The Medical journal of Australia
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Multicenter Study
Uptake of influenza vaccine by pregnant women: a cross-sectional survey.
To determine influenza vaccination coverage among pregnant women in New South Wales, and factors associated with vaccine uptake during pregnancy. ⋯ Recommendation from a health care provider is strongly associated with influenza vaccine uptake among pregnant women and can overcome their concerns about safety, but less than half the women surveyed reported receiving such a recommendation. Educational material targeting pregnant women and professional education and support for antenatal health care providers are needed to increase awareness and recommendation.
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Multicenter Study
Characteristics of the community-level diet of Aboriginal people in remote northern Australia.
To describe the nutritional quality of community-level diets in remote northern Australian communities. ⋯ Very poor dietary quality continues to be a characteristic of remote Aboriginal community nutrition profiles since the earliest studies almost three decades ago. Significant proportions of key nutrients are provided from poor-quality nutrient-fortified processed foods. Further evidence regarding the impact of the cost of food on food purchasing in this context is urgently needed and should include cost-benefit analysis of improved dietary intake on health outcomes.
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A working party (WP) from the Australasian Association of Clinical Biochemists, Australasian Society of Clinical and Experimental Pharmacologists and Toxicologists, Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia and Royal Australasian College of Physicians recommends the following: *mass units should be used for reporting therapeutic drug concentrations in Australia and New Zealand; and the litre (L) should be used as the denominator when expressing concentration. Examples of these units are mg/L and μg/L Exceptions to these principles include: *drugs for which there is current uniformity of reporting and supporting information using molar units, notably lithium (mmol/L) and methotrexate (μmol/L); *drugs that are also present as endogenous substances, where the units used routinely should continue to be used. This applies to many substances, including minerals (eg, iron; μmol/L), vitamins (eg, vitamin D; nmol/L) and hormones (eg, thyroxine; pmol/L). *drugs for which the denominator is not a 198 of fluid and there is international uniformity of reporting (eg, thiopurine metabolites; per 109 red blood cells). ⋯ Other substances, such as drugs of misuse, heavy metals or environmental toxins, were not considered by the WP and are thus not covered by this document. These recommendations should also be applied to other supporting documentation such as published guidelines, journal articles and websites. The implementation of these recommendations in New Zealand is subject to local confirmation.
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To determine the prevalence of susceptibility to measles, mumps, rubella, varicella and hepatitis B virus (HBV) among New South Wales prison entrants and to compare results for prison entrants with those of a community sample. ⋯ Prison entrants are susceptible to a number of vaccine-preventable diseases. We recommend a cost-benefit analysis of implementing routine vaccination for measles, mumps, rubella and varicella and an exploration of options for improving uptake of HBV vaccination.