Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

H Kollaritsch

Publications and source records attributed to H Kollaritsch.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1990

Safety and immunogenicity of an inactivated hepatitis A candidate vaccine in healthy adult volunteers.

The reactogenicity and immunogenicity of a formaldehyde-inactivated hepatitis A vaccine have been investigated. Three different dose levels of vaccine (180, 360 and 720 ELISA units) were administered to healthy volunteers according to a 0, 1, 2 and 12 month schedule. The vaccine was safe and well tolerated. Reactions observed following vaccination were essentially mild and were not dependent upon the quantity of antigen administered. All subjects had measurable titres of anti-HAV antibodies after the full vaccination course; the immune response to the vaccine was dose-related. Antibody titres in vaccinees at month 13 were between 60- and 190-fold higher than those observed in a group of subjects given anti-HAV immunoglobulin.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Immune response in patients with amoebiasis: evaluation of IgG-subclasses.

In order to evaluate the immune response with respect to IgG-subclasses (IgG1-IgG4) in patients with extraintestinal amoebiasis, an ELISA technique was established. It was the aim of this pilot study to quantify the IgG subclass response and to compare the resulting pattern with other systemic protozoal infections. Our results give evidence that IgG4 contributes to more than one third of the total immune response, followed by IgG2, IgG3 and IgG1. Regarding the IgG4 response in patients with Plasmodium falciparum malaria or Chagas disease, IgG4 plays only a minor role in these systemic protozoal infections. The interpretation of a prognostic value of the high IgG4 titres in our patients is not possible at present. However, in patients with a prolonged clinical course of extraintestinal amoebiasis, extremely high IgG4 titres were observed.

Amebiasis↗
PubMed1990

[Correlation of inguinal hernia and agglutinating sperm antibodies].

This is a pilot study concerning the question, whether herniorrhaphy is associated with the production of spermaantibodies. The influence of operation or trauma in production of spermaantibodies was investigate as well as the question, whether preexistant spermaantibodies disappear after herniorrhaphy. The following statement was done: 1. Patients with inguinal hernia have no increased coincidence of spermaantibodies in comparison with other men. 2. There is a tendency of more frequent appearance of spermaantibodies in patients after operation or trauma including herniorrhaphy, but no significancy. 3. After herniorrhaphy spermaantibodies appear in about 20%. 4. Preexisting spermaantibodies may frequently disappear after herniorrhaphy.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

[Travel medicine: status of current recommendations for preventive measures in international travel].

More than 140,000 Austrians per year travel to warm climate countries of the Third World. They have to face the risk to acquire communicable diseases during their stay. Therefore, precise recommendations concerning prophylactic measures are important and necessary. This review deals with the range of actual health advice for Austrian travellers and tries to give a rationale. In detail, active and passive immunizations are discussed and, in addition, the actual situation on malaria chemoprophylaxis is described as relevant for international travel.

Antimalarials↗
PubMed1989

Traveller's diarrhea among Austrian tourists to warm climate countries: II. Clinical features.

The syndrome "Traveller's Diarrhea" (TD) is important for tourists travelling to warm-climate countries. In this study a worldwide survey on the clinical features of enteritis among 1,455 Austrian tourists is reported. The clinical parameters of TD show that this disease exhibits a very uniform clinical course which is not influenced by different regions with considerable differences in aetiology or by travel-associated parameters such as accommodation, travel style and individual dietary hygiene: TD starts mainly at the end of first week of the stay and the average duration of illness is 3.6 +/- 2.7 days. Watery and mucous stools were reported by 99% of patients with a frequency of 4 bowel movements per day, while bloody diarrhea occurred very rarely. However, 57.2% of patients suffered from abdominal cramps, less than one third of patients reported nausea and/or vomiting and fever accompanied the acute disease in 13%. Symptoms indicate that TD should not be considered a severe disease. The diarrheal illness will show the characteristics of an enteroinvasive disease only in rare cases. Treatment of TD is discussed: symptomatic or other non-antibiotic agents are preferable as antibiotics will only occasionally be necessary for treatment of an illness with a self-limiting character. For prophylaxis of TD, the preferable way to resolve the problem of TD in international travel, very few effective preparations are currently available, emphasizing the need for extensive research in this field.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Traveller's diarrhea among Austrian tourists in warm climate countries: I. Epidemiology.

Travellers from temperate climates to the tropics of the Third World face a high risk of acquiring traveller's diarrhea. Epidemiology plays a major role in the exact description of this syndrome. This paper describes the epidemiology of traveller's diarrhea in 3696 Austrian tourists and the influence of various epidemiologic parameters on incidence is evaluated. Destination and season of travel influences attack rates, in particular in the sub-tropics. High (up to app. 60% incidence) and low risk (below 35% incidence) regions can be described, exhibiting risk differences of nearly 100%. Individual parameters, like age and body weight, can influence the risk in an evident manner and, or course, the duration of stay plays a major role. It is pointed out that accommodation and travel characteristics are important factors for risk evaluation, as well as dietary hygiene.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Interaction of different strains of Entamoeba histolytica with target cells: characterization of electrophysiological and morphological features.

Two strains of Entamoeba histolytica with pathogenic zymodemes (SFL3, HK9), one strain with non-pathogenic zymodeme ("Bru") and one non-pathogenic Entamoeba sp. strain ("cold strain"), were investigated with respect to their interaction with target cells. Three test systems were used: 1) direct microscopical observation and qualitative as well as quantitative evaluation of contact and binding events with MDCK cells as targets, 2) kinetics of cytotoxic activity as measured by means of chromium release from 51Cr-labelled K562 cells, and 3) electrophysiological observations with freshly prepared mouse liver cells. We observed that the non-pathogenic cold strain interacted only shortly with target cells (statistical events, interaction type "I"), but did not induce morphological changes, chromium release or depolarization of targets. Non-pathogenic and avirulent strain "Bru" showed, apart from type "I"-binding, the ability to establish tight (type "II") and long-lasting contact (type "III") with targets, but again without cytotoxic effects. The pathogenic but avirulent strain HK9 tightly interacted (type "II") and sometimes long-lasting with target cells, but morphological changes and chromium release were of a moderate degree during the first 20 min, and depolarization was only a rare event. In contrast, strain SFL3 produced tight and long-lasting contacts (type "III" binding), leading to cell death in 83% (type "IV" interaction) within 20 min, substantial chromium release within 10 min and rapid depolarization ("electric collapse") of target cells.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

Tolerability of long-term malaria prophylaxis with the combination mefloquine + sulfadoxine + pyrimethamine (Fansimef): results of a double blind field trial versus chloroquine in Nigeria.

A randomized double blind study in long term malaria chemoprophylaxis was performed to compare the tolerability of Fansimef (1 tablet containing 250 mg mefloquine + 500 mg sulfadoxine + 25 mg pyrimethamine per week) with chloroquine (300 mg per week). 211 Austrian industrial workers and their families in Warri, Nigeria, participated in this study; 101 received Fansimef and 110 chloroquine for 3-18 months (mean 41 weeks). Prophylaxis was discontinued because of adverse effects in 7 volunteers in the Fansimef group (mainly insomnia, palpitations, dizziness, nausea and headache) and in 2 volunteers of the chloroquine group (headache and loss of hair in one volunteer, nausea, dizziness and vomiting in the other). Most of the adverse effects could be due to the mefloquine component. A few minor complaints of burning eyes, nausea and gastric pain were reported in both groups. Laboratory checks performed at 3-monthly intervals showed a slight, transient and clinically irrelevant (but statistically significant) increase of serum glutamic-oxalacetic transaminase and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase at month 3 in the Fansimef group. An attack of acute Plasmodium falciparum malaria occurred in one volunteer 6 weeks after discontinuation of prophylaxis with Fansimef. Antibodies against blood stage parasites could be demonstrated by the indirect immunofluorescence test at different stages of the study, indicating that these two antimalarials are not causal prophylactic agents.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

Tolerability and immunogenicity of a polyvalent Pseudomonas aeruginosa extract vaccine in human volunteers.

A polyvalent 16 serotype Pseudomonas extract vaccine was administered to normal volunteers to ascertain tolerability, immunogenicity and immunisation schedule. Four groups of nine volunteers were immunised with 0.8 X 10(9) bacterial equivalents (BE), 1.2 X 10(9) BE, 1.6 X 10(9) BE or placebo, respectively, on days 0, 14 and 21. A further six volunteers were immunised with 1.6 X 10(9) BE on days 0 and 28. Tolerability was excellent, slight side effects were unrelated to vaccine concentration and decreased with the number of injections. All concentrations of vaccine gave a significantly increased titre 14 days after the first immunisation. Reimmunisation did not increase the titre, which reached a plateau at day 14. Individuals with high pre-immunisation-titres produced very high post-immunisation-titres with a conversion factor of 6.5 whilst those with low pre-immunisation-titres had a higher conversion factor of 13 but produced lower final titres. ELISA titre did not always correlate with biological activity (mouse protection assay) suggesting that effective protective antibodies are only part of the total specific antibody measured by ELISA with the polyvalent whole-cell vaccine antigen.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Lack of induction of IgE and IgG antibodies to yeast in humans immunized with recombinant hepatitis B vaccines.

Yeast-derived hepatitis B vaccines (partially purified or highly purified) at different dosages and a plasma-derived hepatitis B vaccine (control) were injected into 50 young volunteers 3 times at monthly intervals. Before and 4 weeks after this series of immunizations, blood samples were drawn and tested for presence of IgE and IgG antibodies against yeast antigens. No rise in IgE antibodies against Saccharomyces cerevisiae antigens nor in IgG antibodies against Candida albicans antigens was found. Together with former clinical results this underlines the experience that type I and type III reactions against putative yeast contaminants apparently play no major role after immunization with recombinant hepatitis B vaccines.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

[Travel diarrhea: attempt at a clinical-epidemiologic evaluation].

Traveller's diarrhea is the most common tourist's disease in the tropics. Therefore epidemiological data for the evaluation of factors influencing the attack rates and the severity of the disease are being required. This paper deals with the data of 1058 Austrian tourists travelling to warm climate countries. 47.3% of all travellers suffered from an episode of traveller's diarrhea during their stay. However, it could be evaluated that besides the destination seasonal influences were very important. Factors like individual hygiene and accommodation did not influence the attack rates. Age and environmental conditions, however, did partially influence the frequency of diarrhea. Furthermore, additional symptoms were interpreted and it could be seen that suspected heterogenicity of etiology leads to a similar pattern of clinical symptoms. Clinical evaluation proves that traveller's diarrhea is commonly not severe, but due to the incidence and duration of the disease it is a major health problem in modern tourism.

Cross-Cultural Comparison↗
PubMed1987

[New ways of treating and preventing malaria: mefloquine (Lariam)].

Mefloquine--a quinolinemethanol--opens new aspects in the therapy and prophylaxis of malaria. Since this drug will be soon available in Austria, a review of the pharmacological and clinical data is given. Preliminary results of studies dealing with resistance induction against mefloquine showed that Plasmodium falciparum can develop resistance to this substance in vivo as well as in vitro. Hence, some guidelines are given, in particular with regard to the use of mefloquine as a prophylactic drug. It should be used only in malaria endemic zones in which highly chloroquine resistant Plasmodium falciparum is prevalent and the duration of prophylactic administration should be limited to 3 months in order to prevent the development of resistance. However, mefloquine has proved to be a valuable new drug, well tolerated in clinical trials and with pharmacological properties that make its use simple and safe.

Antimalarials↗
PubMed1987

[Successful treatment of antimony-resistant cutaneous leishmaniasis].

We report the case of a patient who acquired cutaneous leishmaniasis in Israel, with multiple lesions on the face and wrists. The diagnosis was made several months after the onset of disease. We observed large multiple ulcers, which at first responded to sodium stibogluconate (600 mg daily for 2 weeks). After initially decreasing in size, the lesions remained unchanged. Several weeks later clinical exacerbation of the cutaneous leishmaniasis was observed. Fearing late complications on the upper eyelid, we administered two 2-week courses of ketoconazole, 800 mg daily. The early and rapid improvement achieved indicates that ketoconazole was successful in this case of cutaneous leishmaniasis.

Aged↗
PubMed1987

Molecular weight analysis of Entamoeba histolytica antigens recognized by IgG and IgM antibodies in the sera of patients with amoebiasis.

The sera of four patients with amoebic liver abscess and two patients with diarrhea caused by Entamoeba histolytica were tested on "Western blots" prepared from E. histolytica strains A3, SFL-3 and HK-9 separated by SDS-PAGE. IgG antibodies in the sera from patients with liver abscess were found to react with several "major" (i.e. strongly staining) band of approximate molecular weights 150-250 kD, 100 kD, 80 kD, 60 kD, 35 kD, 30 kD, 20 kD, and 5-15 kD and the 150-250 kD group of bands. A comparison of the patterns of reactivity obtained with these sera and strains A3, SFL-3 and HK-9 would indicate that some of these bands, especially the 5-15 kD groups of bands might carry antigenic determinants specific for individual strains of amoebae. This 5-15 kD group of bands is completely pelleted at 30.000 g and could therefore be associated with the cytoplasmic membrane. The 150-250 kD group of bands consists of smaller subunits of 40-65 kD molecular weight linked by disulfide bridges; the respective proteins are sensitive to digestion with elastase but not with trypsin, and seem to carry antigenic determinants containing sugar residues as evidenced by their sensitivity to treatment with NaJO4.

Amebiasis↗
PubMed1986

Interaction of serum components with the cytotoxic action of Entamoeba histolytica.

Native normal human serum is capable of inhibiting the cytotoxic action of Entamoeba histolytica against K562 tissue culture target cells assessed by a 51Cr-release test. It is suggested that a part of the inhibitory activity on amoebae's cytotoxic action is represented by the complement system which is known to lyze trophozoites by activation of the alternative pathway. For the rest of the serum's inhibitory activity on amoebic cytotoxic action molecule(s) is (are) responsible which act(s) independently of Mg2+ and Ca2+. The serum components have to act before the trophozoites have come in contact with the target cells. The opsonization of trophozoites with antiamoebic antibodies led to an inhibition of amoebae's cytotoxic action (ACA) in a dose-dependent manner. The inhibitory components of normal human serum and antiamoebic antibodies potentiated each other in their capacity to inhibit ACA. It is suggested that opsonization of amoebae with C3b via its metastable binding site leads to redistribution phenomena on the amoebae's surface similar to the effects observed with antiamoebic antibodies, both events leading to inhibition of ACA.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

[A rare cause of septic syndrome].

The case report is presented of a 18-year old patient, who was admitted to the Haematology Department of the Hanusch Hospital with septic fever, an enlarged spleen and suspected bone marrow failure. Since the patient reported a stay in Sicily prior to the onset of his disease, an infection with Leishmania was suspected. The serological test was highly positive and Leishmania was also isolated from the spleen aspirate. Chemotherapy with Pentostam was successful and the patient made an uneventful recovery. This paper deals with the epidemiology of the disease and discusses the diagnostic approaches.

Adolescent↗