Antioxidants in patients with dengue viral infection.

An alteration in the oxidation/reduction (redox) status of humans infected with virus infections may contrioute to tefl pariiogeiiesin anu ciniiua1 manifestations of the disease. Alterations in redox markers begin prior to the onset of clinical symptoms, suggesting early changes in the oxidant/antioxidant balance. Early identification of redox markers may be of clinical usefulness in the management of patients with dengue virus infection. We conducted a hospital based comparative cross sectional study of 55 patients serologically confirmed to have dengue infection and 55 clinically healthy age and sex matched subjects as controls to assess oxidative stress in acute dengue virus infection. Blood samples were drawn on the fifth day after symptom onset and analyzed for Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC), reduced glutathione (GSH), glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and paraoxonase (PON) activity. The results showed significantly lower levels of plasma TEAC, serum PON and erythrocyte GSH and GPx activity among dengue patients than in controls. Of the antioxidants investigated, PON appeared to be the most sensitive marker of oxidative stress in dengue virus infection. Serum PON may be a potentially useful marker of oxidative stress in patients with dengue virus infection.

The impact of the Tsunami on hospitalizations at the tertiary care hospital in the Southern Province of Sri Lanka.

OBJECTIVE: Sri Lanka's human, physical, social, and economic resources suffered a massive impact after the tsunami of December 26, 2004. To assist in preparing for future disasters, the authors sought to characterize the pattern of hospitalizations from the main impact zone in the Southern Province. DESIGN: Retrospective chart review. SETTING: Patients admitted to Teaching Hospital, Karapitiya, the only tertiary care hospital in the Southern Province. PATIENTS, PARTICIPANTS: All hospital admissions on the day of and week following the tsunami, and a random sample (5 percent) of admissions from the month preceding, and the 3 months following the tsunami were coded according to the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Edition, analyzed, and geomapped. INTERVENTION: N/A. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): The overall daily number of hospitalizations increased by 50 percent on the day of the tsunami and decreased in the following week. RESULTS: Before the tsunami, injuries typically accounted for 20 percent of hospital admissions. However, injuries were markedly higher (89 percent of the total) on the day of the tsunami and remained elevated (35 percent) during the following week. After the initial peak in injuries (including near drownings), there was no increase in the frequency of infectious, cardiac, or psychiatric admissions. CONCLUSIONS: Injuries (including near drownings) were the most common cause of admissions immediately after the tsunami. The distribution of specific diagnoses differed from that seen after other natural disasters such as earthquakes and hurricanes. A central aspect of disaster relief operations and planning includes a thorough understanding of the postdisaster health effects and changes in disease patterns.