Maternal mortality in Guyana: a social, superstitious and a public health problem

The paper presents a review of 105 maternal deaths in the Georgetown Hospital during the period 1959-62. It is clear that improved antenatal care, health education, and blood transfusion services might have prevented many (AU)

Review of 210 deaths by poisoning in British Guiana (1959-1964)

In British Guiana 210 deaths from poisoning occurred between 1959 and 1964. Some of the agents causing death were identified as Parathion, Malathion, Formaldehyde, pesticides, concentrated acids and alkalis, Arsenic, Cyanide and Lysol. There seemed to have been a changing pattern in usage: formaldehyde yielded pride of place to cyanide which has now been supplanted by malathion. The majority of these deaths were suicidal. Deaths of persons who resided in the city and environs. There were more male than female fatalities. There is a great need for psychiatric investigation of the problems associated with poisoning in British Guiana (AU)

Control of a type 1 poliomyelitis epidemic in British Guiana, 1962-63, with trivalent oral poliovirus vaccine. II Virological aspects

Epidemics of paralytic poliomyelitis has been reported with increasing frequency in the Caribbean area over the last decade. During the first weeks of a type 1 poliomyelitis epidemic in British Guiana in the winter of 1962-63, it was possible to study "wild" poliovirus infections in pre-school children, and to obtain information concerning the effectiveness of a country-wide control programme using trivalent oral poliovirus vaccine. Serological studies indicated that many Guianese children had had previous asymptomatic poliovirus infections by school age. However, there were more children with antibodies to types 2 and 3 than with antibodies to type 1. Following the first of two feedings of trivalent vaccine, there were significant increases in the percentage of children with poliovirus antibodies. Though begun only three weeks after the hospitalization of several paralysed children, a rectal-swab survey indicated that in some areas over one-third of the pre-school children were excreting "wild" poliovirus. In one area of the country, where only 2 percent of the children were excreting poliovirus type 1, vaccine feeding seemed most effective in containing the epidemic. These results support the suggestion that to be successful an epidemic control programme in a developing tropical country should be rapidly organized and completed (AU)