Characteristics of HIV-infected pregnant women in the Bahamas

The Commonwealth of the Bahamas has one of the highest rates of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in the English-speaking Caribbean. A seropositive study of the pregnant women attending antenatal clinics in New Providence in 1990-91 showed that of 3,914 pregnant women tested, 2.9 percent were human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infected. Women born in the Bahamas constituted 79.2 percent of the women tested; 17.7 percent were born in Haiti. The rate of HIV infection was 2.5 percent in the Bahamian women as compared with 4.5 percent in those born in Haiti. The highest incidence was in women aged 25-34 years and in women who had multiple pregnancies. There was a significant association with a history of crack cocaine use by the Bahamian women. There was also a significant association between a lack of education and HIV infection in this group. There was a lower rate of condom use among women with less education and also among women in common-l

An investigation of the effects of industrial pollution around a combined industrial complex on the Island of Grand Bahama

The effects of industrial exposure on the eyes, ears respiratory, blood function, liver function, kidney function, skin function and the reproductive system was assessed by a cross-sectional method for four groups on the Island of Grand Bahamas in the Bahamas. These groups were students, teachers, workers in the industries and a radom selection of residents from the community. In order to evaluate the findings, the exposed cases were those members of the above groups that either went to school, taught, worked in or lived in the exposed area, a 5 mile radius around the industrial site, for a minimum of 5 years. No association was found between expsure to the pollution and disorders of either the respiratory system, blood function based on exams and/or lab results, however, slight associations although none of them significant were indicated from reported past histories in either one or several of the four (4) study groups. These alleged disorders included hypertension, diseases of the genito-urniary tract, gastro-intestinal disorders, and to a lesser extent respiratory disorders and symptoms associated with coughs, colds, and fevers. For disorders of the eye and skin, observed through physical examinations, the results indicated several significant associations. For the eye these included chronic conjunctivitis in the workers and community groups. While eye opacities were initially recorded, the method of these examinations must be questioned and therefore the findings will not be quoted until further study and analysis. The skin exams showed excess cases of acute eczema in the groups of exposed workers, teachers and those from the communities and of ulcerative lesions in the exposed group from the community as well as from the sample of students (AU)

An investigation of the effects of industrial pollution around a combined industrial complex on the Island of Grand Bahama

The effects of industrial exposure on the eyes, ears respiratory, blood function, liver function, kidney function, skin function and the reproductive system was assessed by a cross-sectional method for four groups on the Island of Grand Bahamas in the Bahamas. These groups were students, teachers, workers in the industries and a radom selection of residents from the community. In order to evaluate the findings, the exposed cases were those members of the above groups that either went to school, taught, worked in or lived in the exposed area, a 5 mile radius around the industrial site, for a minimum of 5 years. No association was found between expsure to the pollution and disorders of either the respiratory system, blood function based on exams and/or lab results, however, slight associations although none of them significant were indicated from reported past histories in either one or several of the four (4) study groups. These alleged disorders included hypertension, diseases of the genito-urniary tract, gastro-intestinal disorders, and to a lesser extent respiratory disorders and symptoms associated with coughs, colds, and fevers. For disorders of the eye and skin, observed through physical examinations, the results indicated several significant associations. For the eye these included chronic conjunctivitis in the workers and community groups. While eye opacities were initially recorded, the method of these examinations must be questioned and therefore the findings will not be quoted until further study and analysis. The skin exams showed excess cases of acute eczema in the groups of exposed workers, teachers and those from the communities and of ulcerative lesions in the exposed group from the community as well as from the sample of students