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Biomedical subjects

P Lepage

Publications and source records attributed to P Lepage.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
PubMed1988

Nosocomial transmission of HIV in Africa: what tribute is paid to contaminated blood transfusions and medical injections?

We reviewed the published data on the possible impact of medical injections and blood transfusions on the spread of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in Africa. We also compared these results to our experience in Rwanda, central Africa. The importance of medical injections in the epidemic of HIV infection seems to differ from one area to another. The excess of injections experienced by HIV seropositive subjects in Zaire could be secondary to the parenteral treatment of early HIV-related illness or to the treatment of sexually transmitted diseases, rather than being the cause of HIV infection, as suggested by Rwandese studies. In contrast, blood transfusions have been shown to represent an important source of nosocomial HIV infection in many African countries. Effective and relatively inexpensive measures to diminish the iatrogenic spread of HIV infection in developing countries are summarized.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1988

Single-dose cefotaxime intramuscularly cures gonococcal ophthalmia neonatorum.

Nine neonates with culture proved gonococcal ophthalmia neonatorum were treated with a single intramuscular injection of 100 mg/kg of cefotaxime without topical antibiotic therapy. Five of the nine strains were penicillinase-producing Neisseria gonorrhoeae. All nine cases were clinically and microbiologically cured, and no side effects were observed.

Cefotaxime↗
PubMed1988

Herpes zoster in African patients: an early manifestation of HIV infection.

During a 3-month period, 131 cases of herpes zoster were diagnosed in Kigali, Rwanda. There were 46 female and 85 male patients. Mean age was 29 years (range 1-66). An unusually high proportion of patients presented with cranial and sacral nerve localisation of their cutaneous lesions. 55/131 patients (42%) had involvement of more than one dermatome. None of the patients had an underlying condition known to favour herpes zoster. 120/131 (92%) had antibodies to HIV detected by an immunoenzymatic assay (EIA) and indirect immunofluorescence. 92/125 adult patients (74%) had no sign or symptom related to HIV infection other than herpes zoster. This study suggests that herpes zoster in Central Africa is an early and readily detectable manifestation of HIV-induced immunosuppression.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

[Primary structure of human protein pS2].

We have previously reported that pS2 mRNA expressed in cultured epithelial cells derived from a hormone-dependent breast carcinoma (MCF-7 cells) is also expressed in mucosa cells of normal human stomach. This mRNA encodes a putative 84 amino-acid-long protein, which is secreted by both cell types after elimination of a signal peptide. We report here the purification of the pS2 protein, its trypsin digestion and amino-acid sequencing. The MCF-7 cell-secreted protein is 60 amino-acid-long and its sequence is in complete agreement with that deduced from the mRNA sequence. The presence of an N-terminal glutamic acid indicates that the signal peptidase releases a 24 amino-acid-long signal peptide. Analysis of tryptic peptides derived from the secreted gastric pS2 protein indicates that the signal peptide and the sequence of the first 48 amino-acids are identical to those of secreted MCF-7 pS2 protein, although the N-terminal amino-acid of the gastric protein may be cyclized as a pyroglumatic acid.

Alkylation↗
PubMed1987

Community-acquired bacteraemia in African children.

To examine the frequency of community acquired bacteraemia in children in Kigali, Rwanda, blood cultures were obtained from 900 consecutive febrile children (T degrees greater than or equal to 39 degrees C) seen at an outpatient clinic over the course of a year. A pathogen was isolated from 112 children (12.4%): Salmonella typhi from 47, S enteritidis from 23, S typhimurium from 13, Streptococcus pneumoniae from 14, Staphylococcus aureus from 9, and Haemophilus influenzae from 3. Salmonella species represented 74% of the isolates. The children with S typhi bacteraemia were older (mean age 75 months) than those with bacteraemia due to other organisms. Controls consisted of febrile, nonbacteraemic children without (group I) or with (group II) Plasmodium falciparum parasitaemia. Bacteraemic children were older and presented more frequently with diarrhoea, vomiting, and dehydration, but less frequently with convulsions than controls. The rate of hospital admission was higher among bacteraemic children (61%) than among group I (39%) or group II (46%) controls. The case-fatality rate was similar in the three groups (9.3% versus 2.9% and 7.3%). Community-acquired bacteraemia in Rwandese children is common and is mainly caused by Salmonella species.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1986

Metastatic focal infections due to multiresistant Salmonella typhimurium in children: a 34 month experience in Rwanda.

Nineteen out of 139 children with severe systemic disease due to multiresistant Salmonella typhimurium observed during a 34-month period in an in-patient department in Rwanda had focal metastatic infections. More than 80% of the invasive Salmonella infections were acquired in the hospital. Focal metastatic infections occurred after longer hospital stays than bacteremia (29.1 +/- 17.4 days as against 13.5 +/- 9.0 days, p less than 0.01) and were diagnosed more time after the first sign of infection (3.28 +/- 1.41 days as against 1.86 +/- 1.10 days, p less than 0.01). Bacteremia was documented in 13 of the 17 children with focal infection from whom blood cultures were obtained. Seven of 12 had positive stool cultures. The sites of metastatic focal infection were meninges (7 cases), soft tissue (5 cases), joint or bone (4 cases), pleura (2 cases), eye (1 case). The clinical course of meningitis was fulminant and 6/7 patients died before receiving adequate antimicrobial therapy. One child with meningitis and 9 patients with focal infections at other sites were treated with cefotaxime and were cured or improved.

Child↗
PubMed1986

Purification and characterization of minor brain proteolipids: use of fast atom bombardment-mass spectrometry for peptide sequencing.

A combination of lipophilic gel permeation chromatography and ion-exchange chromatography in organic solvents was used to purify low molecular weight proteolipids from bovine brain. Cleavage peptides were purified by HPLC and studied mainly by the fast atom bombardment--mass spectrometry technique. A proteolipid of Mr 14 000 contains several peptides from the first 113 amino acids of the major myelin proteolipid (MMPL) plus an extra unknown blocked N-terminal peptide. A proteolipid of Mr 16 000 contains smaller peptides belonging to a C-terminal fragment of MMPL of about 160 residues. These two proteolipids do not seem to be artifacts from MMPL.

Amino Acids↗
PubMed1985

A prospective study of the ophthalmologic findings in the acquired immune deficiency syndrome in Africa.

A prospective study of ophthalmologic findings in 20 African patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (Group 1) and nine patients with acquired immune deficiency syndrome related complex (Group 2) disclosed that 11 patients in Group 1 and two patients in Group 2 had ocular involvement. Cotton-wool spots, Roth spots, and hemorrhages were frequent features in Group 1. In this series, unlike most others, perivasculitis occurred in five patients whereas cytomegalovirus retinitis and ocular involvement of Kaposi's sarcoma were not observed. These African patients also differed from those previously described in the high proportion of women (11 of 29) and the lack of the usual risk factors (homosexuality, intravenous drug abuse, and hemophilia).

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗