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Wales or one in Tasmania. Although subsequent testing of several samples of oysters from both suppliers failed to isolate V. cholerae, additional cases of V. cholerae infection have been reported. One, in Victoria, was associated with seafood consumption, while the infective source for another case, in Tasmania, was less certain (Dr Kath Taylor, Department of Human Services, Victoria, personal communication). This case highlights the potential of V. cholerae to cause serious illness in immunocompromised patients, and the potential risks to such patients of eating uncooked seafood. Other Vibrio species, such as V. vulnijicus and V.parahaemolyticus, can cause a similar clinical illness. V.vulnijicus, in particular, can cause primary septicaemia, predominantly after the ingestion of uncooked seafood by patients who have an underlying chronic disease. Diagnosis may be readily established in patients with bacteraemia, as all Vibrio species grow in routine blood culture media. However, unless selective media (such as thiosulfate citrate bile salt sucrose [TCBS] agar) are used for stool cultures, these pathogens may be missed.' In patients with underlying chronic illness, particularly chronic liver disease and haematological malignancy, one needs to have a high index of suspicion for Vibrio infections, particularly when patients have eaten uncooked seafood. 1 Guard RW, Brigden M, Desmarchelier P. Fulminating systemic infection caused by Vibrio ctioteree species which does not agglutinate with 0-1 V cholerae antiserum. Med J Aus! 1980; 1 659-661 2 Magmusson MR, Pegg SP. Vibrio cholerae non-01 primary septicaemia following a large thermal burn.

Vitamin D status was associated with early childhood ALRI in a matched case-control study in rural Bangladesh. Randomized trials may establish whether interventions to improve vitamin D status can reduce the burden of ALRI in early childhood.

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Sampling at two elevations from a tidal flat on the Shark Bay (Western Australia) shoreline at Monkey Mia revealed abundant suspension-feeding bivalves of numerous (> 17) species. Their total density increased by 3 x up the tidal elevation gradient from the subtidal margin of the flat to intertidal sites -97 cm higher. Factorial field experiments were used to test the effect of site (tidal elevation), local bivalve density, and their interaction on growth and survivorship of three species of suspension-feeding bivalves. Survivorship was high and did not vary significantly with site or local density. Individual growth was generally lower at higher density for both AnomaZocardia squamosus and Circe lenticularis, but growth of CaZZista impar never responded significantly to local density. Site effects on individual growth were far stronger than density effects and operated on all three species: growth at the intertidal site was substantially lower than at the subtidal site. The intensity of the site effect on individual growth about doubled from the first (February-June) to the second (June-December) experimental interval, probably because average daily exposure to air also doubled. Despite the success of tidal exposure in explaining seasonal variation in growth differences between sites, at a given season clams at the intertidal site grew substantially less than predicted from duration of aerial exposure and density. We hypothesize that density effects estimated locally within 1 -m2 areas fail to assess the full magnitude of food depletion that occurs over broader scales and that suspension feeders low on the flat deplete suspended foods in incoming tidal flows before they ever reach clams at higher elevations.