We serially measured concentrations of interleukin (IL)-8 and anti-IL-8 IgG autoantibody in cerebrospinal fluid of infants with bacterial meningitis, and also measured these concentrations in cerebrospinal fluid obtained from infants without meningitis on admission. We have reported that the IL-8 concentration in cerebrospinal fluid of infants with purulent meningitis rapidly decreases after the initiation of therapy. Thus, in the present study, the IL-8 concentration in infants with purulent meningitis only before the initiation of therapy was significantly higher compared with that in infants without meningitis. However, the concentration of anti-IL-8 IgG autoantibody was still high after the initiation of therapy. The concentration of anti-IL-8 IgG autoantibody was significantly higher compared with that in infants without meningitis until the 15th day after the initiation of therapy. The time lag between the decrease of IL-8 and anti-IL-8 IgG autoantibody demonstrated in the present study could be used to indicate the past presence of a large amount of IL-8, even if the IL-8 concentration was already low

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Using 92 Salmonella strains isolated from patients suspected of having infectious diseases of the intestinal tract who visited 13 hospitals in Japan during the six years between 1991 and 1996, we investigated the drug susceptibility, prevalence of conjugative R plasmid, and the plasmid profiles.
1) Of the bacterial isolates tested, 52.2% showed drug-resistance. Regarding the drug-resistance patterns, 70.8% of the isolates were resistant to a single drug, while 29.2% were multi drug-resistant.
2) Dividing the resistance patterns by the serotypes, among Salmonella Enteritidis isolates, single-drug resistance to SM was the most frequent, being detected in 27 isolates. Single-drug resistance to NA and two-drug resistance to SM/TC were the second-most frequent, each being detected in isolates. Among Salmonella Hadar isolates, four isolates showed two-drug resistance to SM/TC, and one isolate showed single-drug resistance to TC. Among Salmonella Typhimurium isolates, one isolate each showed three-drug resistance to ABPC/CER/KM and KM/TC/CP. Among Salmonella Agona isolates, one isolate each showed two-drug resistance to SM/TC and single-drug resistance to SM. Among Salmonella Derby isolates, two isolates showed single-drug resistance to SM.
3) The prevalence of conjugative R plasmid was investigated in 48 drug-resistant isolates, and six isolates (12.5%) contained the plasmid.
4) The prevalence of the plasmid was investigated in 29 drug-resistant S. Enteritidis isolates, and 22 isolates (75.9%) contained the plasmid. These isolated were classified by the plasmid profiles into types H1 to H7.
5) Regarding the plasmid profiles of the S. Enteritidis isolates, a position corresponding to 60 Kbp was the most frequently detected in 90.5%.

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A total of 542 domestic cats aged from 1 month to 20 years were investigated for Toxocara cati (T. cati) by means of fecal examination. The cats were classified in the groups according to their kept environment (indoor or outdoor) and age (1-6 month, 7 month-1 year, 2-3 year, 4-5 year and over 6 year). The indoor kept cats were major in all ages, and the friendly relationship was suggested between domestic cats and humans. The parasitic rates of T. cati a higher percentage was noted in the groups of indoor kept cats of 1-6 month (27.1%) than that of outdoor kept cats of 1-6 month (17.9%), 7 month-1 year (18.5%) and 4-5 year (14.3%). The high parasitism of T. cati in indoor kept 1-6 month cats, which are may be closely connected to humans, is an inportant problem from the public health of view, because of the direct source of visceral larva migran. The parasitism of T. cati in outdoor kept cats is also a serious matter as the origin of environmental contamination. It suggests that a positive sanitary instruction against an owner seems necessary for prevention of visceral larva migran in humans.

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In order to determine the factors responsible for the differentiation of cytomegalovirus (CMV) hepatitis and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) hepatitis in previously healthy adults, the clinical features and laboratory data of both types of hepatitis were retrospectively analyzed. CMV hepatitis showed a tendency to increase in our departement. In comparison with EBV hepatitis, CMV hepatitis occurred in significantly older hosts than EBV hepatitis. We found that lymphadenopathy, cough and sore throat was more common in EBV hepatitis than in CMV hepatitis. The number of peripheral white blood cell count and atypical lymphocytes, and serum GOT, GPT, LDH and CRP levels of CMV and EBV hapatitis showed no significant differences.

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A total of 290 Shilella strains consisting of 180 imported strains and 110 domestic strains isolated during 1995-1999 in Tokyo were examined regarding their species and serovar-distribution and their drug-resistance.
In both groups, S. sonnei (70.0% in the imported strains, 80.9% in the domestic strains) was found to be the most prevalent species, followed by S. flexneri (20.0% in the imported strains, 19.1% in the domestic strains). S. dysenteriae and S. boydii were only isolated in the imported cases.
Among the S. flexneri serovar, 1b, 2a, 6, 2b, and 3a were predominant in the imported strains, whereas 1b and 2a were predominant in the domestic strains.
Provisional new serovar Shigella strains were isolated from 11 imported cases and 2 domestic cases.
The drug-resistance test using 9 drugs (CP, TC, SM, KM, ABPC, ST, NA, FOM, and NFLX) showed that 92.2% of the imported strains and 94.5% of the domestic strains were resistant to some of the drugs tested. Drug-resistance patterns of the resistant strains varied in 25 types. Among those, a triple drug-resistance type with TC·SM·ST was found as the most frequent pattern in both groups. None of the strains were resistant to NFLX.

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We evaluated a new Influenza Virus Type A Detection Kit (InfluA-AD “Seiken”) and compared it to virus isolation and RT-PCR using throat swab specimens. Our results were as follows: 1) From 13 specimens in which Influenza virus type A was isolated, InfluA-AD “Seiken” detected 12 while RT-PCR detected 9.
2) From 7 specimens in which Influenza virus type B was isolated, InfluA-AD “Seiken” detected 0 while RT-PCR detected 1.
3) From 2 specimens in which Adeno virus was isolated, InfluA-AD “Seiken” detected 0 and RTPCR detected 8.
4) From 28 specimens in which no virus was isolated, InfluA-AD “Seiken” detected 6 while RTPCR detected 8. InfluA-AD “Seiken” showed a sensitivity of 92.3% and specificity of 83.8% when compared to virus isolation. We conclude that the new test will be useful for the diagnosis of Influenza virus type A infection particularly in big commercial laboratories.

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