Transmission of non-A non-B hepatitis to chimpanzees by factor-IX concentrates after fatal complications in patients with chronic liver disease

6 cases of non-A non-B hepatitis which followed administration of four different batches of concentrates of coagulation factor IX from commercial and non-commercial sources are described. Of 17 patients who received the concentrate on account of chronic liver disease, 4 developed hepatitis, and in 3 of these the illness proved fatal. The incubation periods ranged from 42 to 103 days (mean 65 days). 3 chimpanzees were inoculated with concentrate from the same batch used on the above patients, a further commercial batch upon which no adverse reactions had been reported, and plasma from a known non-A non-B carrier. All developed hepatitis after 10 weeks' incubation. Liver biopsy when serum-aminotransferase was at its highest level showed features consistent with acute hepatitis. As in the patients, viral markers for hepatitis A and B, cytomegalovirus, and Epstein-Barr virus were unchanged.

Purification of hepatitis A virus by affinity chromatography

Hepatitis A virus was purified from faeces by immunoaffinity chromatography.

The long-term impact of pregnancy at marriage on the family's economic circumstances

In the long run, premaritally pregnant white couples seem able to overcome the problems stemming from early marriage and parenthood. They earn middle-class incomes, own their homes, have some savings. But they do have 22 percent less in total assets and they have more unplanned children than couples who married and deferred childbearing.

Hepatitis B outbreak among chimpanzees at the London Zoo

Persistent carriage of hepatitis B virus in extremely high titre was identified in 5 out of 9 chimpanzees kept at the London Zoo. Antibody to this virus was present in the other 4 chimpanzees. Serological survey of the other primates in the Regent's Park collection did not reveal the presence of the surface antigen in 2 gorillas, 11 orang-utans, and 2 gibbons, although surface antibody was present in the serum of 1 gorilla and 2 orang-utans. 3 of the carrier chimpanzees were born at the Zoo and were the offspring of either a carrier mother or a carrier father, and perinatal transmission may have occurred. A strict safety code of practice was introduced and hepatitis B immunoglobulin was given at intervals to designated staff members. Sero-conversion did not occur in any of the 38 staff members under surveillance for more than 2 years. Treatment of the carrier state in the chimpanzees was attempted with human leucocyte interferon, with and without ribavirin ('Virazole'), and with adenine arabinoside, but the effects were mostly temporary.

Marital dissolution, remarriage, and childbearing

Earlier models of fertility hypothesize that marital dissolution and remarriage influence subsequent childbearing. This issue is examined by comparing the fertility of those in disrupted marriages with that of those in stable marriages. The results indicate that, by transferring women into a nonmarried status, marital dissolution decreases childbearing. The data also suggest that discord reduces fertility even before separation occurs--separated women had reduced fertility during the two years just before separation. It was found that marital dissolution without remarriage operates to truncate childbearing, thus decreasing family size. Dissolution followed by remarriage, however, lengthens the childbearing span of whites and has no inflences on average family size; remarrying white women are able to make up for the childbearing lost between marriages. For nonwhites, we found that dissolution and remarriage increase the average time to childbirth, but, even more importantly, these events greatly decrease the number of children born.

Studies on human hepatitis A virus in chimpanzees

Several chimpanzees found to be seronegative for hepatitis A by immune electron microscopy and by radioimmunoassay were inoculated with known infective faecal extracts from several sources, including the MS-1 strain of hepatitis A virus, first passage material from chimpanzee George and a strain of hepatitis A virus obtained during a naturally occurring outbreak of infection in Germany. Elevated serum transaminase levels were found in the chimpanzees about 19 days after inoculation. Virus particles were found in faeces as early as 9 days after infection in one chimpanzee and by days 12 and 14 in the others. Excretion of virus continued for 9 to 19 days, and the maximum numbers of virus particles were found on the 17th to the 19th day after inoculation. The buoyant density in caesium chloride of virus particles separated from faeces was 1.31 to 1.43 g/ml. Most of the particles were found in the fraction with a density of 1.34 g/ml.

Hepatitis A antibody was detected in the serum by immune electron microscopy and by radioimmunoassay during the period of incubation while virus particles were still being excreted in the faeces and coinciding approximately with the onset of biochemical evidence of liver damage.

A very close or identical morphological and serological relationship was demonstrated between hepatitis A virus isolated from man and from the experimentally infected chimpanzees.

Decomposing the re-marriage process

Summary For those who experience marital disruption because of discord, the re-marriage process consists of a series of steps including divorce and re-marriage. This paper analyses the overall differentials in re-marriage, decomposing them into two distinct parts: differentials in propensity to divorce following separation and re-marriage given that a divorce has occurred. The results indicate that differentials in re-marriage depend in important ways on both steps in the process.