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Chronic abdominal pain, c o n s t i p a t i o n , d i a r r h e a , and anorexia arm.often d i f f i c u l t symptoms f o r a p e d i a t r i c i a n t o e v a l u a t e . These c h i l d r e n a r e o f t e n thought t o have psychosomatic complaint It h a s been noted t h a t s t o o l s f o r ova and p a r a s i t e s obtained on some of t h e s e c h i l d r e n have demonstrated p a r a s i t e s o f t e n thought t o be nonpathogenic.Thus, a r e t r o s p e c t i v e e v a l u a t i o n was performed of c h i l d r e n seen a t UCLA during t h e time period from June 1976 through November 1977 i n whom t h e p a r a s i t e Dientamoeba f r ag i l l s (DF) was i s o l a t e d from s t o o l specimens. DF was p r e s a n t i n 14% of 350 c h i l d r e n who had s t o o l s analyzed f o r ova and p a r a s i t e DF was t h e only p a r a s i t e obtained i n 9% of t h e 350 c h i l d r e n . H i t o r y was a v a i l a b l e from 28 of t h e s e 37 p a t i e n t s i n whom DF was t h e only pathogen. Children were aged 10 months t o 17 y e a r s ; malea predominated 1.6 t o 1. Forty-eight percent of c h i l d r e n had been born i n t h e U.S. and had no h i s t o r y t o f o r e i g n t r a v e l ; 39% were from Mexico o r South America. Ninety-three p e r c e n t (26128) had g a s t r o i n t e s t i n a l symptomatology (abdominal pain, d i a r r h e a , anorexia o r c o n s t i p a t i o n ) ; 2 (7%) were asymptomatic.The most common symptom i n t h e s e c h i l d r e n was d i a r r h e a (57%) which was o f t e n i n t e r m i t t e n t . Abdominal pain, o f t e n vague and l o c a l i z e d t o t h e lower abdominal quadrants was p r e s e n t i n 54%; anorexia and f e v e r were p r e s e n t i n 39% and 29% r e s p e c t i v e l y . Children were t r e a t e d with e i t h e r diiodyhydroxyquin, metronidaz o l e o r t e t r a c y c l i n e and a l l but one were asymptomatic on follow I n a p r o s p e c t i v e study. 1412 neonates were screened f o r cong e n i t a l CMV i n f e c t i o n by d e t e c t i o n o f v i r u r i a d u r i n g t h e f i r s t week o f l i f e ; 31 (2.2%) proved t o be i n f e c t e d . Rheumatoid f a c t o r (RF) was present i n t h e cord sera o f 7 o f 18 (38%) i n f e c t e d and 0 o f 155 u n i n f e c t e d i n f a n t s . Likewise IgM was e l e v a t e d (720 mg%) i n 7 o f 18 (38%) i n f e c t e d p a t i e n t s (77% c o r r e l a t i o n w i t h t h e presence o f RF). b u t was a l s o increased i n 5 o f 155 (3.2%) c o n t r o l s . IgM-CMV a n t i b o d i e s (FA) were detected i n c o r d sera o f 14 o f 16 (88%) i n f e c t e d neonates and s u r p r i s i n g l y i n 14 o f 59 (23%) c o n t r o l s . The f a l s e p o s i t i v e r e a c t i o n s i n t h e IgM-FA were u n r e l a t e d t o t h e presence o f RF, IgM e l e v a t i o n o r poor s p e c i f i c i t y o f t h e IgM conjugate. Because o f t h e t i m e r e q u i r e d f o r conventional i s o l at i o n o f CMV and t h e poor s e n s i t i v i t y and s p e c i f i c i t y o f t h e lmnunolo...

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