The Medical journal of Australia
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As part of a wider social and environmental impact study, we have investigated the current state of health and nutrition in children who were living in a remote Aboriginal community in far north-west Australia. There was evidence of widespread mild-to-moderate malnutrition and a high prevalence of infections, particularly of the respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts, and trachoma. Low birth weight was significantly associated with the presence of undernutrition at five years of age. Our results suggest that malnutrition in utero during infancy and in early childhood and the factors which cause it may impair the growth of young Australian Aborigines permanently.
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Comparative Study
Prevalence of antibody to Legionella pneumophila in aborigines and non-aborigines in Western Australia.
Three hundred and sixty-two sera were examined by the Legionella pneumophila indirect fluorescent antibody test, with serogroups 1 to 6 as antigens. Three age- and sex-matched population groups were tested: 200 non-aborigines from Perth; 100 aborigines from the Kimberley region; and 62 aborigines from Jiggalong Mission in the Pilbara region. Each population group was composed of 50% male and 50% female subjects, all within the age range of 20 to 40 years. ⋯ In both of the aboriginal population groups more subjects were seropositive to serogroups 3 and 5 than to serogroup 1. Multiple serogroup specificities and the occurrence of high titres were more common among the aboriginal groups. These findings indicate that there is considerable variation in the prevalence of L. pneumophila antibodies among ecologically distinct groups within Western Australia.