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Biomedical subjects

B E Andrews

Publications and source records attributed to B E Andrews.

17 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1986

The clinical spectrum and diagnosis of Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection.

The clinical, radiographic and microbiological data of 47 patients with Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection admitted to three Norfolk hospitals during a 20-month period between 1982 and 1983 have been reviewed. Thirty-nine presented with pneumonia and eight with non-pulmonary infection. The M. pneumoniae specific IgM test was positive in 42 of 45 patients tested (89 per cent); in 39 the levels were diagnostic on admission. Cold agglutinins were detected in 27 (57 per cent) and a fourfold rise in complement fixation titre was demonstrated in 13 (29 per cent). Sputum culture was positive in 12 (26 per cent). The extrapulmonary manifestations observed were haemolytic anaemia (17 per cent), Stevens Johnson syndrome (4.1 per cent), neurological abnormalities (4.1 per cent), arthritis (2.1 per cent), hepatitis (2.1 per cent) and pericarditis (2.1 per cent). One patient with multilobe pneumonia, pericardial effusion and haemolytic anaemia died. Six patients presented with a history of illness longer than a month; in three the clinical and radiographic picture suggested chronic disease (pulmonary tuberculosis, lymphoma and unresolving pneumonia). There were no distinctive clinical or radiographic features of M. pneumoniae infection. Diagnosis, therefore, relies on serological tests of which the most useful is the rapid, specific IgM test, positive in 86 per cent of the admission sera.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1981

A common-source outbreaks of ornithosis in veterinary surgeons.

Presumed or confirmed ornithosis developed in 15 of 46 veterinary surgeons within 3 weeks of their attending a training course on the supervision of poultry processing plants. A duck processing plant was the probable source of infection. The attack rate in those visiting this plant was 44% (15/34) and the rate in those who had close contact with duck feathers was 1.7 times the rate in the remainder of the group who visited the plant. The incubation period ranged from 6 to 20 days. This is the second outbreak of the duck-associated ornithosis to be recognised in the U.K.

Animals↗
PubMed1981

Ornithosis in poultry workers.

An outbreak of ornithosis in duck workers in the winter of 1979 and spring of 1980 was discovered by the investigation of a cluster of cases in Norfolk. A serological survey showed that 61% of duck workers but only 23% of control poultry workers had chlamydia group antibody titres of greater than or equal to 1:8. Altogether 9% of duck workers in the survey had antibody titres greater than or equal to 1:32 and a clinical illness suggestive of ornithosis. The proportions of seropositive tests and clinical attack rates were highest in workers eviscerating ducks and lowest in farm workers. It is suggested that a clinical history of contact with poultry should be considered relevant in the diagnosis of ornithosis and that clinicians caring for poultry workers should consider the possibility of ornithosis as an occupational disease.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

A double-blind cross-over study of the effect of doxycycline on mycoplasma infection and infertility.

Forty-two couples in an infertility clinic were examined for genital infection with Mycoplasma hominis or Ureaplasma urealyticum (T strains). In 21 couples one or other partner was found to be infected; no chlamydiae, trichomonads, or gonococci were isolated from any of these couples. All patients were then included in a double-blind crossover doxycycline/placebo study lasting 8 months. Pregnancy was achieved in one of the 21 couples who were free of infection. Of the 21 couples who were infected, one achieved a pregnancy while still infected, and 19 lost their infection on doxycycline, of whom four achieved a pregnancy. These four pregnancies all occurred among the 10 couples who received doxycycline first. One further pregnancy occurred after the trial was over. Since 5 of the 7 pregnancies occurred in the first 4 months of the trial, they were probably due to the psychological effect of treatment rather than the effect of the drug on infection.

Clinical Trials as Topic↗
PubMed1976

Atypical mycoplasmas from sheep in Great Britain and Australia identified as Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae.

Representative strains of "lacy-colony" mycoplasmas isolated from sheep in Great Britain and Victoria (Australia) were classified as M ovipneumoniae following comparison with strain Y98 of this species. The taxonomic description of M ovipneumoniae is extended and Y98 is proposed as the type strain. A brief description is given of the isolation of M ovipneumoniae from sheep in East Anglia.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Diagnosis of urethritis: role of polymorphonuclear leukocyte counts in gram-stained urethral smears.

Polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs) in the gram-stained urethral smears of 236 consecutive sexually active men without gonorrhea were analyzed quantitatively. The frequency distribution of the highest count of PMNs per high-power field (hpf) showed a count of four PMNs to be the "cut-off" point separating men with urethritis from those without urethritis. This cut-off point correlated well with the presence of Chlamydia trachomatis as well as with turbid urine. However, the PMN count in the gram-stained urethral smear was found to be more sensitive than the appearance of the urine in the diagnosis of urethritis among those with minimal symptoms and signs and not harboring C. trachomatis. This study also demonstrated a close similarity as regards clinical features and PMN count in gram-stained urethral smears between those harboring Ureaplasma urealyticum and those with no organisms.

Adult↗