Spirometric abnormalities in Jamaica children with SS and SC disease

Pulmonary complications are common in sickle cell disease. The cohort study in Jamaica is unique in seeing children with haemoglobin AA, SC and SS (control, SC disease and SS disease) regularly independent of acute illness. This allowed the controls to be used as an appropriate reference population for determining any abnormalities in spirometric measurements in children with SC and SS disease. Spirometry was performed on 50 controls, 56 children with SC disease and 77 children with SS disease. Age, height, weight, and gender were recorded for each child. Forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory flow in the first second (FEV1) and forced expiratory flow from 25 percent to 75 percent (FEF 25-75) were measured. The results show that spirometric measures, FVC, FEV, and FEF are abnormal in children with SS and SC disease compared with values based on prediction equations derived from the control populations (AU)

Growth and iron status of children recovering from trichuris dysentery syndrome - abstract

Trichuris dysentry syndrome is a severe form of trichuriasis which develops as a result of infection by Trichuris trichuria and can adversely affect the growth and iron status of children. We examined the growth and iron status of ten Jamaican children with trichuris dysentery syndrome, aged 2 to 7 years. Data were collected before treatment and serially, for six months, after treatment. Heights and weights are expressed as standard deviation (Z) scores, which were calculated using the National Center for Health Statistics growth charts. Mean Hb, PVC, MCHC, height Z-score and median serum ferritin before and after treatment are presented in the table. There was a significant increase in the mean height Z-score, mean weight Z-score and mean haemoglobin after treatment; however, median serum ferritin concentration and mean PCV did not increase significantly. The change in average MCHC approached significance. Anthelmintic treatment and iron therapy resulted in an improvement in the Hb, PCV and MCHC levels but did not affect iron stores. Treatment resulted in an increase in the weight Z-score and height Z-score of the patients - table included (AU)