474
TRANSACTIONS OP THB ROYAL SOCIBTY OF TROPICAL MEDICINE AND HYGIENE, VOL. 73, No. 4, 1979. CORRESPONDBNCB
medical officers of health dealing with the problem of malaria. I am, etc., J. T. PONNAMPALAM Division of Malaria, Institute for Medical Research, Kuala Lumpur
and Gombak Hospital, Selangor, Peninsular Malaysia References
Peters, W. (1970). Chemotherapy and Drug Resistance in Malaria. London and New York: Academic Press. Thong, Y. H., Ferrante, A. & Rowan-Kelly, B. (1978). Primaquine inhibits mitogen-induced human lymphocyte proliferative responses. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 72, 537-539.
Accepted for publication 11th March, 1979..
SIR-The question raised by Dr. Ponnampalam on whether primaquine produces clinical immunosuppression is an important one. To my knowledge, no clinical trials have been done to examine this question. My laboratory has begun to explore this ,~question, and recently completed experiments on ‘the new antimalarial compound, mefloquine, indicate that it is capable of suppressing antibody responses in mice (THONG et al., 1979). However, the direct extrapolation of experimental findings to the clinical situation must always be tempered with caution. Such a cautionary note was included in our report on primaquine (THONG et al., 1978) and is worthwhile repeating: “But whether or not patients receiving primaquine therapy are actually immunosuppressed remains to be determined; in practice, antimalarial drugs are usually curative and do not seem to prolong the infection”. I am, etc., Y. H. THONG Department of Paediatrics, University of Adelaide, The Adelaide Children’s Hospital, North Adelaide, 5006, South Australia References
Thong, Y. H., Ferrante, A., Rowan-Kelly, B. & O’Keefe, D. E. (1979). Effect of mefloquine on the immune response in mice. Transactions of the
Campylobacter
enterltls
in Spain
SIR-During
1978, in order to investigate the role of Campylobacter in diarrhoea, we cultured 446 stool specimens from people living in Madrid (Spain). Campylobacter was sought by inoculating the stools on blood agar containing vancomycin (10 mg/ litre), polimyxin B (2.5 III/ml) and trimethoprim (5 mg/litre), and incubating at 43°C overnight (SKIRROW,1977). The inoculated plates were put into a jar with an activated ‘Gas Pak’ (B.B.L.) without a catalyst (SIMMONS, 1977) and under vacuum (250 mm Hg). Both children an&Adults, all in-patients or outnatients at the Centro Esnecial ‘Ramon Y . Caial’ , {Madrid) were investigated: Campylobacter was cultured in 20 of 446 diarrhoea specimens (4.45 %), corresponding to 16 patients with diarrhoea. The incidence of other intestinal pathogens in the population studied was as follows: Salmonella typhimurium 21 (4+70%), S. enteritidis 14 (3*13x), S. virchozo nine (2*01x), Shigella sonnei five (1.12 %), Salmonella typhi four (0 -89 %), Bscherichia coZi0119:69B four(O*89%),E.coli018 four(O*89%), S. heidelberg two (O-44%), S. agona two (0*44x), S. richmond two (O-44%), Yersinia enterocolitica two (0 *44 “/), Salmonella C, (factor 7) two (0 *44 X), Shigella jlemeri one (0 *22 %), Salmonella tenessee one (O-22%), S. london one (0.22%) and S. mend&a one (0.22%). The highest number of nositive Camtwlobacter
cultures was from young children aged -l&s than one year (seven of 16). Two thirds were from children aged less than three years and one third from older people (Table I). Table I-Age enteritis
Aee (vears) No. of Patients
of patients
TRANSACTIONS OP THB ROYAL SOCIBTY OF TROPICAL MEDICINE AND HYGIENE, VOL. 73, No. 4, 1979. CORRESPONDBNCB
medical officers of health dealing with the problem of malaria. I am, etc., J. T. PONNAMPALAM Division of Malaria, Institute for Medical Research, Kuala Lumpur
and Gombak Hospital, Selangor, Peninsular Malaysia References
Peters, W. (1970). Chemotherapy and Drug Resistance in Malaria. London and New York: Academic Press. Thong, Y. H., Ferrante, A. & Rowan-Kelly, B. (1978). Primaquine inhibits mitogen-induced human lymphocyte proliferative responses. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 72, 537-539.
Accepted for publication 11th March, 1979..
SIR-The question raised by Dr. Ponnampalam on whether primaquine produces clinical immunosuppression is an important one. To my knowledge, no clinical trials have been done to examine this question. My laboratory has begun to explore this ,~question, and recently completed experiments on ‘the new antimalarial compound, mefloquine, indicate that it is capable of suppressing antibody responses in mice (THONG et al., 1979). However, the direct extrapolation of experimental findings to the clinical situation must always be tempered with caution. Such a cautionary note was included in our report on primaquine (THONG et al., 1978) and is worthwhile repeating: “But whether or not patients receiving primaquine therapy are actually immunosuppressed remains to be determined; in practice, antimalarial drugs are usually curative and do not seem to prolong the infection”. I am, etc., Y. H. THONG Department of Paediatrics, University of Adelaide, The Adelaide Children’s Hospital, North Adelaide, 5006, South Australia References
Thong, Y. H., Ferrante, A., Rowan-Kelly, B. & O’Keefe, D. E. (1979). Effect of mefloquine on the immune response in mice. Transactions of the
Campylobacter
enterltls
in Spain
SIR-During
1978, in order to investigate the role of Campylobacter in diarrhoea, we cultured 446 stool specimens from people living in Madrid (Spain). Campylobacter was sought by inoculating the stools on blood agar containing vancomycin (10 mg/ litre), polimyxin B (2.5 III/ml) and trimethoprim (5 mg/litre), and incubating at 43°C overnight (SKIRROW,1977). The inoculated plates were put into a jar with an activated ‘Gas Pak’ (B.B.L.) without a catalyst (SIMMONS, 1977) and under vacuum (250 mm Hg). Both children an&Adults, all in-patients or outnatients at the Centro Esnecial ‘Ramon Y . Caial’ , {Madrid) were investigated: Campylobacter was cultured in 20 of 446 diarrhoea specimens (4.45 %), corresponding to 16 patients with diarrhoea. The incidence of other intestinal pathogens in the population studied was as follows: Salmonella typhimurium 21 (4+70%), S. enteritidis 14 (3*13x), S. virchozo nine (2*01x), Shigella sonnei five (1.12 %), Salmonella typhi four (0 -89 %), Bscherichia coZi0119:69B four(O*89%),E.coli018 four(O*89%), S. heidelberg two (O-44%), S. agona two (0*44x), S. richmond two (O-44%), Yersinia enterocolitica two (0 *44 “/), Salmonella C, (factor 7) two (0 *44 X), Shigella jlemeri one (0 *22 %), Salmonella tenessee one (O-22%), S. london one (0.22%) and S. mend&a one (0.22%). The highest number of nositive Camtwlobacter
cultures was from young children aged -l&s than one year (seven of 16). Two thirds were from children aged less than three years and one third from older people (Table I). Table I-Age enteritis
Aee (vears) No. of Patients
of patients
