Characteristics of alcohol use by school children in a northcentral Wisconsin county.

Before a school-based substance abuse prevention program was introduced, students in grades 5 through 12 in a northcentral Wisconsin county completed a questionnaire on their experience with tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs. Alcohol abuse was widespread, even among the youngest students surveyed. Commencement of alcohol use in the 5th grade or earlier appears to be increasing in recent years. There was a dose response relationship observed between the amount of alcohol consumed and the reported frequency of poor grades, thoughts and attempts of suicide, driving after drinking, remorse, and memory loss. Physicians caring for adolescents need to consider the possible role of alcohol abuse in a number of clinical situations. Because of their unique expertise and stature in the community, physicians also have an important role in community-oriented substance abuse prevention programs.

Effects of formaldehyde on the mucous membranes and lungs. A study of an industrial population.

One hundred nine workers and 254 control subjects were studied to evaluate the effects of formaldehyde on the mucous membranes and lungs. A modified, respiratory symptom questionnaire and spirometry were administered to all study participants before and after their work shift, and formaldehyde levels were determined for each test subject. Over the course of the monitored work shift, test subjects demonstrated a dose-dependent excess of irritant symptoms and a statistically significant decline in certain lung function parameters. Analysis of test and control subject data combined revealed a correlation between formaldehyde exposure and these pulmonary changes. Baseline spirometry values were not significantly different between test and control groups, and formaldehyde-exposed workers did not report an excess of respiratory symptoms. Formaldehyde is a dose-dependent irritant of the eyes and mucous membranes at low-level exposures. It can exert a small, across-shift effect on airways but after a mean exposure of ten years does not appear to cause permanent respiratory impairment.

The usefulness of screening for mental illness.

The study assessed the effect of screening for mental disorder by means of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) on the rate of detection of mental disorder by fourteen physicians in a primary-care clinic. After completing the GHQ, patients were randomised into control (722 patients) and experimental (730 patients) groups. GHQ results of the experimental group were made available to the physicians; those of the control group were not. Sociodemographic factors influenced the physicians' rate of diagnosis of mental disorders (rates were lower for men, students, and patients with at least a partial college education than in subjects who had a low income, less than 7 years of school, or were widowed) but there was no difference between control and experimental groups (16.8% vs 16.0%). Among patients with a prior diagnosis of a mental disorder, twice as many were found to have mental disorders by the physicians as by the GHQ (70% vs 33%).

A longitudinal study of Mycoplasma pneumoniae: infections in Navy recruits by isolation and seroepidemiology.

A longitudinal serologic study of M. pneumoniae infections in two recruit training centers with grossly different climates showed that the frequency of this infection peaks in the late summer-early fall and to a lesser degree in the spring at both training centers. Seroconversions (four-fold or greater increase in titer) were as high as 45-57% in some recruit companies during the late summer peak. M. pneumoniae isolations from men admitted to the dispensary or hospital with pneumonia during the major peak season were as high as 32%. While M. pneumoniae infections are not generally life-threatening, the high incidence of infections observed in personnel during recruit training is of major concern and warrants consideration of effective control measures.

Reactions and serologic responses to monovalent acetone-inactivated typhoid vaccine and heat-killed TAB when given by jet injection.

Monovalent acetone-inactivated typhoid vaccine and heat-killed TAB caused local reactions in 82-88% of volunteers vaccinated by jet injection, whereas they caused local reactions in only 24% of volunteers injected by means of a conventional syringe. Both vaccines induced a high seroconversion rate to typhoid H antigen, but neither proved significantly immunogenic to antigens O and Vi. There was no increase in the occurrence of local reactions when a second jet injection was given 5 weeks after the first.