Chlamydia trachomatis was identified in 37 of 73 consecutive neonates with purulent conjunctivitis, including four delivered by caesarean section with intact membranes. Most (28/37) presented in the first week. Infection was significantly associated with referral from the community. Genital C. trachomatis infection was present in 13 of 35 parents of affected infants.

Purpose. To investigate the short-term effect of air pollution on occurrence of nonspecific conjunctivitis. Methods. Data were collected from outpatient visits from cases with conjunctivitis over a period of one year. Regression analysis was performed to evaluate the relationship between the number of outpatient visits and the air quality and the lag effect of air quality on conjunctivitis occu...

Conjunctivitis is a very common presentation to general practitioners and general paediatricians. The investigation of conjunctivitis can be a significant cost to microbiology laboratories due to the high volume of samples that can be submitted, particularly from patients in the community. The key issue is to send eye swabs in clinical situations where it can make a difference to management, an...

We report the case of a patient who developed gonococcal chorioamnionitis resulting in stillbirth at 28 + 4 weeks of pregancy. As this infection is rare and potentially serious, questions remain regarding occurrence and screening for Neisseria gonorrhoeae infection.

The Australian Gonococcal Surveillance Programme (AGSP) monitors the antibiotic susceptibility of Neisseria gonorrhoeae isolated in all States and Territories. In 2000 the in vitro susceptibility of 3,468 isolates of gonococci was determined by standardised methods. Antibiotic susceptibility patterns varied considerably between regions. Resistance to the penicillins was highest in larger urban ...

Blinding and non-blinding trachoma A year ago we introduced the concept that, from the public health point of view, trachoma should be divided into blinding trachoma and non-blinding trachoma (Jones, I975). This concept has found a ready acceptance (Dawson, Jones, and Darougar, 1975) and has been of value in focusing attention on the urgent need for surveys in many countries to determine the pr...

cases of pemphigus neonatorum. The following case, which came under my observation only a few days ago, supplies the text for this paper:? A Hindu male infant, twelve days old, suddenly developed patches of diffuse redness over the face and neck. On the next day the trunk got affected, and there were large blebs here and there, the temperature rising above 103?F. The day after the extremities w...

Antimicrobial susceptibility testing, auxotyping-serotyping, and plasmid analysis were performed on 41 ocular isolates, 7 nasopharyngeal isolates, and 18 cervical isolates of Neisseria gonorrhoeae obtained during a recent treatment trial of gonococcal ophthalmia neonatorum in Nairobi, Kenya. Fourteen distinct serovar-auxotype patterns were observed with IB-1/Pro-strains which accounted for 59% ...

Africa in the 1980s appears to be facing problems associated with syphilis and gonorrhoea during pregnancy similar in severity and magnitude to those faced by the western world in the early 1900s. From a review of published reports, the prevalence of syphilis seroreactivity in pregnant women in many parts of Africa is at least 10%. Assuming this level of seroreactivity, we estimate that 5% to 8...