South African medical journal = Suid-Afrikaanse tydskrif vir geneeskunde
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Firearms, the leading external cause of non-natural deaths in South Africa, claim approximately 15,000 lives annually. Up to 127,000 firearm-injured victims seek state health care assistance per annum. The fiscal burden of treating these injuries is not known. ⋯ Serious abdominal gunshot injuries cost at least 13-fold more than the annual per capita South African government expenditure on health. This fiscal burden of approximately US dollars 2.9 million, almost 4% of the annual health budget, does not include the cost of treating other serious gunshot injuries. These findings highlight the need for successful violence prevention strategies in South African.
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Editorial Comparative Study
The Gleneagles G8 summit has come and gone--now what?
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To document the outcome of patients discharged from the intensive care unit (ICU) with tracheostomies. ⋯ The outcome of patients discharged from the ICU with tracheostomies is, on the whole, unfavourable compared with predicted mortality. A GCS of less than 8 is a good predictor of poor outcome.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Efficacy of albendazole against the whipworm trichuris trichiura--a randomised, controlled trial.
To test the efficacy of albendazole against the whipworm Trichuris trichiura for school-based deworming in the south-western Cape, South Africa. Children infected with Trichuris were randomised to 3 doses of albendazole (400, 800 or 1200 mg), each repeated 4 times. The boy/girl ratio was 1. A group not infected with worms was treated with placebo, creating a negative control. ⋯ The 400 mg stat dose had a low Trichuris cure rate. To repeat the dose on 2 or 3 days would increase cost, reduce compliance and complicate management. Albendazole cannot be used in deworming programmes in South Africa because it is a Schedule 4 prescription medicine. De-scheduling is needed urgently, particularly because of high efficacy against hookworm in KwaZulu-Natal and neighbouring countries.