Articles: disease.
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Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg. · Apr 1998
Correlations between intestinal parasitosis, physical growth, and psychomotor development among infants and children from rural Nicaragua.
The correlations between malnutrition, parasitosis (especially helminth infections), and child development are complex, and studies of these interrelationships will allow health agencies to maximize screening and intervention strategies for developing countries. We examined these correlations in a cross-sectional program in Carazo State, Nicaragua. Nine hundred sixty-one children in two age strata (ages 0-24 months and ages 2-10 years) from one urban and three rural communities were screened for intestinal parasites (direct smear and ZnSO4 flotation), malnutrition, and developmental delays. ⋯ Ascaris and Trichuris were more prevalent in malnourished children. On the Denver II, suspect test results in all four categories (language, social, gross motor, and fine motor) were associated with low WFA, and suspect language tests were associated with both intestinal parasites (P = 0.0003) and Ascaris infection in particular (P = 0.044). Developmental disabilities are a significant and frequently undetected health problem in developing countries, and malnutrition associated with intestinal helminth infections may be an important contributory factor for these disabilities.
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Patients with puerperal sepsis following delivery at Ife State Hospital (ISH) of Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospitals Complex (OAUTHC) Ile-Ife over a 10-year period spanning January 1986 to December 1995 were reviewed. One hundred and forty-six patients were diagnosed as having puerperal sepsis and there were 8428 deliveries giving an incidence of 1.7%. ⋯ The case mortality rate was 4.1%. Antenatal care and supervised hospital delivery should be encouraged in order to prevent or reduce this serious post-partum morbidity.
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Pediatric pulmonology · Apr 1998
Reproductive health in males with cystic fibrosis: knowledge, attitudes, and experiences of patients and parents.
Males with cystic fibrosis (CF) are generally infertile as a result of aberrant development of Wolffian duct derivitives. The personal significance of this and related reproductive and sexual health (RSH) issues is unknown. We set out to describe the knowledge, attitudes, and experiences regarding RSH in a group of adolescent and adult males with CF, as well as the knowledge and attitudes of parents. ⋯ We conclude that the majority of males with CF know of likely infertility. The significance of this knowledge changes with time. Poor knowledge and confusion surround a range of RSH issues in males with CF.
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Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg. · Mar 1998
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialPentoxifylline as an ancillary treatment for severe falciparum malaria in Thailand.
Pentoxifylline, an inhibitor of tumor necrosis factor, has been evaluated as an antimalarial agent in combination with artesunate in 45 patients with severe falciparum malaria. Patients were admitted to the intensive care unit at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Bangkok, Thailand, and randomly assigned to treatment for 72 hr with a combination of intravenously administered artesunate and 1) placebo, 2) low-dose pentoxifylline (0.83 mg/kg/hr), or 3) high-dose pentoxifylline (1.67 mg/kg/hr). All 45 patients had one or more manifestations of severe malaria such as cerebral malaria (n = 18), renal failure requiring hemodialysis (n = 9), azotemia (n = 8), jaundice (n = 25), or hyperparasitemia (n = 30). ⋯ Concentrations of tumor necrosis factor were reduced in all three groups at 48 hr after treatment. No significant differences among the three treatment groups were found for any of the outcome variables examined. We conclude that the addition of pentoxifylline to artesunate therapy for severe malaria produced no evident clinical benefit.