Articles: disease.
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J Diarrhoeal Dis Res · Mar 1996
Knowledge, attitude, practice, and prescribing pattern of oral rehydration therapy among private practitioners in Nigeria.
To determine the knowledge, attitude, and practice of oral rehydration therapy (ORT) among private medical practitioners in Enugu, Nigeria, 91 doctors were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. All the doctors had heard of ORT and believed in its efficacy. The commonest source of information on ORT was the medical school (44%). ⋯ Antibiotics were commonly used, although most (76%) doctors believed that viral infections were a common cause of childhood diarrhoea. All the respondents would recommend continued breastfeeding during diarrhoeal episodes. The study revealed a high rate of inappropriate drug use and a deficiency in the knowledge and practice of ORT.
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During a 5-month study period, 323 of 863 (37.5%) children below 5 years of age admitted to Shongwe Mission Hospital in rural South Africa were malnourished, two-thirds severely so. The incidence of bacteraemia in malnourished children was 9.6%, 11.8% in those severely malnourished and 5.8% in nutritional dwarfs. The predominant organisms retrieved were Gram-negative enteric bacilli (48.5%). ⋯ The case fatality rate of severely malnourished bacteraemic children was 20.8%. In malnutrition categories overall, the case fatality rate for bacteraemic children (22.6%) was significantly greater than in those without bacteraemia (9.3%). In hospitals with limited resources, full identification of bacteria may not be necessary, provided that regular surveillance for emerging resistance is conducted.
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This article presents a general review of the major trends in the conceptualization, development, and success of case-control methods for the study of disease causation and prevention. "Recent work on nested case-control, case-cohort, and two-stage case control designs demonstrates the continuing impact of statistical thinking on epidemiology. The influence of R. ⋯ Fisher's work on these developments is mentioned wherever possible. His objections to the drawing of causal conclusions from observational data on cigarette smoking and lung cancer are used to introduce the problems of measurement error and confounding bias."
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Am. J. Clin. Pathol. · Feb 1996
AIDS-related lymphoma in Brazil. Histopathology, immunophenotype, and association with Epstein-Barr virus.
The occurrence of malignant lymphoma is an increasingly important cause of morbidity and mortality in AIDS patients. The incidence of AIDS-related lymphoma in some developing countries such as Brazil is increasing as the survival of HIV infection has improved. Although there is a clear association between several types of immunodeficiency-related lymphomas and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), the association of EBV infection in AIDS-related lymphoma in Brazil, where the incidence of AIDS is high, is unknown. ⋯ AIDS-related lymphomas in Brazil are usually of large cell/immunoblastic type, but Hodgkin's disease is also seen. Both non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and Hodgkin's disease are often associated with EBV infection. The non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is predominantly of B-cell phenotype.
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Tidsskr. Nor. Laegeforen. · Jan 1996
[Increasing use of cesarean section, even in developing countries].
At Kaziba hospital in rural Zaire, the frequency of deliveries by Caesarean section rose from 6.2% in 1971 to 12% in 1992, and the fraction of repeated sections rose from 17% to 49%. During the same period, the overall maternal mortality decreased from 0.3% to 0.12%, and deaths connected with Caesarean section from 3.2% to 0.7%, but still the risk of dying remained 13 times higher for births by Caesarean section compared with vaginal deliveries. The frequency of vacuum deliveries was halved during the period, and mean birth weight decreased by about 100 g. ⋯ Operations carried out by persons other than physicians were complicated by wound infections at a higher rate (20.8%) than those carried out by experienced doctors (11.2%). In areas with a poorly developed health system, a high rate of Caesarean section represents a hazard to maternal health. The need for knowledge about alternative methods like vaginal extraction, symphyseotomy and active management of labour is underlined.