Articles: disease.
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With over 143,000 cases of AIDS reported to the World Health Organization from 145 countries and with an estimated 5 to 10 million people worldwide infected with HIV, AIDS has become firmly established as a global pandemic. In the region of the Americas over 100,862 cases of AIDS have been reported with indigenous transmission documented in 45 to 46 countries. While North America has the highest annual number of AIDS cases per population, with 72 cases/million, the Caribbean subregion has a disproportionately high number of cases, with annual rates as high as 200 to 300 cases/million population for some countries. ⋯ Clinically, a resurgence of diarrheal diseases, respiratory infections, and tuberculosis has been documented in association with HIV infection in many tropical countries of the Americas. With relatively high rates of HTLV-I infection already established in the Caribbean subregion, the overall public health problems of the Americas will be markedly potentiated by further spread of these 2 human retroviruses. If HIV infection continues to penetrate the poor and less advantaged populations in Latin America and the Caribbean, the potential exists for a massive epidemic in the Americas that may rapidly parallel the situation in Africa.
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Eight hundred and forty male patients attending sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinic for urethritis were investigated. Out of them, 31.6% had gonococcal urethritis, 16.1% suffered from nongonococcal urethritis due to Ureaplasma urealyticum and in 12.6%, both the organisms were present. ⋯ Gonorrhoeae were resistant to penicillin, all the strains were sensitive to spectinomycin; while all Ureaplasma strains were sensitive to tetracyclines. As the treatment differs for these two organisms, it is necessary to identify the correct etiological agent.
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Br J Clin Pharmacol · Jun 1989
Comparative Study Clinical Trial Controlled Clinical TrialMetabolic effects of low-dose fluconazole in healthy female users and non-users of oral contraceptives.
1. Azole antifungal agents such as ketoconazole act by inhibiting cytochrome P-450 mediated sterol synthesis in the fungal cell membrane and thus have the potential to interfere with mammalian steroidogenesis. Fluconazole is a novel orally-effective antifungal triazole which has been reported to have more specific effects on the cytochrome P-450 enzymes involved in fungal sterol synthesis. 2. ⋯ Minor biochemical changes associated with fluconazole treatment included increases in serum thyroxine and testosterone concentrations (but not in women taking OC as well as fluconazole) and in insulin and apolipoprotein B levels (but only in women taking OC as well as fluconazole). In general, these changes were small and of no clinical significance with the values remaining within the laboratory normal range. There were no adverse side-effects.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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The United States must improve its efforts to reduce teen pregnancy. We occupy an alarming position in the developed world from the standpoint of the magnitude of the pregnancy issue. While our society promotes sexuality to sell all sorts of consumer goods, it still refuses for the most part to make contraceptives familiar and available to sexually active teens. ⋯ Their children will have limited futures. Only by stepping up our efforts to prevent early pregnancy will we make possible a life of opportunity and choice for the young people of our country. Consequences will be costly and tragic if we do not.
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Oral rehydration therapy (ORT), has been considered the major advance in the treatment of the diarrheal diseases, and has been the single most important factor in the decrease of mortality and decreased morbidity in childhood diarrheal. ORT, is not limited to the administration of oral rehydration solution; it also includes feeding techniques and community education and participation. ⋯ In México there have been two national surveys to evaluate the ORT program. This policy has allowed for participating countries to reduce the cost of treatment of diarrheal disease.