Background: Due to the frequency and severity of cold symptoms in children, and the risk of associated complications, effective treatments are urgently needed. Here we evaluated the safety profile and treatment benefits of Echinacea in children with acute cold and flu symptoms. Methods: A total of 79 children (4–12 years) were randomized to a treatment regimen of three or five times daily Echinaforce Junior tablets (total of 1200 or 2000 mg Echinacea extract, EFJ) for the prospective treatment of upcoming cold and flu episodes at first signs. Parents recorded respiratory symptoms daily during episodes in their child and physicians and parents subjectively rated tolerability. Results: EFJ was used to treat 130 cold episodes in 68 children and was very well tolerated by more than 96% positive physician’s ratings. EFJ-treated cold episodes lasted 7.5 days on average, with nine out of 10 episodes being fully resolved after 10 days. Five EFJ tablets daily reduced the average episode duration by up to 1.7 days (p < 0.02) in comparison to three EFJ tablets daily regimen. Effective symptom resolution finally contributed to a low antibiotic prescription rate in this study of 4.6%. Conclusions: EFJ tablets present a valuable option for the treatment of acute cold episodes in children showing a wide safety margin and increased therapeutic benefits at five tablets daily.

Nasopharyngeal secretions (NPS) collected by a mucus extractor from more than 1000 children with respiratory tract infections (including otitis) and aged from newborn to 10 years were investigated for the presence of viral antigens. The antigens were detected by an enzyme immunoassay (EIA) as originally described by Sarkkinen and coworkers (J. din. Microbiol. 13 (1981) 2158) Antigens of the following viruses could be found: RSV, Adeno, Parainfluenza 1, 2, 3, Influenza A and B. The study period was one year; an etiological diagnosis could be achieved within 24 h in each instance. Viral antigens could be demonstrated in 25 % from all NPS samples studied. RSV infection was diagnosed most frequently; RSV antigens being present in about 46% from all positive specimens, followed by Parainfluenza 3 (28 %) and Adenovirus (13 %). Clinically a pronounced association was found between RSV infection and lower respiratory tract disease in particular in infants less than 1 year old. A croup syndrome was often observed during Parainfluenza 3 infection, whereas tonsillitis and pharyngitis most frequently were due to Adenovirus infection. Studies on the differential tissue specificity of two variants of the minute virus of mice R. Sahli and B. Hirt ISREC, CH-1066 EpalingesThe prototype strain of the minute virus of mice, MVM(p), grows in fibroblasts. A variant, MVM(i), grows in lymphocytes and is immunosuppressive in vitro. To determine the part of the MVM genome which is responsible for the differential tissuespecificity, we have determined the complete nucleotide sequence of the genome of MVM(i) and compared it to that of MVM(p). We have also constructed hybrid viruses containing complementary parts of the MVM(p) and MVM(i) genomes, and tested their respective tissue-speciflcities. Major nucleotide differences are found in the 5' end of the viral genomes. In agreement with this fact, preliminary experiments indicate that the tissue-specific determinants of MVM(p) and MVM(i) are also found in this region. Comparison of Sendal virus and influenza virus surface glycoproteins D. Kolakofsky, B. Blumberg, C. Giorgi, L. Roux and K. Rose Dept. of Microbiology and Medical Biochemistry, University of Geneva, C.M.U., CH-1211 GenevaThe nucleotide sequences of the Sendal virus (SV) F and HN surface glycoprotein genes were determined. The deduced primary structure of the proteins, when analyzed on a hydropathy plot, showed that the F protein was anchored in the membrane at its C-terminus but that the HN protein was unusually anchored in the opposite orientation. A similar situation exists for the two influenza virus (FLU) surface glycoproteins. Since the two SV and the two FLU glycoproteins share the same three activities (hemagglutinin, neuraminidase, fusion), their aa sequences were compared for homology. Limited but statistically significant homology was detected suggesting that SV and FLU shared common ancestry. The data further suggests that intragenic rearrangement as well as gene concatenation has taken place during this evolution. ...

Experientia 42 (1986), Birkhfiuser Verlag, CH-4010 Basel/Switzerland 101 BCB-blood culture system (Roche) detects Brucella bacteremia in less than 8 days R. Auckenthaler, B. Hirschel and S. Shiro-Lente H6pital Cantonal Universitaire, CH-121t Gen~ve From July 1982 to December 1984 all blood culture bottles from patients with fever of unknown origin, suspected endocarditis, or brucellosis were routinely incubated at 35 ~ for 14 days using BCB (Roche) system. Aerobic bottles (AER) contained columbia broth and anaerobic bottles (ANAER) thioglycolate broth. Subcultures were performed using BCB slides for AER twice a day during the first 48 h and daily thereafter. ANAER was subcultured only if AER was positive or if broth became turbid. 63/71 submitted AER originated from 16 patients with at least two cultures positive for Brucella spp. with a mean detection time of 6.2 days (range 4-10 d). 8/71 submitted AER (5/7 patients with previous antibiotics) were negative. At least one positive culture was detected within 8 days in all cases. 13/39 submitted ANAER became positive ouly after venting and subculturing, with a mean detection time of 10.2 days (range 7-17 days). 98.4 % of positive cultures were detectable within 8 days. In the BCB Roche system incubation more than 10 days does not seem to be necessary for detection ofBrucella spp., if vented or subcultured properly.alvei (3), S. marcescens (6), P. mirabilis (9), P. vulgaris (7), P. rettgeri (6), M. morganii (8), C. freundii (15), C. diversus (13), and Salmonella sp. (1 I). Cohas-Bact ~ agreed with API 20E on 137 identifications (99%). However 16.7% of these (23/138) required additional tests as well as all the Shigella tested (t0). One single isolate (S. marcescens) was not identified by Cobas-Bact | When restricted to the most common strains of Enterobacteriaceae, the Cobas-Bact ~ instrument appears promising for their rapid identification though a sizeable portion of the strains still requires additional tests.On the surface of conventional membrane filters with a pore size of 0.45 gm a grid of hydrophobic material is printed on so that the filtration area is divided into 1800 individual growth compartments. The hydrophobic property of the grid lines determines the positions and limits the lateral growth of microbial colonies and produces a miniaturized most probable number system equivalent to a large number of tubes inoculated from a single dilution. HGMF provides a counting range of more than 3 log 10 cycles on a single membrane filter. Gas-liquid chromatography as a complement in the research of Clostridium difficile in stools of clinically relevant patients S. Taillens, J. Barman and A. Gallusser Institut de Microbiologie, CHUV, CH IOI] LausanneThe research of C. difficile in stools of patients with antibiotic associated diarrhea or with pseudomembranous colitis is of routine in many laboratories. This research is mainly done using a selective agar with cycloserine and cefoxitin (CCFA). When the laboratory has an available source of cell cultures (human l...