A semilongitudinal study of food intake, anemia rate and body measurements of 6 to 24-month-old children in a Jerusalem community

Food intake of 120 infants at 6 and 12 months old and 110 toddlers at 18 and 24 months old in three neighborhoods in a Western part of Jerusalem was determined by the 24-hr recall technique. Mean caloric intake was below the recommended dietary allowance, protein intake was twice the recommended dietary allowance, iron intake was low, and a high rate of mild anemia was found. Anemia rate and severity were more pronounced in a poor neighborhood. The different rate of anemia in the three neighborhoods in partly explained by the differences in sources of iron. Food intake did not vary by social class or mother's education. Using the weight/height ratio 9 to 12% of the children were overweight and 3 to 7% were obese. The impact of Mother and Child Health clinics on feeding practice is emphasized.

Susceptibility of mice treated with cyclophosphamide to lethal infection with Leptospira interrogans Serovar pomona

Mice not normally susceptible to infection with Leptospira interrogans serovar pomona were rendered susceptible to lethal infections by treatment with a single dose of 300 mg of cyclophosphamide (Cy) per kg administered optimally from 4 days before to 1 day after infection. Cy-treated mice with either passively or actively acquired antibody were protected from death. Blood levels of leptospires in infected untreated and in Cy-treated mice remained similar until 2 days after infection, when untreated mice cleared the leptospires. Soon afterwards, opsonizing and agglutinating antibody appeared. Cy-treated mice given spleen cells from other normal or specifically immune mice were protected from infection. An important factor in the natural resistance of mice to leptospiral infection appears to be their capacity to produce circulating antibody within 48 to 72 h. Applications are suggested for this animal model in vaccination and protection studies.

A card test for the serodiagnosis of human leptospirosis

A macroscopic agglutination test for detecting leptospiral antibodies in human sera is described. The test utilizes a stained preparation of non-pathogenic leptospires and is performed on the Brewer diagnostic cards used for bovine brucellosis screening. The agglutination of the stained antigen is more easily observed than the current macroscopic slide test using unstained leptospiral antigens. The non-pathogenic serotype patoc is agglutinated by sera from humans infected with serotypes pomona, hardjo, ballum, and copenhageni with a sensitivity of 94% in comparison with the microscopic agglutination test.