EPIDEMIOLOGY AND TRANSMISSION OF PORPHYROMONAS-GINGIVALIS AND ACTINOBACILLUS-ACTINOMYCETEMCOMITANS AMONG CHILDREN AND THEIR FAMILY MEMBERS - A REPORT OF 4 SURVEYS
Mda. Petit et al., EPIDEMIOLOGY AND TRANSMISSION OF PORPHYROMONAS-GINGIVALIS AND ACTINOBACILLUS-ACTINOMYCETEMCOMITANS AMONG CHILDREN AND THEIR FAMILY MEMBERS - A REPORT OF 4 SURVEYS, Journal of clinical periodontology, 20(9), 1993, pp. 641-650
The distribution and transmission of Porphyromonas gingivalis and Acti
nobacillus actinomycetemcomitans in 4 families were studied. The famil
ies were included, based on the isolation of P. gingivalis from a youn
g child or adolescent. The probands of these 4 families were: a 5-year
old periodontally healthy boy; a 17-year old girl with severe general
ized juvenile periodontitis; an 11-year old girl with prepubertal peri
odontitis; 2 sisters, 5 and 17-years old, with untreated severe period
ontitis as a component of the Papillon-Lefevre syndrome. All members o
f the 4 families were examined clinically and microbiologically for th
e presence of P. gingivalis and A. actinomycetemcomitans. Most of the
parents appeared to be adult periodontitis patients; the parents of on
e proband were edentulous. Results showed that in all cases at least o
ne of the parents was positive for P. gingivalis. On the basis of indi
stinguishable restriction endonuclease patterns (REPs) of P. gingivali
s and A. actinomycetemcomitans isolates from parents and their childre
n, and distinct REPs from unrelated individuals, the present study ind
icates that P. gingivalis and A. actinomycetemcomitans were transmitte
d between parents and their children.