The group A rotavirus staphylococcal co-agglutination test was evaluated and its sensitivity and specificity compared with an in-house enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and a commercial latex agglutination test (Rotalex). In addition, the storage stability of the staphylococcal reagents was ascertained. Examination of 136 clarified suspensions of diarrhoeal faeces by the staphylococcal co-agglutination test revealed a high proportion of false positives (26%) and uninterpretable results (34%) due to non-specific agglutination. Non-specific agglutination could be removed effectively by prior absorption of the clarified faecal specimens with unsensitized staphylococci. The staphylococcal co-agglutination test was less sensitive and specific than the in-house enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay but was comparable to the Rotalex slide latex agglutination test. The staphylococcal reagents have a shelf life of at least 29 weeks.
Acute Gastroenteritis (AGE) is common world wide and is a major health problem. The commonest cause is from contaminated water or food. Common infective agents are Rotavirus, Staph. aureus and Bacillus cereus. There was an AGE outbreak in Ipoh City from late August till early October 2006. Epidemiological and laboratory investigations were done. Fresh stool samples were taken from symptomatic patients. Water and food sampling were also done. Descriptive analysis of the outbreak was done. A total of 170 patients, mostly between 1 - 5 years of age, were affected. The highest incidents were seen in Bercham. Fever and diarrhea were the prominent features. Two stool samples (13.3%) were positive for E.coli and rotavirus respectively. Twelve of the twenty (60%) water samples taken were contaminated with coliform and fecal matter. Twenty-one of the eighty ((26.3%) food samples taken grew either E.coli, Staph. aureus or Bacillus cereus. It was concluded that a general source was responsible for this problem. The water supply to Ipoh City and the surrounding area is the most likely source. Novovirus was suspected as the organism involved because of the self-limiting and mild nature of the illness that occurred in this outbreak.
The AGE outbreak in Kinta District in September 2006 is due to contaminated
water supply from two water treatment
The pattern of rotavirus infection in babies of the neonatal special care nursery (SCN) of the Kuala Lumpur Maternity Hospital was studied. The presence of rotavirus in the neonates' stools was ascertained using the method of polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and silver staining. No rotavirus was detected in the 511 stools and rectal swabs collected from the 164 neonates over a 8-week period. Thus the babies admitted to the SCN from the labour rooms and the postnatal wards of the hospital were unlikely to be carriers of rotavirus or infected by rotavirus during their stay. It was concluded that rotavirus was not endemic in the nursery or the postnatal wards of this maternity hospital.
A 1 year longitudinal study of 156 Malaysian children from urban and suburban areas in the Klang Valley revealed that the incidence rate of diarrhoea was 23.6 per 100 person-year with abnormal faeces reported on 0.26% of the total days of observation. Diarrhoea cases were detected in children from all socioeconomic classes. Rotavirus was isolated from 12% of the diarrheic children and asymptomatic rotavirus infection occurred in 3.2% of the children. All rotaviruses isolated were group A rotaviruses with long electrophoretypic pattern.