Articles: ninos.
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With an increase in travel to tropical countries, the need to improve the disease-risk perceptions of travelers who are either naive or given inappropriate or ineffective advice is becoming increasingly important. More widely available, specialized centers that can provide advice on tropical or travel-related diseases have been established, but their efficacy on travelers' knowledge and health has not been verified. Therefore, this study was undertaken to evaluate the impact of the service provided by a routine travel consultation at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases Travel Clinic, London, England. ⋯ Our results show that a face-to-face interview for an average of 18 minutes by trained staff is an effective way of improving travelers' knowledge on certain topics. The slight improvements overall are explained by the levels of experience of travel and previously acquired knowledge of the clients in our study. Effective advice on malaria prevention and some health risks is given during an average consultation; however, there is still a need for improvement in giving information on the management of diarrhea, fever, and other travel diseases.
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From 1985 to 1990, the CFC has monitored the growing national epidemic of Lime disease, which appears to parallel increased public awareness and knowledge of Lyme disease. Cases have now been reported from all 50 states, but the national surveillance program has been hampered by persistent confusion between the two diseases, with clinicians frequently reporting a case of Lime disease as Lyme disease. Analysis of surveillance reports of cases fulfilling the case-definition of Lime disease indicates that Lime disease is distributed uniformly throughout the United States (in contrast to the focal geographic occurrence of Lyme disease); the...
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Right upper abdominal pain in the presence of pelvic inflammatory disease is called Fitz-Hugh-Curtis syndrome. It is due to perihepatitis secondary to transperitoneal spread of Neisseria gonorrhoeae or Chlamydia trachomatis. ⋯ A case history demonstrates how clinical recognition allows effective management before the results of laboratory investigations are available. The Fitz-Hugh-Curtis syndrome is readily treated with conventional antibiotic regimens.
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The hemostatic system consists of the subcutaneous tissue/vessel wall/platelet system and the coagulation cascade. Hemostasis occurs initially through the interaction between circulating platelets and subendothelial collagen, so that a platelet plug is formed. ⋯ The presence of the fibrin in the plug results in permanent hemostasis. The five tests of hemostasis - platelet count, bleeding time, partial thromboplastin time, prothrombin time and Factor XIII assay - are described.