[Nursing of advanced schistosomiasis patients: a report of 52 cases].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the reasonable nursing interventions of advanced schistosomiasis patients. METHODS: The medical records of 52 advanced schistosomiasis patients hospitalized from 2008 to 2013 were collected, and the nursing interventions were summarized. RESULTS: The 52 cases of advanced schistosomiasis included 38 men and 14 women, with a mean age of 65.8 years (57-75 years). Totally 53.8% of the subjects were schistosome positive by IHA test, 67.3% positive by ELISA, and 21.2% positive of HBsAg. There were 13 cases of ascites type, 34 cases of megalosplenia type, and 5 cases of dwarfism type of advanced schistosomiasis. Following the therapy together with nursing interventions, 73.1% achieved clinical cure, 23.1% achieved stable, and 3.8% achieved improvement. The major nursing interventions involved basic nursing, diet nursing, treatment nursing, physiological nursing and surgical nursing. CONCLUSION: The scientific and reasonable nursing interventions can improve the therapeutic efficacy and prognosis in advanced schistosomiasis patients, as well as improve their quality of life.

Nutritional requirements in parasitic diseases.

"Nutritional requirements" means different things in different contexts. Generally, the term refers to national or international standards or allowances of nutrients. Concern here involves the potential need for a change of standards where conditions of disease prevail, because disease increases the nutritional requirements of most individuals. "Nutritional requirements" may also be viewed in terms of food supplies. Analysis of a number of studies indicates that the average growth deficit due to endemic infectious diseases in early life is less than or equal to 20 kcal per day (calculated as 5 kcal/g of tissue). Increased weight gain following treatment of intestinal parasites such as Ascaris lumbricoides or Giardia lamblia provides similar estimates, as does measurement of energy and protein absorption. These values are within normal variance estimates. Sick children do not eat well and apparently do not eat enough on healthy days to correct for the accrued food deficit. Research on nutritional requirements of children needs to focus on management of food resources in entire families.