Search

410 Biomphalaria glabrata (Caribbean strain of Guadeloupe) have been infected with one miracidium of Schistosoma mansoni, 110 snails, used as controls have been kept into water; the survival rate was 96.4% after 4 weeks and 25.4% produced cercariae. 300 snails were kept on wet soil, and submitted for 6 weeks to progressive desiccation. The survival rate was 23.4% but only 9 of them produced cercariae. Periodic variations of the production of male and female larvae have been shown by the weekly test of the cercariae productions. In previously desiccated snails, the production of male and female cercariae is similar while in controls the production of female larvae is more important. In experimental snails, the larval development seems to be stopped during anhydrobiosis. The production of cercariae is just delayed for the length of the dry keeping.

In 54 patients (45 Africans and 9 West-Indians) we searched schistosomiasis and the presence of immunoglobulins E by different tests (total immunoglobulin E levels, measurement of specific IgE, human basophil degranulation test). In patients with an excretion of living eggs we observed 91.6% of positive responses for the II. B. D. T. and 100% for the specific IgE. In cases only identified by examination of rectal mucosa biopsy specimens showing apparently living eggs, we observed 75% and 87.5% of positive responses for the same tests. But in both categories of patients, the parasitological examination is the most important. Moreover the authors observed "false-positive" and "false negative" tests compared with the parasitological results and between the tests. It suggests that the best use of these is in case of very probable schistosomiasis without positive parasitological results.

An Algerien patient aged 31 years with a histologically confirmed mediastinopulmonary sarcoidosis had a persistent stable miliary pulmonary x-ray image after cortisone therapy. Eighteen months after stopping the corticotherapy, he developed cryptococcosis which was mainly cutaneous, but associated with subcutaneous abscesses and peripheral adenopathy, and without lesions in the viscera or deep nodes. Cryptococcus antigens were present in the serum and there was a humoral and cellular immunity reaction towards the cryptococcus. Recovery occurred after amphotericin B and 5-fluorocytosine.

Out of a total of 486 patients who originated from French Equatorial Africa, from the West Indies or from the Indian Ocean, the authors identified 275 cases of schistosomiasis of which 230 were due to S. Hematobium and 45 to S. Mansoni. The diagnostic methods were biopsy of the rectal mucosa, immunofluorescence, in the West Indians, examination of the stools, in the Africans examination of the urine, intravenous urography and less often cystoscopy. The value of these investigations was studied in each case, then by comparison with one another and with data in the literature. The most valuable investigation was biopsy of the rectum, better in Africans than examination of the urine, immunofluorescence and better than cystoscopy when this was possible.

The authors have infected 127 B. glabrata by 2 miracidia of S. mansoni, either on the Same day, or introducing a second miracidium after 3, 7 and 16 days. 1 All the groups of planorbid snails had a low percentage of positivity (31 to 41 %). 2 The first cercarial emissions, in the 4 groups were scattered in the time, the delay being in correlation with the second infection. 3 In the snails reinfected after 3 and 7 days occured the highest emissions, those with the simultaneous double infection or second infection delayed to 16 days, had the lesser emissions. 4 An interval cycle of about 3 weeks was discovered for the highest emissions. All those phenomena are probably due to competition between the sporocysts born from both miracidia. Moreover, evident reduction of the fecundity in the positive snails were shown only after the beginning of the cercarial emissions, while a normal, or even increased fecundity was established in the prepatent period of the infected snails.

1200 adult Biomphalaria glabrata were submitted during 6 weeks to anhydrobiosis condition. Some snails were healthy, some were previously infected 3 days or 12 days ago with 8 +/- 2 miracidia of Schistosoma mansoni, others were shedding cercariae. The snails were put on soil or buried into hermetically closed, or ventilated, plastic boxes. There was no survival of snails kept in sealed boxes, or among positive snails, but 44% of control healthy snails and 40.6% of infected (for 3 or 12 days) snails in ventilated boxes were living at the term of the desiccation stage. Survival was better for "on soil" snails than for "buried" snails, but no difference was shown between 3-days and 12-days infection. The surviving desiccated B. glabrata had a lesser death rate and a lesser cercarial production than infected snails kept in water. An inferior production of male cercariae comparatively to female and to "mixed" cercariae was demonstrated by statistical analysis of the cercarial sheddings. In all positive snails, periodic variations of cercarial production was shown, whatever the sex of those cercariae. In addition many pauses of the sheddings were established by the authors.

We compared the infestation of different strains of B. glabrata from Brasil (Recife). Guadeloupe, Martinique and Porto-Rico with 6 to 8 miracidia of S. mansoni (from Recife. We noted the four following points: 1. The planorbid snails from Martinique and Guadeloupe had a low resistance to infestation. 2. The guadeloupean snails showed the lesser rate of positivity and the lower medium amount of emitted cercaries but, in the four strains of snails, the level of the issued cercaries is quite the same. 3. many planorbid snails in the groups studied during more than 2 months, showed significant periodic variations in the emission of cercaries, We thought that those variations might be caused by the alternate maturations of sporocysts born from the same miracidium or from different miracidia. 4. Infestation by S. mansoni had a strong effect on fecondity of the snails but the laid eggs had a normal development.

Two group of patients including 63 urinary schistosomiasis and 49 intestinal schistosomiasis were studied with the following investigations: microscopic examination of stools and urines, rectal mucosae biopsy, total IgE dosages, plasmatic proteins values and indirect immunofluorescence. The data obtained led to the following conclusions: --Recovery must be based on the microscopic observation of stools and/or urines and R. M. B. --I. F. I. and IgE dosages alone were not sufficient. --Protides evaluations (IgA, IgG, IgM, orosomucoid, haptoglobin) did not show any informative values and did not seem to be linked with the parasitologic disease.

The authors report on one case of pulmonary bilharziosis at Schistosoma mansoni observed in a West-Indian female showing an impairing of her general condition with fever and dyspnea. Diagnosis was brought out by a pulmonary biopsy, after thoracotomy. Treatment by praziquantel was remarkably efficient. Scarcity of symptomatic cases and paucity of pulmonary radiological pictures are opposite of the frequency of pathological lesions in this parenchyma. The authors discuss the physiopathology of pulmonary bilharziosis in both their invading phase and state phase, as well as their frequency. They come to the conclusion that both parasitological examination of stools and biopsy of mucous membrane of rectum are simple, reliable and harmless implements of diagnosis.

Immature and mature Biomphalaria glabrata are kept out of water at relative humidities varying from 0 to 100%. When snails are submitted to a saturated atmosphere, they show a slow weight loss and survival may be long. If relative humidity (RH) decreases, weight loss becomes important and survival is short. A reduced RH (0 to 65%) produces similar effects. During desiccation, fasting has no noticeable effect; survival depends essentially on weight loss.

Candida SP is often found in broncho-pulmonary secretions (expectorations, bronchial aspirations, bronchiolo-alveolar lavage...); however, its presence even in massive amounts, is difficult to interpret. Is it a sign of broncho-pulmonary candidosis or mouth-pharynx contamination? The different clinical and biological elements, in particular immunology in immunodepressed patients, bring little information. In this article, we present the retrospective study of 18 patients hospitalized in Pneumology Department of Tenon Hospital for severe extensive pneumopathy of unexplained origin. In these patients, for the most part immunodepressed, Candida sp was found in large amounts in at least a sample (expectorations [5] and/or bronchial aspirations [4] and/or bronchiolo-alveolar lavage [12]. No lesion suggestive of candidiasis was found during bronchial endoscopy carried out for these different samples. In pulmonary biopsy with diagnostic in view, these yeasts were found only in one patient. In this patient, as C. tropicalis was associated with Pneumocystis carinii and Cryptococcus neoformans, it was difficult to know the respective part of each of these agents in pulmonary symptomatology. In the other 17 cases, the direct examination and cultures were negative. The presence of Candida sp in the different broncho pulmonary secretions is not synonymous of bronchopulmonary candidiasis; likely it is, in most cases, a sign of contamination of mouth-pharynx origin.

Occasioning in Guadeloupe a high rate of morbidity, schistosomiasis is unequally spread in the field. The intermediate host, Biomphalaria glabrata, is wide-spread. But some biotopes only, most of them located on the coast belt of the montainous island, allow the parasite growth. Among them, the irrigation canals appear as the most dangerous source of contamination for human population.