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Franz Allerberger

Publications and source records attributed to Franz Allerberger.

26 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed2002

Clinical course and the role of shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli infection in the hemolytic-uremic syndrome in pediatric patients, 1997-2000, in Germany and Austria: a prospective study.

Hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS) is mainly associated with foodborne infections by Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC). From January 1997 through December 2000, 394 children with HUS were evaluated in a prospective multicenter surveillance study in Germany and Austria (incidences, 0.7/100,000 and 0.4/100,000 children <15 years old, respectively). Blood leukocytosis was associated with increased detection of STEC in stool cultures (P<.01) and a more severe disease course. Risk of death was associated with cerebral involvement (P<.01). Most strikingly, non-O157:H7 STEC were detected in 43% of stool cultures of patients with HUS: O26 was detected in 15%, sorbitol-fermenting O157:H(-) in 10%, O145 in 9%, O103 in 3%, and O111 in 43%. Patients with O157:H7 serotypes required dialysis for a longer time and had bloody diarrhea detected more frequently, compared with patients with non-O157:H7 serotypes (P<.05). This large study in children with HUS underlines the rising importance of non-O157:H7 serotypes, and, despite increased public awareness, the number of patients remained unchanged.

Austria↗
PubMed2002

Bordetella pertussis and Bordetella parapertussis infection in an Austrian pediatric outpatient clinic.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the proportion of children with an acute cough and laboratory evidence of Bordetella pertussis (B. pertussis) and B. parapertussis infection. METHODS: A prospective study was done, including children aged 0 months to 16 years who attended the outpatient clinic of the Innsbruck University Hospital between November 1995 and December 1998. Diagnosis of B. pertussis infection was made in children with acute cough using culture, PCR and serology; diagnosis of B. parapertussis infection was made with PCR and culture. RESULTS: Of the 183 children enrolled in the study, 71 (38.8%) had a B. pertussis infection. Of these, 7 (3.8%) were diagnosed using culture, 24 (13.1%) with culture and PCR, 30 (16.4%) with PCR alone, and in 10 (5.4%) children, a seroconversion of IgG or IgA against pertussis toxin (PT) was observed. The estimated incidence was 1,432 cases per 100,000 children with a cough. PCR enhanced the detection rate of B. pertussis infection 1.7-fold. The sensitivity of culture tests was 16.9%, and that of PCR 29.5%. Using a positive culture as gold standard, the sensitivity of PCR was 77.4% and its specificity 83.6%. In 1% (2/183) of the patients, an infection with B. parapertussis was only diagnosed with PCR. Positivity of culture, PCR and serology depended on age, disease duration and vaccination history. Of the patients with B. pertussis infection, 62% (44/71) had not been vaccinated and 11.2% were too young to have received the first recommended dose. CONCLUSION: Mainly non- or incompletely vaccinated infants are infected with B. pertussis. Improving the vaccination schedule and enhancing vaccination coverage is essential if infection is to be controlled in this population.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

Clinical significance of inhibition kinetics for Streptococcus pyogenes in response to penicillin.

OBJECTIVES: The antibiotic mode of action against clinical isolates of Streptococcus pyogenes and physiological factors involved in modifying the inhibitory response to the antibiotic were investigated. METHODS: We developed high-resolution respirometry for continuous monitoring of bacterial growth and inhibition kinetics. One hundred and ten clinical isolates from 90 paediatric patients were tested, including 48 isolates obtained from 28 patients with eradication failure. Respirometric inhibition curves were monitored at 4 mg/L penicillin G over a short 30 min period, corresponding to the drug's serum half-life. RESULTS: None of the clinical isolates exhibited penicillin tolerance. Latency in the respirometric response of S. pyogenes to penicillin increased significantly with decreasing strain-specific respirometric growth rate. No difference in inhibition kinetics was found in vitro for isolates from patients with or without bacteriological treatment failure. CONCLUSIONS: In streptococcal pharyngotonsillitis, tolerance is not a relevant concept to explain bacteriological treatment failure. Definitions of tolerance should be reconsidered in the framework of growth-dependent antibiotic susceptibility.

Humans↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Molecular characterization of Listeria monocytogenes and the significance for food hygiene].

Research on the pathogen Listeria monocytogenes is a key issue both for the clinical and the food microbiologist owing to the unique pathway of infection and the exposure of humans via contaminated foods. Although, in Austria, the incidence of listeriosis is about 870-fold lower than the incidence for Salmonella infection, the food law manages both foodborne pathogens with a comparable stringency. The current risk management is based on the assumption that environmental L. monocytogenes isolates, from which the pool of "foodborne" isolates is recruited, are of similar pathogenicity compared to clinical and outbreak isolates. This verdict became doubted in the recent years. Characterization of L. monocytogenes by virulence gene sequencing, virulence studies in vivo and in vitro and by molecular typing was considerably stimulating the discussion on virulence variability in L. monocytogenes. This article provides insights in the value of epidemiological follow-up studies by presenting a typing study on 15 cases of listeriosis observed in a district hospital in Turkey. Furthermore results from typing L. monocytogenes either by virulence gene sequencing, mismatch amplification mutation assay or by pulsed field gel electrophoresis are discussed. The close interaction of molecular microbiology with food microbiology both in applied and basic science is currently creating a new discipline of molecular food microbiology. We are convinced that veterinary medicine will contribute to this exiting development in a fruitful way.

Animals↗