Substance use among street children in Honduras.

The hypothesis that drug use among Honduran street children is a function of developmental social isolation from cultural and structural influences is examined. Data from 1,244 children working and/or living on the streets of Tegucigalpa are described, separating "market" children from "street" children. The latter group is then divided into those who sniff glue and those who do not to identify salient distinguishing factors. An OLS regression of drug usage on these variables results in a model that explains 75% of the variance, where family relations, length of time on the street, and delinquency are the most important factors.

[Opinions of Honduran adults about street children]. / Opinones de los adultos hondureños respecto a los niños callejeros.

The purpose of this study was to determine the beliefs parents of working children and business people have about two types of street children, those who work on the street and those who are abandoned and live on the street. In 1991 forty-nine parents of working children and 49 business people from Tegucigalpa were administered a questionnaire listing 36 beliefs about the lifestyles of abandoned and working children and causes of children adopting these ways of life. Among parents of working children, education was significantly lower and mothers were more likely to be single women than in the business people sample. There were many beliefs about the lifestyles of street children on which both groups agreed, but parents of working children held the youngsters more accountable for choosing to work or live in the street. Parents also seemed to be more aware of the health risks to both types of street children than business people who felt working children were at less risk than abandoned children. Business people perceived abandoned children to be victims of single parenthood and solvent abuse. A deeper exploration of the views held by families of street children may assist those seeking to help them.

Prophylactic doxycycline for travelers' diarrhea. Results of a prospective double-blind study of Peace Corps volunteers in Kenya.

We performed a randomized double-blind study to determine the efficacy of doxycycline (100 mg daily) in preventing travelers' diarrhea among 39 Peace Corps volunteers during their first five weeks in Kenya. The volunteers took either doxycycline or placebo for three weeks and were observed for an additional two weeks. Nine of 21 taking placebo and one of 18 taking doxycycline had travelers' diarrhea during the treatment period (P = 0.012). The protection seemed to persist for at least one week after the drug was stopped. Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli was the only pathogen isolated from the placebo group, but was not detected in persons taking doxycycline. None of these organisms were resistant to doxycycline or tetracycline, whereas resistance to tetracyclines and other antibiotics was common among the nonenterotoxigenic Esch. coli. We conclude that doxycycline effectively prevented most episodes of travelers' dirrhea.

Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli diarrhea of travelers: a prospective study of American Peace Corps volunteers.

Travelers' diarrhea was studied prospectively in a group of 39 American Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) during their first five weeks in Kenya. Twenty-seven developed diarrheal disease and 12 remained well. Multiple episodes were documented in 11 of the symptomatic volunteers. Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli of many serotypes producing heat-labile and/or heat-stable enterotoxin were isolated from 17 of the 27 volunteers with diarrhea and from 1 of the 12 well volunteers. The enterotoxigenic E. coli were more likely to be antibiotic sensitive than the non-enterotoxigenic E. coli. A serum antibody rise to the heat-labile toxin (LT) was detected in six symptomatic volunteers, five of whom had a positive culture for LT-producing E. coli, and from one asymptomatic, culture negative volunteer. Salmonella cubana was isolated from two volunteers, and three volunteers had serologic evidence of infection with human reovirus-like (rotavirus) agent. This study confirms the role of enterotoxigenic E. coli as a major cause of travelers' diarrhea and suggests that the disease is similar in widely separated geographic areas.