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Whooping Cough (whooping + cough)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	40%
Chemistry	40%

Selected Abstracts

Cycles and synchrony: two historical ,experiments' and one experience

JOURNAL OF ANIMAL ECOLOGY, Issue 5 2000
Ottar N. Bjørnstad
Summary 1.,Theoretical models predict that spatial synchrony should be enhanced in cyclic populations due to nonlinear phase-locking. 2.,This is supported by Rohani et al.,s (1999) comparison of spatial synchrony of epidemics in two childhood diseases prior to and during the vaccination era. Measles is both more synchronous and more cyclic before vaccination. Whooping cough, in contrast, is more synchronous during the vaccination era, during which multiannual fluctuations are also more conspicuous. 3.,Steen et al. (1990) analysed historic records of cyclic rodents, to show that cyclicity was lost during the early part of the 20th century. I reanalyse the data, and find that the loss of cyclicity is associated with loss of regional synchrony. 4.,I use a coupled map lattice model to show that imperfect phase-locking provides an alternative explanation for regionwide synchrony of cyclic populations. [source]

Characterization of Bordetella pertussis clinical isolates that do not express the tracheal colonization factor

FEMS IMMUNOLOGY & MEDICAL MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 1 2007
Marjolein Van Gent
Abstract Bordetella pertussis, the causative agent of whooping cough, has remained endemic and there is a resurgence in some countries despite vaccination. Bordetella pertussis produces a wide range of virulence factors which are assumed to play an important role in infection and transmission, including tracheal colonization factor (TcfA). Here we show that clinical isolates belonging to distinct lineages may lose their ability to produce TcfA. Irreversible and reversible loss occurred, respectively, by recombination between repeats leading to deletion of the tcfA gene and by mutations in a polymorphic G-track. These phenomena may reflect adaptation to distinct niches. [source]

Proteome approaches combined with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy revealed a distinctive biofilm physiology in Bordetella pertussis

PROTEINS: STRUCTURE, FUNCTION AND BIOINFORMATICS, Issue 23-24 2008
Diego Omar Serra
Abstract Proteome analysis was combined with whole-cell metabolic fingerprinting to gain insight into the physiology of mature biofilm in Bordetella pertussis, the agent responsible for whooping cough. Recent reports indicate that B. pertussis adopts a sessile biofilm as a strategy to persistently colonize the human host. However, since research in the past mainly focused on the planktonic lifestyle of B. pertussis, knowledge on biofilm formation of this important human pathogen is still limited. Comparative studies were carried out by combining 2-DE and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy with multivariate statistical methods. These complementary approaches demonstrated that biofilm development has a distinctive impact on B. pertussis physiology. Results from MALDI-TOF/MS identification of proteins together with results from FT-IR spectroscopy revealed the biosynthesis of a putative acidic-type polysaccharide polymer as the most distinctive trait of B. pertussis life in a biofilm. Additionally, expression of proteins known to be involved in cellular regulatory circuits, cell attachment and virulence was altered in sessile cells, which strongly suggests a significant impact of biofilm development on B. pertussis pathogenesis. In summary, our work showed that the combination of proteomics and FT-IR spectroscopy with multivariate statistical analysis provides a powerful tool to gain further insight into bacterial lifestyles. [source]

Use of an in-house approach to study the three-dimensional structures of various outer membrane proteins: structure of the alcaligin outer membrane transporter FauA from Bordetella pertussis

ACTA CRYSTALLOGRAPHICA SECTION D, Issue 4 2009
Karl Brillet
Bordetella pertussis is the bacterial agent of whooping cough in humans. Under iron-limiting conditions, it produces the siderophore alcaligin. Released to the extracellular environment, alcaligin chelates iron, which is then taken up as a ferric alcaligin complex via the FauA outer membrane transporter. FauA belongs to a family of TonB-dependent outer membrane transporters that function using energy derived from the proton motive force. Using an in-house protocol for membrane-protein expression, purification and crystallization, FauA was crystallized in its apo form together with three other TonB-dependent transporters from different organisms. Here, the protocol used to study FauA is described and its three-dimensional structure determined at 2.3,Å resolution is discussed. [source]

Climate and respiratory disease in Auckland, New Zealand

AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, Issue 6 2009
Ashmita Gosai
Abstract Objective: Increases in the incidence of diseases are often observed during the cold winter months, particularly in cities in temperate climates. The study aim is to describe daily, monthly and seasonal trends in respiratory hospital admissions with climate in Auckland, New Zealand. Methods: Daily hospital admissions for total respiratory infections or inflammations (RII), total bronchitis and asthma (BA), and total whooping cough and acute bronchitis (TWCAB) for various age groups and ethnicities were obtained for the Auckland Region and compared with climate parameters on daily, monthly and seasonal time scales. Results: Seasonal and monthly relationships with minimum temperature were very strong (p<0.001) for RII over all age groups, for BA in the older age groups (14-64, 65+) and for TWCAB in the <1 year old age group. European, NZ M,ori and Pacific Islanders all showed increases in admissions as temperatures decreased. Pacific Islanders were particularly susceptible to RII. There was a lag in admissions of three to seven days after a temperature event. Conclusions and Implications: Results show that increases in respiratory admissions are strongly linked to minimum temperatures during winter, typical of cities with temperate climates and poorly-insulated houses. There are implications for hospital bed and staffing planning in Auckland hospitals. [source]