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Enterotoxin-producing bacteria and parasites in stools of Ethiopian children with diarrhoeal disease. Enterotoxinogenic bacteria were isolated from 131 (37%) of 354 Ethiopian infants and children with acute gastrointestinal symptoms. Only one of these isolates belonged to the classical enteropathogenic serotypes of Esch. coli. Two colonies from each patient were isolated and tested for production of enterotoxin by the rabbit ileal loop test, the rabbit skin test, and an adrenal cell assay. However, only 38% of the isolated enterotoxinogenic strains were Esch. coli; the others belonged to Klebsiella, Enterobacter, Proteus, Citrobacter, Serratia, and Aeromonas. In 18 patients both isolates were toxinogenic and belonged to different species. The incidence of intestinal parasites was 35 % with no apparent correlation to the occurrence of toxinogenic bacteria in the stools.

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Microsporidiosis must be regarded as a late opportunistic infection when HIV is advanced. In this article we describe 2 cases of disseminated infection with Encephalitozoon intestinalis. The first case had a local intestinal infection for > 1 y before it disseminated and microsporidia were found intracellularly in sputum. In the second case, spores were initially found in conjunctival cells, sinus lavage, sputum and urine. This patient had clinical symptoms and radiological findings from the central nervous system. Signs of cerebral lymphoma developed after treatment of the opportunistic microsporidial infection.

The possible implications of cell membrane dynamics in the host--parasite relationship has been studied. Entamoeba histolytica rapidly redistributed and internalized antibodies and Con A bound to its surface. The process was dependent on temperature, cell metabolism and changes of pH in the environment. Phagocytizing amoebae displayed a higher rate of membrane perturbations, which were similarly affected by temperature, cell metabolism and pH variations. Cytochalasin B partially inhibited the redistribution whereas colchicine did not. Colchicine in combination with Cytochalasin B augmented the inhibitory effect of Cytochalasin B alone. The expression of antigens at the surface of the amoeba showed cyclic fluctuations during cell growth.