Tropical and geographical medicine
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During a two year community-based investigation of mortality 3.5% of the deaths to individuals over the age of 5 years were reported by bereaved relatives to have occurred to epileptics and 77% of these deaths were thought to have occurred whilst the patient was in status epilepticus. This prompted us to determine the prevalence of epilepsy in this rural population by interviewing 7,450 residents of a pre-defined study area. ⋯ Anti-convulsant prophylaxis is available at the district hospital but this service is only sporadically used by epileptics in this population. Uncontrolled and poorly managed epilepsy may result in an increased risk of premature mortality among epileptics living in this community.
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Comparative Study
Infant-feeding practices in urban and rural communities of the Sudan.
Infant-feeding and weaning practices were investigated in a multistage randomly selected sample of 1,039 Sudanese mothers who represented six of the nine States of the Sudan. The majority (77.9%) believed that breast milk was best for their babies, emphasizing the previously reported high breast-feeding rate in Sudanese mothers. Food supplementation started by 6 months in 82.5% mainly in urban middle and high classes (UMC and UHC) compared to urban poor class (UPC) and the rural group (RG; p < 0.001). ⋯ About half the children (52.8%) were weaned abruptly, mainly among UPC and RG. The first food item of choice for weaning was fresh goat's or cow's milk (77.6%), followed by powdered or formula milk (16.1%). The commonest second preferred food was a starch gruel (39.1%) made either of rice (24.5%) or fermented sorghum.
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Review Case Reports
Strongyloides stercoralis infection in a non-immunosuppressed tourist with involvement of the central nervous system.
In the present case report a 50-year-old woman is presented with a Strongyloides stercoralis infection after a one-month stay in Sri Lanka. She showed a severe involvement of the central nervous system without a correlation of an immunosuppression. Strongyloides stercoralis is regarded as the cause of the cerebral involvement. Other possible causes are also discussed.
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Comparative Study
The effect of henna paste on oxygen saturation reading obtained by pulse oximetry.
A controlled study was designed to examine the effect of red and black henna on the measurement of oxygen saturation by pulse oximetry. Fifty adult normal female volunteers had their left thumb coloured with red henna (40) or black henna (10). The uncoloured right thumb was used as a control. ⋯ In contrast, the thumb coloured with black henna gave no reading when compared to the uncoloured right thumb. On the basis of this study, pulse oximetry is not limited by red henna while black henna has a potential of causing major error in the measurement of oxygen saturation by pulse oximetry. In these cases we recommend to use ear oximetry for accurate measurement of oxygen saturation.
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The report concerns an outbreak of neonatal Klebsiella septicaemia at the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria, between October and November 1991. Mortality, 35.7%, was higher in the preterm babies than in the term babies (p < 0.05). ⋯ The Klebsiella species isolated from the babies and the hospital environment during the outbreak were of the multiple drug resistant type. Preventive measures and the need for a continual bacteriological surveillance are highlighted.