Premium
Isolation of fusobacteria from the oral cavities of malnourished Nigerian children living in agricultural and herding villages
Author(s) -
Falkler WA,
Enwonwu CO,
Ewell AJ,
Idigbe EO
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
oral diseases
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.953
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1601-0825
pISSN - 1354-523X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1601-0825.2000.tb00109.x
Subject(s) - fusobacteria , isolation (microbiology) , herding , agriculture , medicine , environmental health , veterinary medicine , geography , socioeconomics , dentistry , biology , 16s ribosomal rna , bacteria , bacteroidetes , genetics , archaeology , sociology , forestry , microbiology and biotechnology
A previous study demonstrated the presence and possible involvement of Fusobacterium necrophorum in the pathogenesis of noma lesions of children living in agricultural and herding villages in northwestern Nigeria. In order to determine if F.necrophorum was part of the oral flora of malnourished children with no noma lesions, a study of the fusobacteria present in the oral cavities of 30 children, 2–6 years of age in Sokoto State, was undertaken. Swabs taken of the oral cavity were cultured on selective fusobacteria medium using conventional anaerobic microbiological techniques. F.nucleatum was recovered from each child and F.necrophorum was isolated from the oral cavity of only one child. The presence of F.nucleatum and the lack of F.necrophorum , except in one case, suggests that the latter is not normal flora in the children at risk for noma. F.necrophorum , a putative trigger organism for noma may gain a foothold only when certain staging conditions (ie, lowered host resistance and/or oral lesion) are present.