The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene
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Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg. · Feb 2008
Randomized Controlled TrialEffect of Saccharomyces boulardii in the treatment of acute watery diarrhea in Myanmar children: a randomized controlled study.
This study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of Saccharomyces boulardii in acute diarrhea. One hundred hospitalized children in Myanmar (age range = 3 months to 10 years) were included. Fifty were treated with S. boulardii for five days in addition to oral rehydration solution (ORS) and 50 were given ORS alone (control group) in an alternating order. ⋯ On day 2, 27 (54%) of 50 had less than three stools per day in the S. boulardii group compared with only 15 (30%) of 50 in the control group (P = 0.019). Saccharomyces boulardii shortens the duration of diarrhea and normalizes stool consistency and frequency. The shortening of the duration of diarrhea results in a social and economic benefits.
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Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg. · Nov 2007
Case ReportsApparent relapse of imported Plasmodium ovale malaria in a pregnant woman.
A 27 week pregnant woman who had lived in Bangkok, Thailand, for 18 months presented to her obstetrician with a 1-week history of intermittent fever and malaise. Medical history was significant for multiple episodes of malaria during her 10 years of employment in sub-Saharan Africa before her relocation to Thailand. The initial malaria smear was negative. ⋯ She had an excellent response to chloroquine, which she continued weekly until 36 weeks of gestation. She delivered a healthy term infant and received radical cure with primaquine after cessation of breastfeeding. This case shows challenging issues in detection and management of imported P. ovale malaria.
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Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg. · Oct 2007
Case ReportsTwo cases of Plasmodium vivax Malaria with the clinical picture resembling toxic shock.
Fatal complications of Plasmodium falciparum malaria have been reported. However, complicated P. vivax malaria is rare. We observed two unusual cases of P. vivax malaria who presented with clinical pictures of toxic shock. ⋯ Examination of initial blood smears showed a P. vivax parasitemia of 2,352/microL and 12,376/microL, respectively. The patients were treated with hydroxychloroquine and primaquine without an antibacterial agent. These cases emphasize the importance of considering the possibility of P. vivax malarial infection in patients with a clinical picture resembling toxic shock if they have a travel history to malaria-endemic areas.
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Cholera was largely eliminated from industrialized countries by water and sewage treatment over a century ago. Today it remains a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in developing countries, where it is a marker for inadequate drinking water and sanitation infrastructure. Death from cholera can be prevented through simple treatment-oral, or in severe cases, intravenous rehydration. ⋯ The reported incidence of indigenous cholera in sub-Saharan Africa in 2005 (166 cases/million population) was 95 times higher than the reported incidence in Asia (1.74 cases/million population) and 16,600 times higher than the reported incidence in Latin America (0.01 cases/million population). In that same year, the cholera case fatality rate in sub-Saharan Africa (1.8%) was 3 times higher than that in Asia (0.6%); no cholera deaths were reported in Latin America. The persistence or control of cholera in Africa will be a key indicator of global efforts to reach the Millennium Development Goals and of recent commitments by leaders of the G-8 countries to increase development aid to the region.
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Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg. · Aug 2007
Signs and symptoms predictive of respiratory failure in patients with foodborne botulism in Thailand.
We conducted a clinical study of 137 patients with home-canned bamboo shoot botulism at Nan Hospital, northern Thailand. The median age of the patients was 44 years (range = 14-74 years) and 36.2% were male. The median incubation period was 2 days (range = 1-8 days). ⋯ The clinical syndrome most predictive of respiratory failure was nausea or vomiting and any cranial neuropathy with urinary retention or difficulty swallowing. This clinical syndrome had a sensitivity of 69.8% and a specificity of 93.6%. These clinical characteristics could help triage large numbers of patient in the event of a future outbreak.