There is some suggestion that infection with pandemic influenza may increase long-term mortality risks. Therefore we aimed to determine if exposure to a severe outbreak of pandemic influenza on a troopship in 1918 impacted on lifespan in the survivors. The troopship with the outbreak cohort had 1107 personnel and the comparison cohort was from two contemporaneous troopships (1108 randomly selected personnel). Data were collected from online individual military files. The main finding was that there was no statistically significant difference in the lifespan of the outbreak cohort and the comparison cohort (means of 71·5 and 71·0 years, respectively). Indeed, the outbreak cohort was actually more likely to survive into the period from 1950 onwards (P = 0·036) and to participate in the Second World War (P = 0·043). There were no significant differences between the cohorts in terms of occupational class, but the comparison cohort had a higher proportion of rural occupations (33·3% vs. 27·0%, P < 0·001) and was very slightly older in mid-1918 (27·8 vs. 27·2 years, P = 0·028). In conclusion, this study found no support for the hypothesis that exposure to the 1918 influenza pandemic adversely impacted on the lifespan in the survivors, at least in this male and military-age population.

The practice of foodborne illness outbreak investigations has evolved, shifting away from large-scale community case-control studies towards more focused case exposure assessments and sub-cluster investigations to identify contaminated food sources. Criteria to include or exclude cases are established to increase the efficiency of epidemiological analyses and traceback activities, but these criteria can also affect the investigator's ability to implicate a suspected food vehicle. A 2010 outbreak of Salmonella ser. Hvittingfoss infections associated with a chain of quick-service restaurants (Chain A) provided a useful case study on the impact of exclusion criteria on the ability to identify a food vehicle. In the original investigation, a case-control study of restaurant-associated cases and well meal companions was conducted at the ingredient level to identify a suspected food vehicle; however, 21% of cases and 22% of well meal companions were excluded for eating at Chain A restaurants more than once during the outbreak. The objective of this study was to explore how this decision affected the results of the outbreak investigation.

Recent research has even further emphasized the physiological dangers to which man is exposed when breathing gases at increased tensions. If he breathes air his activity under water is greatly limited by the problems of supply and compressed air illness. The latter is due to the formation of bubbles of nitrogen in the body on return to normal atmosphere. If he breathes oxygen, then he is in grave danger of oxygen poisoning, with convulsions, even at relatively shallow depths (Donald, 1947). During the recent war, mixtures of nitrogen and oxygen were employed for important work where the diver wished to go to considerable depths while carrying his own gases. These mixtures were varied in composition and rate of supply so that oxygen poisoning was avoided, and immediate rapid surfacing was possible, without compressed air illness occurring. However, this ingenious compromise is limited in its application, for as greater depths are reached, the oxygen has to be greatly reduced to avoid convulsions. The resultant rise in the proportion of nitrogen being breathed causes bubble formation in any but the shortest exposures. It is to be doubted whether the maintenance and meticulous supervision required, when using mixtures, will allow the use of these in the more normal conditions of peace-time. It has become increasingly apparent that the prolonged underwater survival of men requires pressure-withstanding devices in which he can exist at normal physiological tensions, i.e. atmospheric pressure. The rigid diving suit and submersible chambers, such as the bathysphere, are in their infancy; but the submarine, where the same conditions apply, is now a highly successful and developed method of underwater existence and locomotion. The further evolution of these devices, and of the submarine, depends mainly on engineering advances and not upon attempting to extend the comparatively rigid limits imposed by human physiology. The maintenance of a healthy atmosphere within a submarine is again a chemical and engineering problem which is capable of solution and constant improvement.

Brucellosis is a widespread zoonosis caused by small bacteria of the genus Brucella. The promoter polymorphisms of IL-10 (-1082 loci, -819 loci and -590 loci) are closely related to the production of IL-10, leading to the alteration of development and pathogenesis of Brucellosis. However, the previous results were controversial. In the present study, we conduct the meta-analysis to get a more precise result of IL-10 polymorphisms with Brucellosis risk. The quality of the studies was assessed according to a predefined scale. The odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were counted to evaluate the association strength. No significant association was found between position -1082 loci or -590 loci polymorphism and Brucellosis risk. The significant association was found in Asian population of position -819 (T vs. C: OR 0.60, 95% CI 0.44–0.82, P = 0.001), homozygote comparison (TT vs. CC: OR 0.24, 95% CI 0.09–0.62, P = 0.003) and recessive genetic model (TT vs. TC/CC: OR 0.22, 95% CI 0.05–0.91, P = 0.036). The present meta-analysis demonstrates that IL-10-819 loci polymorphism is not associated with Brucellosis risk of Caucasian population but may contribute a decreased risk to Asian population. And neither IL-10-1082 loci nor -592 loci polymorphism is associated with Brucellosis risk.

1. ACTH, cortisone, sphingomyelin and sphingosine produce a delayed in-hibition of the skin reaction in cattle sensitized to Trichomonas foetus antigen when they are injected intramuscularly. The inhibition is greatest 6–9 hr. after injection of the inhibitor, but may sometimes be further delayed. This reaction is associated with an absolute lymphopoenia of slightly variable duration.

N-acetylsphingosine retains the desensitizing effect of crude sphingomyelin and is of much the same potency as cortisone acetate of Merck.

2. The lymphopoenia associated with the injection of ACTH and cortisone occurs also with sphingosine, and these three substances are also alike in not producing the desensitizing effect until some hours after the injection.

3. Phenergan, a synthetic anti-histamine, has a different action, and its desensitizing effect which appears to depend on a direct antagonizing of the oedema-provoking substance resulting from the junction of antibody and antigen (hapten) takes effect apparently as soon as the injected drug itself is present at the site of the injection of the specific testing fluid.

4. Methods of testing the capacity of the hormones and drugs to prevent the skin reaction locally and to nullify the action of the in vitro antigen-antibody mixtures which can produce a reaction in normal animals are described.

Phenergan alone of the substances dealt with has any power to act locally. Phenergan mixed with the antigen-antiserum complex in vitro prevents the formation of the characteristic swelling in a normal animal.

Phenergan mixed with the specific testing fluid prevents the development of the skin reaction when the mixture is injected intradermally into a sensitive animal.

Cortisone and sphingosine do not have this action.

We are indebted to the Medical Research Council for supplies of ACTH and cortisone and to Sir Charles Harington for N-acetylsphingosine.

The personal encouragement of Prof. H. G. Lamont and the support afforded by the Ministry of Agriculture, Northern Ireland, are gratefully acknowledged.

It has been shown by numerous observers that well-marked serological differences are found between different strains of meningococci. And since the work of Dopter on the relation of “parameningococci” to meningococci and to cerebro-spinal fever, there has arisen a fairly general agreement that among meningococci capable of causing cerebrospinal meningitis two broadly separable groups can be defined by immunological methods. But beyond this point considerable divergences of opinion appear. On the one hand there are a number of recent workers who have failed to convince themselves that the two groups of meningococci are in reality clearly delimited, permanent and independent entities. On the other hand certain other workers claim to have still further subdivided these micro-organisms into four definite and independent types, each of which possesses in itself the value of a bacterial species [cp. Andrewes (1917)].

The inactivation rates of tissue-culture polio virus have been determined and these have been applied to the irradiation of formalinized vaccine, as an additional inactivation process, using a simple irradiator.

The antigenic potency of the vaccine was apparently unimpaired.

We wish to thank the late Prof. van den Ende for his keen interest and criticism; Dr H. Malherbe and his staff for carrying out many of the titrations; Dr P. D. Winter for co-operation in irradiating samples of vaccine, and Margaret Pakes for invaluable technical assistance.

In a previous paper it was shown that of the empty milk churns which were examined, 56 per cent, were totally unfit for use, as they contained very large numbers of bacteria and lactose fermenting organisms in high proportion. Table I (1) is taken from this paper and gives the number of bacteria per 1 c.c. of washings with sterile saline solution. These churns were taken at random on a station platform, their origin being unknown.

There could be no more suitable preface to emphasise the need for Diphtheria prevention than the following quotation from so high an authority as the metropolitan Asylums Board's Report of 1924–25: “Notwithstanding the great improvement in diagnosis, standard of living, education in matters of hygiene and other public health measures, the fact remains that, for reason not altogether clear, diphtheria appears to be stregthening its forces and gathering power unchecked by science.”

Presence of thermolabile agglutination-inhibiting substances in strains of the genus Shigella has been demonstrated by numerous authors. Archer (1942) used as antigen for agglutination tests with S. alkalescens cultures which had been killed at 100° C., since a thermolabile factor which prevents agglutination by the usual technique had been found present in the organism. The same method was employed by Mendes Silva (1943) in agglutination tests with S. ambigua. Braun & Unat (1943) found in S. paradysenteriae (Flexner) a labile antigen designated ‘O1’ which inhibits O-agglutination of the living bacteria. Schuetze (1944) reported that the insensitivity of S. dysenteriae (Shiga) to agglutination is abolished by heating at 100° C. for 30 min. Weil, Black & Farsetta (1944) reported that boiling for 1 hr. renders inagglutinable strains of S. paradysenteriae (Flexner) fully agglutinable. Recently, Weil et al. (1946) reported that one of the Sachs types contains an inhibiting substance, a heat labile antigen and a heat stable antigen. He observed inhibition of agglutination of living bacteria in many Flexner types, S. alkalescens and S. ambigua. Olitzki, Shelubsky & Koch (1946) reported that there is present in S. dysenteriae (Shiga) a labile substance ‘I’ which inhibits the agglutination of thd living bacteria. They were able to demonstrate a labile antigen in toxic saline extracts but not in the intact bacteria. The present paper reports a method for isolation of this antigen in the form of a relatively concentrated preparation.

One hundred and twenty-nine samples of fresh cream collected in Worcestershire were examined bacteriologically. Sixty (46·5 %) creams had counts of over 100,000 bacteria/ml. The bacteria present were of many varieties, the commonest being Bacillus spp. (aerobic spore formers), Gram-negative bacilli, staphylococci and micrococci. Since most of the creams had been either pasteurized as cream or manufactured from pasteurized milk it was thought that the many bacteria were present because of contamination after pasteurization due to three main causes; unsatisfactory or unhygienic premises, unsuitable equipment, manual handling during the filling and capping process.

The methylene blue test results related well with bacterial counts but there were seven (5·4 %) anomalous results. Although the methylene blue reduction test therefore could serve as a simple and reasonable guide to the hygienic quality of fresh cream, 5·4 % of anomalous results would perhaps make it unsuitable as a statutory test.

We thank Mr R. Colenso, M.A.P.H.E., M.A.P.H.I., Chief Public Health Inspector, and Mr H. Beckett, Milk Sampling Officer of the Worcestershire County Council, for arranging the supply of samples.

In the present work it is suggested that the sterilization of bacterial suspensions by mercurial antiseptics is a reflexion of a possible stoichiometrical relation between the mercuric compound and the thiol receptors in the bacterial cells.

This has been verified experimentally by studying the times of survival of suspensions of B. typhosum mixed with multiples and submultiples of the quantity of antiseptic theoretically equivalent to the thiol content of the suspension, as estimated by iodometric titration.

The considerable differences observed in the time of survival of suspensions mixed respectively with more and with less than the thiol equivalent of antiseptic, and the absence of any marked effect of dilution of the mixture, show that there is a quantitative relationship between the amounts of substrate and the quantity of antiseptic capable of sterilizing it.

The returns relating to naval personnel who were reported to the Admiralty to have acquired non-surgical jaundice between 1944 and 1947 were examined.

Where the dates of onset of illness and of inoculation were available, the numbers who developed the illness within 11–40 days of inoculation were greater than the numbers to be expected if there was no association between the dates of onset of illness and the dates of inoculation. During 1945 the observed numbers were also greater than the expected numbers when 41–70 days intervened between inoculation and the illness.

The interpretation and practical implications of the findings are discussed.

This paper is published by kind permission of the Medical Director General of the Navy, Surgeon Vice-Admiral Sir Alexander Ingleby-Mackenzie.

I am indebted to Dr F. O. MacCallum for his continued interest and for invaluable suggestions; to Dr J. O. Irwin for scrutinizing the script; to Miss H. M. Ferres who applied the statistical tests to the figures in Table 1; to Surgeon Commander M. A. Rugg-Gunn, Royal Navy, for the information about the ratings' pay books, and to Senior Commissioned Wardmaster J. L. T. Burns, Royal Navy, and Sick Berth Petty Officer (L) D. E. Lee, Royal Navy, who tabulated the numerical data.

This study used hospital records from two time periods to understand the implication of COVID-19 on hospital-based deaths in Burundi. The place of COVID-19 symptoms was sought among deaths that occurred from January to May 2020 (during the pandemic) vs. January to May 2019 (before the pandemic). First, death proportions were tested to seize differences between mortality rates for each month in 2020 vs. 2019. In the second time, we compared mean time-to-death between the two periods using the Kaplan–Meier survival curve. Finally, a logistic regression was fitted to assess the likelihood of dying from COVID-19 symptoms between the two periods. We found statistical evidence of a higher death rate in May 2020 as compared to May 2019. Moreover, death occurred faster in 2020 (mean = 6.7 days, s.d. = 8.9) than in 2019 (mean = 7.8 days, s.d. = 10.9). Unlike in 2019, being a male was significantly associated with a much lower likelihood of dying with one or more COVID-19 symptom(s) in 2020 (odds ratio 0.35, 95% confidence interval 0.14–0.87). This study yielded some evidence for a possible COVID-19-related hospital-based mortality trend for May 2020. However, considering the time-constraint of the study, further similar studies over a longer period of time need to be conducted to trace a clearer picture on COVID-19 implication on hospital-based deaths in Burundi.

In a first study from India, a diverse collection of 140 environmental and clinical non-O157 Shiga-toxigenic Escherichia coli strains from a large geographical area in north India was typed by multi-locus variable number tandem repeat analysis (MLVA). The distribution of major virulence genes stx1, stx2 and eae was found to be 78%, 70% and 10%, respectively; 15 isolates were enterohaemorrhagic E. coli (stx1 +/stx2 + and eae +). By MLVA analysis, 44 different alleles were obtained. Dendrogram analysis revealed 104 different genotypes and 19 MLVA-type complexes divided into two main lineages, i.e. mutton and animal stool. Human isolates presented a statistically significant greater odds ratio for clustering with mutton samples compared to animal stool isolates. Five human isolates clustered with animal stool strains suggesting that some of the human infections may be from cattle, perhaps through milk, contact or the environment. Further epidemiological studies are required to explore these sources in context with occurrence of human cases.

Arising out of the routine selection of wheat germs for the production of a composite high-value and reasonably uniform mixture, it has been found that the variation in the vitamin B activity of unselected wheat germ is greater than has been generally suspected.

Desert rodents often have been used successfully as laboratory animals in parasitology (Abdel Azim & Cowper, 1950; Adler & Feldman-Muhsam, 1952; Delanoe, 1929; Kuntz & Malakatis, 1954; Nicolle, Anderson & Colas-Belcour, 1927; Sergent & Poncet, 1951 a, b) and virology (Durand & Laigret, 1932; Gear & Davis, 1942; Noury, 1948; Snyder, Zarafonetis & Liu, 1945; Van Rooyen & Danskin, 1944; Zarafonetis, 1945). However, with the exception of investigations into the role of some of these animals as mammalian reservoirs of plague (Ristorcelli, 1938; Tikhomirova, 1934; Wassilieff, 1933), no reports have been found of their use for experimental bacterial infections.

Small rodent (vole) sera were collected from three different locations in Norway. One of these was within the distribution area for Ixodes ricinus, and a tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) virus strain had been isolated from ticks collected there (Traavik & Mehl, 1977). The two other locations were outside the I. ricinus area, one in southern Norway, the other at nearly 70° N. The sera were tested for TBE antibodies by hemagglutination inhibition (HI), hemolysis-in-gel (HIG) and complement fixation (CFT). All sera were also tested for HI antibodies to Uukuniemi (UUK) virus, and some positive TBE HI reactions were verified by separation of immunoglobulins and serum lipoproteins in NaBr gradients.

Animals containing TBE virus antibodies reacting in all three serological tests and animals with UUK HI antibodies were detected only from the location within the I. ricinus area. From the two locations outside the I. ricinus area we found animals which had antibodies reacting with TBE virus in HI and HIG, but not in CFT. Antibodies to UUK were not detected. The results indicate that flavivirus(es) related to, but not identical with TBE viruses are transmitted by other vectors than I. ricinus in parts of Norway.

Some 94 strains of Ieptospires belonging to the Sejroe serogroup isolated in the British Isles were identified to the serovar level using specific factor sera.

Seventy strains were identified as Leptospira interrogans serovar hardjo, 66 from cattle, 2 from pigs and 1 each from a sheep foetus and a human.

Twenty-four strains were identified as L. interrogans serovar saxkoebing, most strains were isolated from either wood mice, bank or field voles but strains were also isolated from badgers, a fox and a dog.