The clinical and laboratory characteristics of a severe form of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) in Greece are presented. Twenty-seven patients with serologically confirmed HFRS were studied; 10 required renal dialysis, six had hemorrhagic manifestations, and four died. In patients with hemorrhagic manifestations, the platelet counts were generally less than 100,000 cells/microL. In three patients findings were compatible with disseminated intravascular coagulation. Laboratory investigation showed a consistent rise in levels of serum urea nitrogen and creatinine beginning on the fifth or sixth day of illness and reaching a maximum level between the ninth and 12th days of illness. The disease in Greece more closely resembles the Asian form of HFRS (Korean hemorrhagic fever) than the Scandinavian form of the disease (nephropathia epidemica) because of the high mortality rate, the occurrence of hemorrhagic manifestations, and the severity of the clinical disease.

Creatinine↗

Increasing prevalence of high-level gentamicin resistance among Enterococci isolated in Greece.

High-level gentamicin-resistant enterococci (HLGRE) (MIC >512 microg/ml) were frequently recovered in the AHEPA University Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece, during a 15-month period (67/158, 42.4%). PCR testing showed that high-level gentamicin resistance was attributable to the presence of the aac(6')-aph(2") gene, while the recently described genes aph (2")-Ic and aph(2")-Id were not detected. High-level gentamicin resistance could be transferred with varying frequency from 41 of 57 Enterococcus faecalis and 5 of 10 Enterococcus faecium isolates. All transconjugants acquired high-level resistance to streptomycin. HLGRE cause therapeutic problems in our region, since none of the clinically available aminoglycosides can be used in severe infections.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗

[The effect of the chronic irritation and pregnancy in the development of the pregnancy tumor. Experimental study in rats].

This study was undertaken in purpose to estimate the chronic irritation as an aetiological factor in the development of pregnancy tumor. Wire was attached around the first upper molar of 40 female rats, so that its free ends would irritate the mucosa of the cheek. The rats were divided in groups A, B and C. Group A contained 15 rats which were placed for fertilization 7 days after the irritation started. Group B contained 15 rats which were placed for fertilization immediately after the irritation started. Group C contained 10 rats which remained with the irritation. All rats were sacrificed 50 days after the experiment started and the irritated mucosa of the cheek was removed, fixed in formaline and examined histologically. In 11 rats of group A and in 7 of group B a small size tumor appeared in the irritated region. In the remaining rats, ulceration was present. The histological findings of the tumors were compatible with pregnancy tumors. Our results support that the hormonal changes during the pregnancy consist the primary aetiological factor in the development of pregnancy tumors and that the local chronic irritation acts as a secondary auxiliary factor.

Animals↗