These data suggest that the prenatal and postnatal supplementation of bifidobacteria is effective in primary preventing allergic diseases. Some limited changes in the composition of fecal microbiota by the bifidobacterial supplementation were observed.

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Identification of the blood group A subtypes, i.e. A₁, A₂, and A₁-A₂ intermediate (Aint), by agglutination test, particularly in AB red cells, is ambiguous. The expressions of A subtypes in red blood cells are the consequences of diverse formations of the A substances by the action of three types of blood group N-acetyl-galactosaminyl-transferases controlled by A₁, A₂, and Aint genes. Therefore, the A subtypes are more directly identified by examining the kinetic characters of A-enzymes existing in plasma. Several Black AB subjects classified as non-A₁ by the agglutination test were identified as A₁B and AintB on the enzyme basis. A subject serologically classified as A₁ had A₂-enzyme in her plasma, i.e. she is genetically A₂O or A₂A₂. The present and previous studies indicate that red cell A₂ status is occasionally expressed as a result of the combination of Aint and B, and of A₁ and superactive B. The imbalance between A₁/A₂ and A₁B/ A₂B observed in some Black populations could be attributed to high frequencies of the Aint and B. sup. genes in Blacks.

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From September 1986 through July 1987, all fecal specimens obtained from infants and children who visited the pediatric clinic of the Shizuoka General Hospital with complaints of abdominal pain or diarrhea were examined for thermophilic Campylobacters. Bacteriological and epidemiological studies were performed on household contacts. The mothers of the patients were compared with the mothers of age-matched control subjects. Bacteriological examination of animals in 49 primary schools in Shizuoka city was performed. C. jejuni was isolated from 47 (9.4%) of the 499 feces samples, occupying first place in the bacterial etiology of acute bacterial enteritis. Infants and young children below 10 years of age comprised 81% of the total cases. Fourteen (13%) strains of C. jejuni were isolated in 9 families among 105 household contacts of the index patients. Six symptomatic contacts in two households had eaten the same suspected chicken as the respective index patients. In three families, C. jejuni was isolated from the remainder of the chicken. The serotype of these isolates was identical to that of the isolates from the index cases and the other family members. It was also noted that the same chopping boards were used for the preparation of salads after cleansing with water. In two index cases, the antibody of convalescent serum against C. jejuni isolated from the chicken, as estimated by passive hemagglutination method, ranged from 1:320 to 1:1280. These facts strongly supported the assumption that they had been infected by the chicken. The remaining persons were asymptomatic and the possibility was left that the index cases had been secondarily infected by these carrier persons.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)