We performed two courses of interferon‐β (IFN‐β) to a child with chronic hepatitis C. A complete response was not obtained by the first interferon treatment, however, the results of the second treatment differed from those of the first. Hepatitis C virus (HCV)‐RNA remained negative and both aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase levels remained normal after completion of the second course. From these results we estimated that HCV‐RNA levels before IFN therapy could be significantly associated with the efficacy of this treatment. The serum level of HCV‐RNA was 106 copies/50 μL before the first treatment, but was 103 copies/50 μL before the second course.
We conclude that IFN therapy to children with hepatitis C should always be directed at providing a cure. Even if the clinical effects of the first course are minimal decreasing quantities of HCV‐RNA still offer hope for cure by subsequent readministration.
We encountered a case which proved to be a mixed infection of herpes simplex virus (HSV) type 1 and type 2 in retrospective terms by in situ hybridization (ISH) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The case was a male. The gestational age was 39 weeks and 2 days. The birth body weight was 3024 g. A fever developed from the age of 6 days and he was admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit at the age of eight days. AST was 1042 IU/L, and ALT 206 IU/L. In spite of treatment, the patient died at the age of 12 days. Using paraffin embedded tissues, we performed the ISH and PCR on the cerebrum, lungs, liver, spleen, bone marrow, adrenal gland, and kidneys. With the ISH, the lungs, liver, spleen and adrenal gland were both HSV type 1 and type 2. With the PCR, only the liver was positive for type 1, and the lungs, liver, spleen, and adrenal gland were positive for type 2. In the ISH, a probe showing a cross reaction between type 1 and type 2 was used for type 1 probe this time. But a type 2 probe and PCR did not show a cross reaction. We concluded that this case confirmed the presence of mixed infection (HSV type 1 and type 2) in neonatal HSV infection.
Among various third-generation cephem antibiotics, Cefoperazone (CPZ), a choleretic antibiotic, was given to children with various infectious diseases ranging in age from 3 months to 17 years, and its effects on the intestinal bacterial flora and the incidence of diarrhea were determined.Diarrhea occurred in 15 (25.8%) of 58 patients. All episodes occurred before 4 years of age. The incidence was particularly high among infants younger than 2 years, with 11 cases (40.7%) out of 27 patients. Among diarrheic patients, the total number of microorganisms in the feces was markedly decreased, with a decrease in almost all organisms other than Candida and Enterococci. This was similar to the results with other third-generation cephem antibiotics. On the other hand, patients with no diarrhea showed a tendency toward an increase in Enterococci. Taking these findings into account, the effects of multi-drug-resistant St. faecalis preparation (BF-R) combined with CPZ were then investigated. Among 2-year-old or younger subjects, diarrhea occurred in 2 (8.0%) of 25 given the BF-R combined therapy, the rate being significantly lower than that for those not given combined therapy (p<0.01).CPZ therapy requires full attention to the changes in the intestinal bacterial flora and the complication of diarrhea, and its combination with BF-R is useful for preventing diarrhea during administration of CPZ.
We report a familial clustering case of hepatitis delta. All of the members of this family had evidence of past infection of hepatitis B. We investigated the hepatitis delta, three of the members had positive serological hepatitis delta markers. We assayed by polymerase chain reaction the primers corresponding to hepatitis delta antigen. The results of polymerase chain reaction was three positive. The 2nd polymerase chain reaction was used, two geno-type specific primers one was for Japanese S type the other was for Japanese M type7). Three were positive the 2nd polymerase chain reaction for Japanese M, one was negative for all of hepatitis delta polymerase chain reaction.
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