Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

K K Christensen

Publications and source records attributed to K K Christensen.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1983

Chlorhexidine for prevention of neonatal colonization with group B streptococci. II. Chlorhexidine concentrations and recovery of group B streptococci following vaginal washing in pregnant women.

The effect of a single washing of the urogenital tract with 0.5 g/l chlorhexidine was studied in 6 women in weeks 38-40 of pregnancy, among whom 5 were carriers of group B streptococci in urethra and/or cervix. The chlorhexidine concentrations varied between 25 and 200 mg/l during the first hour after washing in 5 of the 6 women, whereas one patient showed concentrations below 25 mg/l. With the exception of one patient, all individuals showed concentrations less than 25 mg/l at 3-24 h after washing. A clear suppression of the number of colony-forming units of GBS was already apparent after 60 min and was still evident 6 h after chlorhexidine washing.

Carrier State↗
PubMed1983

The occurrence of R-protein among isolates of group B streptococci from human sources.

A total of 241 clinical isolates of group B streptococci were tested for presence of R-protein by applying the double diffusion-in-gel technique on streptococcal extracts against monospecific anti-R protein serum, radio-labelled protein A and anti-R protein serum or S. aureus, Cowan I coated with antibodies against group A streptococci, T-type 28. The first two methods proved more sensitive than the latter. R-protein was detected in 51% of 43 type II strains and in 87% of 102 type III strains, whereas none of 79 type Ia and none of 17 type Ib strains contained R-protein. Among 30 isolates from blood and cerebrospinal fluid of infants with neonatal infections, R-protein was detected in 43%, one of two type II strains and 12/14 type III strains. Tests of 37 paired strains from infant/mother pairs showed concordant results with respect to presence or absence of R-protein in the isolates.

Bacterial Proteins↗
PubMed1983

Correlation between low levels of maternal IgG antibodies to R protein and neonatal septicemia with group B streptococci carrying R protein.

A method was designed for quantitation of serum antibodies to R protein in group B streptococci (GBS). Four sera from mothers of infants with neonatal septicemia caused by type II, R+ GBS showed a binding range from 400 to 740 cpm in contrast to a range of 690-1,220 cpm in 5 parturients carrying type II, R+ strains in the urogenital tract giving birth to healthy infants (p less than 0.05). The range of antibodies in sera from 8 mothers to infants infected with GBS type III,R+ was 370-750 cpm, whereas the range in sera from 10 carriers of type III,R+ giving birth to healthy infants varied between 510 and 1,280 cpm (p less than 0.01). These findings indicate that R protein is an important virulence factor in neonatal GBS septicemia/meningitis.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Deficiency of IgG subclasses in mothers of infants with group B streptococcal septicemia.

Serum IgG subclasses were studied in 19 mothers of infants with serious infections caused by group B streptococci (GBS) and compared with a control group of 20 mothers of healthy infants. 13 of 19 mothers showed decreased subclass levels: 10 of 19 low IgG2, 9 of 19 low IgG1 and 4 of 19 low IgG3. The levels of IgG1, IgG2 and IgG3 were significantly lower among mothers of GBS-infected infants than among the controls. Thus, there is indirect evidence that the infants were immunodeficient at birth.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Risk factors in cesarean section infection.

Factors associated with risk of postoperative infection after cesarean section were studied in 321 patients not given antibiotic prophylaxis. Infections occurred in 56 (25%) of the 228 patients who were delivered by emergency cesarean section and in eight (9%) of the 93 patients who underwent elective surgery (P less than .01). These frequencies corresponded well with the infection rates reported after administration of antibiotics in other studies. Risk factors were: duration of operation more than one hour; blood loss more than 800 ml; presence of Staphylococcus aureus in the nares; signs of intrauterine infection before surgery; and failure of progress in labor. The results indicated that obstetric interventions had been performed more frequently in patients at risk of infection, rather than being the real cause of the infections. The importance of strict preoperative hygienic routine is discussed.

Bacterial Infections↗
PubMed1982

Mothers of infants with neonatal group B streptococcal septicemia are poor responders to bacterial carbohydrate antigens.

Serum antibodies against various carbohydrate antigens were studied in 16 mothers of infants with serious infections caused by group B streptococci (GBS) (the study group), and compared with a control group of 29 urogenital carriers of GBS who gave birth to neonatally healthy infants. Using a radioimmunoassay for the determination of antibodies to GBS types Ia, Ib, II and III, it was found that the study group had significantly lower levels of IgG antibodies to each of the 4 GBS types than the control group. The IgG levels against Salmonella BO and DO, Yersinia enterocolitica 03, Francisella tularense and Streptococcus pneumonia types 3, 6, 9, 19 and 23 purified carbohydrate antigens were determined using an ELISA technique. Significantly more individuals in the study group than in the control group had low levels of IgG antibodies against 8 of 9 carbohydrate antigens. No difference was found in IgM levels against 3 of 4 antigens studied, while the study group showed significantly more IgM antibodies against Salmonella DO than the controls. These results indicate that mothers of GBS-infected infants might be poor IgG antibody responders to bacterial carbohydrate antigens in general.

Antibodies, Bacterial↗
PubMed1982

Low levels of antibodies to surface antigens of group B streptococci in commercial IgG preparations.

53 different batches of commercial IgG were tested for antibodies to group B streptococci (GBS) types Ia, Ib, II and III. The levels of antibodies varied widely. Comparison of the anti-GBS antibody levels in these preparations with those found in normal blood donor sera showed that the commercial IgG contained approximately 2.6 times less type-specific antibodies. We conclude that the commercial IgG now available is not optimal for passive immunization against GBS infections in neonates.

Antigens, Bacterial↗
PubMed1982

Late spontaneous abortion associated with Mycoplasma hominis infection of the fetus.

A 35-year-old gravida 4 was admitted in pregnancy week 25 because of premature rupture of the fetal membranes. Two days later an intra-uterine infection developed. Treatment with clindamycin and ampicillin was started. However, she aborted within a few hours. The fetus was of normal size and without malformations. Mycoplasma hominis could be isolated from the placenta, cerebrospinal fluid and lungs of the fetus during sterile autopsy, and also from the genital tract of the patient, who had a high constant titre of indirect hemagglutination antibodies to M. hominis in sera collected during pregnancy and after the abortion. This case suggests that M. hominis can ascend to the uterine cavity after rupture of the membranes and infect the fetus.

Abortion, Spontaneous↗
PubMed1982

Relation between neonatal pneumonia and maternal carriage of group B streptococci.

Obstetrical and neonatal complications were studied among 143 urogenital carriers of group B streptococci (GBS) and their 144 infants and compared with complications occurring in a control group of 157 pregnant non-carriers and their 158 infants. All parturients had experienced uncomplicated pregnancies until week 36. 26 infants, 13 from each group, were transferred to the neonatal intensive care unit for treatment and observation within the first 7 days of life. Among these infants, 11/13 infants of GBS carriers contracted pneumonia and pulmonary adaptation syndrome, in contrast to 3/13 infants of non-carriers (p less than 0.05). The GBS carrier infants transferred to the neonatal intensive care unit had higher birth weights and higher gestational ages. Within the group of infants born to GBS carriers, those with pulmonary diseases evidenced abnormal fetal heart rate changes during labour in a higher rate than in the controls. Puerperal endometritis occurred with a significantly higher frequency among the GBS carriers (7/143) than among the non-carriers (0/157). Maternal carriage of GBS is a high risk factor for both the mother and her newborn, also after an otherwise uncomplicated pregnancy.

Adult↗
PubMed1982

Infection as a predominant cause of perinatal mortality.

During a 15-month period, all 34 infants delivered at the department of obstetrics and gynecology at University Hospital in Lund, Sweden, who died perinatally or neonatally were included in a prospective study of causes of death. Autopsies--including extensive culturing of specimens for bacteria, chlamydia, fungi, mycoplasmas, and viruses--were performed for all infants. Maternal sera obtained during pregnancy and after delivery were examined regarding titers against a number of microorganisms. During the study period, the perinatal mortality rate was 0.60% and the neonatal mortality rate 0.56%. It was found that 37% of the deaths were caused by lethal malformations, 17% by idiopathic respiratory distress syndrome, and 9% by ablatio placentae. However, no less than 21% occurred as a direct consequence of infections, including 2 deaths caused by group B streptococci, 2 by Coxsackie B virus, and 3 deaths each by Hemophilus influenzae, Pseudomonas pyocyanea, and Candida albicans. A 6-month study of late abortions revealed another case of intrauterine group B streptococcal infection. The study has demonstrated that autopsy, including microbial examination, is recommended in all cases of perinatal and neonatal deaths.

Abortion, Septic↗
PubMed1981

Obstetrical care in future pregnancies after fetal loss in group B streptococcal septicemia. A prevention program based on bacteriological and immunological follow-up.

Among 22 mothers of infants infected with group B streptococci (GBS), 19 showed markedly low levels of antibodies against the infecting type. Three of the patients with low antibody levels went through a new pregnancy within 1 yr after they had lost an infant (2 patients) or experienced fetal death due to GBS (1 patient). They were still urogenital carriers of the type of GBS causing the previous infection, and their serum levels of type-specific antibodies remained low. All three went through a successful pregnancy following a prevention program comprising antibiotic treatment from the 28th wk of pregnancy.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

Colonization of newborns with group B streptococci: relation to maternal urogenital carriage.

Urethral and cervical specimens were obtained from 786 parturients during labour. 126 women (16%) were found to be urogenital carriers of group B streptococci (GBS). Bacteriological specimens were also obtained from the throat, umbilicus and external auditory canal of their 786 infants immediately after birth, and from 671 of the infants staying at the maternity unit 4 days later. 51% (64/126) of the infants born to GBS carriers were culture-positive for GBS immediately after birth. Only 27% (6/22) of the infants born to women who were GBS culture-positive in the urethra but not in the cervix contracted GBS at the delivery, in contrast to 59% (58/85) of the infants born to combined urethral and cervical carriers (P less than 0.05). This difference in colonization rate was not related to differences in levels of antibodies to the type of GBS carried by the individual parturient. On day 4, 13% (90/671) of the infants in the maternity unit were colonized with GBS. 39% of them were colonized at birth from their mother, 12% were culture negative at birth but had become colonized by day 4 with the same type of GBS as that isolated from the urogenital tract of the mother, and 37% were GBS positive on day 4 but culture-negative at birth and the mother's specimens did not reveal GBS. The distribution of serotypes among these infants was identical with that found among the other colonized infants, indicating that they might have contracted their GBS from the other infants in the maternity unit.

Carrier State↗
PubMed1981

Quantitation of antibodies against group B streptococci, Types Ia, Ib and III in sera from different groups of individuals: high antibody levels in sera from venereal disease clinic patients.

Sera from 3 groups of individuals were investigated for antibodies to group B streptococci (GBS) types Ia, Ib and III using radiolabelled protein A: 45 girls, aged 1 to 12 years; 123 non-pregnant gynecological outpatients, aged 15 to 42 years; and 96 female venereological disease (VD) clinic patients, aged 15 to 54 years. The two groups of adults had higher antibody levels against type Ia than the girls, while no difference was found between the two adult groups in this respect. On the other hand, the VD patients had higher levels of antibodies against type Ib than the girls and the gynecological patients; the gynecological patients did not differ from the girls as regards anti-Ib antibodies. The antibody levels against type III were higher among the VD clinic patients than among the gynecological patients, who in turn had higher levels than the girls. Thus, the adults showed higher levels of antibodies against 2 of the 3 GBS types than did the girls. Furthermore, the VD clinic patients had higher levels against 2 of the 3 GBS types than the gynecological patients.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1980

Quantitation of serum antibodies to surface antigens of group B streptococci types Ia, Ib, and III: low antibody levels in mothers of neonatally infected infants.

A method has been developed for the detection in human sera of antibodies to surface antigens of group B streptococci (GBS), types Ia, Ib, or III. The sera were absorbed with GBS type II and then added to a suspension of GBS of the type against which antibodies were to be measured. After incubation and washing of the bacteria, the antibodies present on the surface of the cells were quantitated with radiolabelled protein A. Antibodies of IgG class were detected, probably specific for types Ia, Ib, or III, with the exception that the Ib GBS suspension used could detect some antibodies to type Ia. With this method it was found that 6/7 mothers to infants with GBS septicemia had low levels of serum antibodies to the infant's type of GBS. Urogenital carriers of GBS, giving birth to neonatally healthy infants, had higher serum antibody levels against the colonizing type.

Adult↗
PubMed1980

Relation between maternal urogenital carriage of group B streptococci and postmaturity and intrauterine asphyxia during delivery.

The obstetrical significance of maternal urogenital carriage of group B streptococci (GBS) was investigated in a prospective study comprising 799 parturients and their infants. 128 mothers were GBS carriers. Fetal heart rate recording showing abnormal baseline frequency and concomitant late decelerations during delivery were found in 6 infants born of GBS carriers (5%) and in 7 (1%) of non-carriers (P < 0.01). The pH of fetal blood was determined in 14 (11%) GBS carriers and in 53 (8%) non-carriers. 6/14 (43%) infants of GBS carriers had pH values below 7.20, in contrast to 4/53 (8%) of the non-carrier group (P < 0.01). Mothers of infants showing signs of intrauterine asphyxia had the same amount of antibodies to GBS as mothers of infants without signs of asphyxia. Among the GBS carriers, 11/128 (9%) were delivered later than the 42nd week of pregnancy. A smaller proportion of non-carriers, 21/671 (3%), were delivered postterm (P < 0.01).

Antibodies, Bacterial↗