Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

M Barnham

Publications and source records attributed to M Barnham.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1989

Invasive streptococcal infections in the era before the acquired immune deficiency syndrome: a 10 years' compilation of patients with streptococcal bacteraemia in North Yorkshire.

Significant streptococcal (non-pneumococcal, non-enterococcal) bacteraemia was detected in 100 patients in two Health Districts of North Yorkshire in the decade 1978-1988. Patients with these infections accounted for 11% of the total 902 patients in the districts in whom bacteraemia was diagnosed during the period. Infection was most often seen with beta-haemolytic streptococci (52 patients) comprising Lancefield group A (Streptococcus pyogenes) (20 patients), group B (13), group C (5), group G (9), haemolytic Streptococcus milleri and non-groupable streptococci (5). The wide variety of serious infections included cellulitis, abscess, septicaemia, pneumonia, septic arthritis, necrotising fasciitis, acute endocarditis and mycotic aneurysm. Of these 52 patients, 21 (40%) died. alpha-Haemolytic streptococcal bacteraemia was diagnosed in 38 patients of whom 24 (63%) suffered from endocarditis and three (8%) died. Three of ten patients with non-haemolytic or anaerobic streptococcal bacteraemia died also. Six of the 100 patients with streptococcal bacteraemia had concomitant acute virus infections. Of the total 56 patients with infective endocarditis diagnosed in the districts during the period, streptococci were responsible in 30 (54%) of them. The predisposing factors, clinical features and outcome of the infections are described and discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Group C streptococci in human infection: a study of 308 isolates with clinical correlations.

A collection of 308 clinical isolates of beta-haemolytic Lancefield group C streptococci was assembled from laboratories in England, Nigeria and New Zealand. Of these, 276 isolates were Streptococcus equisimilis, 23 S. milleri and nine S. zooepidemicus. Isolates of S. equisimilis in the African collection, though few, gave higher rates of lactose and raffinose fermentation, aesculin hydrolysis and positive alpha-galactosidase reactions than those from elsewhere. Erythromycin resistance was found in 1.9% of the English isolates of S. equisimilis. Strains from superficial infections accounted for 88% of the collection and were most commonly isolated from the upper respiratory tract, skin or wounds. Amongst the 36 patients yielding isolates from deep sites S. equisimilis was found in septicaemia, cellulitis, abscess, peritonitis, septic arthritis, pneumonia, mycotic aneurysm and acute epiglottitis, S. milleri was found in abdominal abscesses, peritonitis, pleural empyema and osteomyelitis and S. zooepidemicus was found in septicaemia, pneumonia, meningitis and septic arthritis. Within the collection an unselected general catchment of 214 isolates of group C streptococci from the laboratories in Yorkshire showed the following species: from 199 superficial infections 94% S. equisimilis, 5% S. milleri and 1% S. zooepidemicus and 15 patients with deeper, more aggressive infections 67, 27 and 6.7% of these species respectively.

Cells, Cultured↗
PubMed1988

Actinomyces pyogenes bacteraemia in a patient with carcinoma of the colon.

A patient with carcinoma of the colon adherent to the pelvis developed Actinomyces pyogenes bacteraemia after uterine curettage but recovered with antibiotic treatment. This organism is a Gram-positive cocco-bacillus, beta-haemolytic when growing on blood agar and reactive with Lancefield group G antiserum. These features could easily lead to its misidentification as a streptococcus. Reports of human infection with A. pyogenes are summarised.

Actinomyces↗
PubMed1988

Pig bite injuries and infection: report of seven human cases.

Six patients developed local infection after being bitten or gored by swine. Wounding was often deep and occurred characteristically on the posterior aspect of the thigh. Severity of infection varied from simple wound infection with discharge and slough to cellulitis and abscess formation; pathogens included haemolytic streptococci, pasteurellae, Bacteroides sp., Proteus sp. and Escherichia coli and were usually isolated in mixed culture. A patient with Pasteurella aerogenes infection appears to be the first reported in England. A seventh patient developed Streptococcus milleri septicaemia after wounding himself while cutting teeth from piglets. It is suggested that a course of broad-spectrum antibiotics should be given as part of the initial treatment when patients present with the more severe pig bite injuries.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Characterization of Streptococcus zooepidemicus (Lancefield group C) from human and selected animal infections.

We assembled an international collection of strains from sporadic and epidemic human infection with Streptococcus zooepidemicus (Lancefield group C) for laboratory study. Cultural and physiological characteristics of the isolates were determined, including biotyping with the API 20 STREP test kit and susceptibility testing with penicillin, erythromycin and tetracycline. The strains were examined for bacteriocin production and sensitivity and typed with a specially developed group-C streptococcal bacteriophage system incorporating a panel of 14 phages. Results of these tests gave useful discrimination between many of the strains: differences were shown between each of the major outbreak strains, including those complicated by post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis. Serious group C streptococcal infection may be caused by S. zooepidemicus and isolates should be identified to species level; the application of a typing scheme such as this may help to distinguish epidemiological patterns of infection.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Human infection with Streptococcus zooepidemicus (Lancefield group C): three case reports.

Three unrelated severe infections with Streptococcus zooepidemicus occurred in England in 1985. The first patient developed septic arthritis, which has not been recorded before with this organism. The second died with septicaemia, pneumonia and post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis, the only record so far of nephritis following sporadic S. zooepidemicus infection and of nephritis and systemic sepsis in the same patient. The third patient experienced septicaemia during pregnancy but recovered without complications. A likely animal source of infection was found in only one case.

Acute Kidney Injury↗
PubMed1987

Group L beta-haemolytic streptococcal infection in meat handlers: another streptococcal zoonosis?

Group L, beta-haemolytic streptococci can cause infection in dogs, pigs, cattle and sheep but there have been very few reports in man. In studies of skin infection in meat handlers we cultured group L streptococci from clinically infected wounds, impetigo and paronychia of 15 patients involved in the slaughter and processing of chickens and pigs. Staphylococcus aureus was also present in eight (53%) of the lesions. At least five other infections with group L streptococci in meat and animal handlers are known to have occurred in other parts of England in recent years, and brief details are given.

Abattoirs↗
PubMed1987

DNA fingerprinting of Streptococcus zooepidemicus (Lancefield group C) as an aid to epidemiological study.

A collection of Streptococcus zooepidemicus strains from human and animal infections was examined for DNA banding patterns after nuclease digestion and agarose gel electrophoresis. The large variety of DNA fingerprints found revealed the complexity of the species but showed that isolates from clusters of outbreaks had identical prints. The results confirmed the specificity of bacteriocin and bacteriophage typing of S. zooepidemicus; the technique also gave useful profiles on untypable strains. Strains with common bacteriocin and biotyping patterns from sporadic infections could be differentiated by their DNA fingerprints. In several outbreaks and incidents, more than one strain of S. zooepidemicus were encountered, and the importance of carefully interpreting typing data is stressed. Chromosomal DNA fingerprinting is a very efficient technique for demonstrating differences between strains of S. zooepidemicus, and its use is recommended for future epidemiological studies of this infectious agent.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Group B streptococcal infection presenting as sudden death in infancy.

Two infants aged 3 and 8 months were found dead in their cots. Postmortem cultures yielded group B streptococci from multiple internal sites, and cytomegalovirus was also isolated from the lungs of one. These cases show the value of microbiological culture in the investigation of sudden infant death.

Cytomegalovirus Infections↗
PubMed1984

A profile of skin sepsis in meat handlers.

Four hundred and sixty-seven episodes of sepsis associated with meat handling and poultry processing occupations were seen in two Health Districts of North Yorkshire in a period of just over five years. Altogether 389 patients were infected in 16 outbreaks and 24 sporadic incidents; spread of infection was noted in families of nine workers. The variety of skin infections included septic cuts and scratches, paronychia, abscess, lymphangitis as well as infection in pierced ear lobes and in tattoos. Beta-haemolytic streptococci or Staphylococcus aureus were present in 96 per cent of the 303 episodes that yielded positive cultures. These included 203 episodes with Streptococcus pyogenes and 170 with S. aureus. Skin sepsis appears to be common among meat handlers in this part of England.

Abattoirs↗
PubMed1983

Nephritis caused by Streptococcus zooepidemicus (Lancefield group C).

Three cases of nephritis after mild upper-respiratory-tract infection occurred in five members of a family running a small dairy farm in North Yorkshire, Streptococcus zooepidemicus (Lancefield group C) was cultured from the throats of three of those affected. The organisms were shown to produce endostreptosin, a recently discovered cytoplasmic antigen of certain beta-haemolytic streptococci that has been shown to be of prime importance in the development of poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis (PSGN). Serological testing of the patients showed raised and persistent antibody tires to this substance. These findings substantiate the association, suggested by the epidemiological features of a similar outbreak that occurred in Rumania in 1968, between Strep zooepidemicus and nephritis. As in several previous reports of Strep zooepidemicus in man, infection appeared to have been acquired by the consumption of unpasteurized milk. This outbreak implicates non-group-A streptococci in the aetiology of PSGN.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1983

The gut as a source of the haemolytic streptococci causing infection in surgery of the intestinal and biliary tracts.

In a retrospective review over nearly four years in two Health Districts 84 patients were found to have had non-epidemic, non-enterococcal beta-haemolytic streptococcal infection in surgical conditions of the intestinal and biliary tracts and peritoneum. One third of the patients yielded streptococci from established inflammatory lesions closed to the external body surface and there was strong circumstantial evidence that organisms originated from the intestinal tract. A review of published studies of beta-haemolytic streptococci in the faeces and reports of streptococcal infection associated with the intestines lends support to the concept of the gut as a source of infection.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1983

Bacteraemia in streptococcal infections of the throat.

In two patients seen recently in North Yorkshire, systemic infection with Streptococcus pyogenes appeared to originate from the upper respiratory tract; such infection is now rarely reported from the more developed countries. A study was arranged to detect bacteraemia in patients with sore throat: of 343 patients tested 93 yielded beta-haemolytic streptococci from the respiratory tract, but streptococcal bacteraemia was detected in none. These results suggest that clinically unsuspected streptococcal bacteraemia is uncommon in such patients.

Child, Preschool↗