Intestinal helminths and their influence on the indicators of iron status in the elderly.

The intestinal helminthiasis and hematological status was assessed in 100 elderly residents of two low-land communities, one at sea-level and the other at 61; m, equally representative of men and women. These are beth low-income communities. The population showed a 48% helminth infection rate which consisted of hookworm, Trichuris, and Ascaris infection. The prevalence of each of the individual parasites was considered light to moderate and the intensity of infection was generally low in this population. A strong inverse association between intensity of hookworm infection and hemoglobin levels was observed but only at intensities greater than 2,000 eggs/gram feces. Lower intensities of infection had no apparent influence on hematological status. The evaluation of hematological status using hematocrit and hemoglobin showed different prevalences of risk of anemia of 14.1% and 43.8%, respectively. These differences may reflect the chosen cut-off values. Iron deficiency does not appear to be a major problem in this population with only 5% or 11% having absent stores using the low and high cut-off values of circulating serum ferritin, respectively.

Travelers' diarrhea in West Africa and Mexico: fecal transport systems and liquid bismuth subsalicylate for self-therapy.

The goals of this study were threefold: to compare the etiology of travelers' diarrhea in West Africa and Mexico, to evaluate two fecal transport systems for the recovery of enteropathogens, and to verify the efficacy of liquid bismuth subsalicylate (BSS) in different locations and under different entrance criteria for disease severity. The study populations consisted of 133 European tourists in West Africa and 112 American students in Mexico who had suffered from travelers' diarrhea. In 60% and 38% of the stool samples at the two study sites, similar proportions of enteropathogens were detected. A two-vial system consisting of Enteric Plus medium and polyvinyl alcohol fixative was slightly superior for identifying enteric pathogens than was a three-vial system with buffered glycerol saline, Cary-Blair medium with campylobacter antibodies, and polyvinyl alcohol fixative. In a parallel, double-blind, randomized trial, BSS significantly shortened disease duration at both study sites.

Behandlung eines subakut-kutanen Lupus erythematodes mit Thalidomid / Treatment of subacute cutaneous lupus erythematosus with thalidomide

A patient with subacute-cutaneous lupus erythematosus showed no response to corticosteroids and azathioprine. Treatment with thalidomide resulted in a dramatic clearing of skin lesions but failed to improve pathological laboratory tests.

Empleo de tecnicas de raioinmunoensayo en fase solida para el diagnostico serologico de la peste infecciosa humana. / Use of solid-phase radioinmunoassay techinics for serodiagnosis of human plague infection

Se han empleado tecnicas de radioinmunoensayo en fase solida (RIEFS) para estudiar las concentraciones de los anticuerpos IgM e IgG contra la fraccion purificada 1A de Yersinia pestis en varios sueros sanguineos humanos.Los resultados se han comparado con los datos obtnidos al utilizar el ensayo normalizado de hemaglutinacion pasiva (HAP) que recomienda el Comite de Expertos en Peste de la Organizacion Mundial de la Salud. Estos resultados indican que el empleo del RIEFS puede ayudar a que se conserve la fraccion antigenica 1A, que no es posible obtener en el comercio.Ademas, es aparente que algunos casos de peste infecciosa humana, que no muestran titulaciones significativas de HAP ni aumentos en estas titulaciones, se pueden diagnosticar mediante el uso apropiado del RIEFS

Empleo de técnicas de radioinmunoensayo en fase sólida para el diagnóstico serológico de la peste infecciosa humana / The use of solid-phase radioimmunoassay techniques for serodiagnosis of human plague infection

Los resultados de las pruebas de radioinmunoensayo en fase sólida llevadas a cabo con sueros sanguíneos de casos confirmados y sospechosos de peste infecciosa humana indican que estos ensayos pueden aportar valiosos beneficios al diagnóstico de esa enfermedad (AU)