Genetic relatedness among tdh+ and trh+ Vibrio parahaemolyticus cultured from Gulf of Mexico oysters (Crassostrea virginica) and surrounding water and sediment.

Pathogenic Vibrio parahaemolyticus (Vp) (tdh(+)/trh(+)) represent a small percentage of environmental Vp populations, and very little is known about this subpopulation. Repetitive extragenic palindromic PCR and multilocus sequence analysis revealed heterogeneity among 41 Vp containing thermostable direct hemolysin (tdh) and tdh-related hemolysin (trh) that were isolated from Mississippi coastal environments from October 2006 to April 2007. There was no source-specific sequestering in oysters, water, or sediment.

10 views on the Catholic Church's stand on birth control.

PIP: It has been 12 years since the papal encyclical "Humanae Vitae" was issued continuing the Catholic Church's opposition to mechanical methods of birth control. 10 individuals are interviewed as to their attitude toward the Church's teaching regarding birth control. The individuals are identified by name and occupation in some cases; there is no indication of where in the world they live or how representative their views are of the majority of Catholics. Views range from completely supportive of to completely opposed to the view of the encyclical. 1 individual felt that work toward economic development rather than control of population through artificial means would be most successful. Another opposed artificial means of birth control because of their adverse effects and the possibility that Western nations might be trying to control the growth rates of developing countries. Natural family planning, i.e., the rhythm method, was favored by 1 as a means of promoting husband-wife dialogue. Another mistrusted the rhythm method as unreliable. Several others felt that the Church must face the present, realize the problem of uncontrolled population growth in the world, and condone family limitation.^ieng

Allergic reactions to polidocanol for vein sclerosis. Two case reports.

BACKGROUND: Polidocanol is a sclerosing solution that is highly valued by clinicians and patients for its painlessness, high efficacy, excellent safety profile, low incidence of side effects, and for the rarity of its allergic reactions. Previous estimates of the incidence of allergic reactions have ranged from 0 to 0.06%. OBJECTIVE: Improved recognition of systemic allergy to polidocanol is desirable for both clinicians and for patients. We have attempted to describe two cases recently observed in our population and to provide an improved upper-bounds estimate for the true population incidence of allergy to polidocanol. RESULTS: We report two recent cases of mild systemic allergic reaction to polidocanol in a population of 689 exposed patients, for an observed incidence of 0.3% in our patient population. We have calculated a 95% confidence upper-bound estimate of 0.91% for the incidence of polidocanol allergy in the general population. CONCLUSION: Allergy to polidocanol may be more common than previously recognized. Careful questioning of previously treated patients and more prolonged observation of patients after treatment may yield a larger number of recognized cases.