No abstract

The prevalence of Coxiella burnetti infection (Q fever) was determined among Nova Scotia (N.S.) and Prince Edward Island (P.E.I.) blood donors by using the complement fixation and microimmunofluorescence (IF) test. The complement fixation and IF antibody tests measured antibody prevalence for the phase II or phase I and II antigens, respectively. Complement-fixing antibodies to phase II antigen were detected in 4.1% of 997 N.S. and 5.0% of 219 P.E.I. blood donors. Anti-phase II antibodies were detected by microimmunofluorescence in 11.8 and 14.6% of the blood donors in the two provinces, respectively. Anti-phase I antibodies were detected among 2.8% of the N.S. blood donors and 6.3% of the P.E.I. blood donors. Comparison of rates of anti-phase II IF by counties in N.S. revealed that there was at least one county where infection by C. burnetti is hyperendemic. Rates of antibody prevalence were similar in all three areas of P.E.I. examined. We conclude that "Q fever" is endemic in N.S. and P.E.I. and that the microimmunofluorescence test is more suitable than the complement fixation test for seroepidemiologic studies.

Intra-articular administration of combined pentosan polysulfate and glucosamine causes a mild inflammatory synovitis that is not substantially different to that elicited by injection of a similar volume of saline and so we conclude that these drugs are safe to use in the horse.

Introduction There is an increasing trend worldwide in the incidence of Mycobacterium avium complex pulmonary diseases (MAC-PD) and the diagnosis is sometimes complicated. Recently, an enzyme immunoassay (EIA) kit that detects serum IgA antibody against MAC-specific glycopeptidolipid (GPL) core antigen had been developed and found to be useful in discriminating MAC-PD from other lung diseases. The antibody was subsequently also found to be elevated in patients suffering Mycobacterium abscessus pulmonary diseases (MAB-PD). This study is to evaluate this EIA kit in the serological diagnosis of MAC-PD in Hong Kong Chinese patients. Methods The study was conducted in Grantham Hospital, Hong Kong between July 2017 and July 2018. Assay of the IgA antibody level using the EIA kit was done on blood samples collected from patients suffering from MAC-PD, MAB-PD, pulmonary tuberculosis and other lung diseases. Results There were 100 subjects recruited into the study, among which 11 were excluded. By using the cut-off value 0.7 U/mL provided by the manufacturer, the sensitivity and specificity for diagnosis were 73.7% and 77.6% for MAC-PD; 50% and 77.6% for MAB-PD. By receiver operating characteristic curves analysis, new cut-off for MAC-PD and MAB-PD were calculated as 1.771 U/mL and 0.172 U/m, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity were 68.4% and 86.2% for MAC-PD, whereas 66.7% and 72.4% for MAB-PD. Conclusions Our study showed that the enzyme immunoassay of IgA antibodies against MAC-specific glycopeptidolipid core antigen could help to distinguishing MAC and M. abscessus pulmonary diseases from pulmonary tuberculosis and other lung diseases among Hong Kong Chinese patients. Further larger scale studies in our local population for the usefulness of this antibody test in the diagnosis and monitoring of MAC and M. abscessus lung diseases might be warranted.