Mass sociogenic illness--real and imaginary.

Mass sociogenic illness is the occurrence of a group of nonspecific physical symptoms for which no organic cause can be determined and is often transmitted by 'line of sight'. The fear of bioterrorism can also lead to panic and produce cases of mass sociogenic illness, in which people develop symptoms in response to an imaginary threat. Poison centers are faced with resolving the dilemma of sociogenic vs poison related symptoms. We report 2 situations of mass sociogenic illnesses involving school age children where multiple victims exhibited similar symptoms prompted by the presence or suggestion of fumes. Symptoms resolved spontaneously. When clusters of unexplained illness occur, a sociogenic etiology should be considered in the differential diagnosis. As fears about bioterrorism increase, the frequency of such incidents and the anxiety generated may increase.

Incorporation of a "Coping with the Death of a Child" module into the pediatric advanced life support (PALS) curriculum.

OBJECTIVE: To develop an educational module for health professionals (HPs) addressing the clinical reality of death as an outcome of pediatric resuscitation efforts. Module goals were to: 1) reduce HPs' discomfort with situations involving patient death and survivor grief, 2) assist HPs coping with their own emotions surrounding a patient death, and 3) provide specific strategies useful in clinical management. The module was designed to be presented as part of the American Heart Association (AHA) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) provider course. METHODS: A multidisciplinary team created a module addressing both survivors' and HPs' needs regarding a PALS course "Coping with the Death of a Child" module. The module was presented to 964 PALS course participants. Content was revised after analysis of survey data collected from these participants. RESULTS: The revised module was presented to 601 PALS course participants; evaluations were obtained from 590 participants. On a 4-point Likert scale, ratings were: 79% "excellent," 18% "good," 2% "fair," and <1% "poor." CONCLUSION: The PALS course offers an opportunity to target HPs likely to encounter pediatric deaths for special education. While this is a challenging and potentially controversial topic to present to a diverse audience, incorporation of a "Coping with the Death of a Child" module into the PALS provider curriculum appears to be both feasible and useful.

Isolation of cDNA coding for the major mite allergen Der p II by IgE plaque immunoassay.

A lambda gt11 library made with cDNA from the house dust mite Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus was screened with human allergic serum by IgE plaque radioimmunoassay. This resulted in the isolation of clones coding for the major allergen Der p II. The cDNA coded for a 129-residue protein of 14,131 daltons with no N-glycosylation sites. No sequence homology with other proteins was evident. The Der p II expressed in Escherichia coli reacted with IgE in 14 of 17 sera from mite-allergic patients giving clonal evidence for its designation as a major allergen. This, along with previous work, has resulted in the cloning of the two major mite allergens.