The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene
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Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg. · Nov 2004
Comparative StudyShort report: evaluation of a simple and inexpensive photometric device for the measurement of hemoglobin.
We have evaluated the accuracy of a simple and inexpensive photometric device (DHT) for the estimation of the blood concentration of hemoglobin by comparison with an automated, high-resolution, flow cytometry-based hematology analyzer (CellDyn 3000) and a centrifugal quantitative buffy coat hematology system (QBC I). We have analyzed the hemoglobin values of 163 individual blood samples. Bland-Altman analysis showed that the methods agreed only poorly: mean differences were 1.0 g/dL with limits of agreement (LOA) of -1.2 g/dL to 3.2 g/dL for the comparison of DHT and CellDyn measurements, 0.5 g/dL with LOA of -2.0 g/dL to 3.0 g/dL for the comparison of DHT with QBC measurements, and 0.5 g/dL with LOA of -1.1 g/dL to 2.1 g/dL for the comparison of QBC with CellDyn measurements. We conclude that the poor agreement of the DHT with the CellDyn does not permit the use of the DHT for critical hemoglobin measurements, particularly in transfusion services.
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Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg. · Nov 2004
Trigger events: enviroclimatic coupling of Ebola hemorrhagic fever outbreaks.
We use spatially continuous satellite data as a correlate of precipitation within tropical Africa and show that the majority of documented Ebola hemorrhagic fever outbreaks were closely associated with sharply drier conditions at the end of the rainy season. We propose that these trigger events may enhance transmission of Ebola virus from its cryptic reservoir to humans. These findings suggest specific directions to help understand the sylvatic cycle of the virus and may provide early warning tools to detect possible future outbreaks of this enigmatic disease.