Emergency (999) calls to the ambulance service that do not result in the patient being transported to hospital: an epidemiological study

Methods: The first 500 consecutive non-transported patients from 1 March 2000 were identified from the ambulance service command and control data. Epidemiological and clinical data were then obtained from the patient report form completed by the attending ambulance crew and compared with the initial priority dispatch (AMPDS) code that determined the urgency of the ambulance response.

Results: Data were obtained for 498 patients. Twenty six per cent of these calls were assigned an AMPDS delta code (the most urgent category) at the time the call was received. Falls accounted for 34% of all non-transported calls. This group of patients were predominantly elderly people (over 70 years old) and the majority (89%) were identified as less urgent (coded AMPDS alpha or bravo) at telephone triage. The mean time that an ambulance was committed to each non-transported call was 34 minutes.

Conclusions: This study shows that falls in elderly people account for a significant proportion of non-transported 999 calls and are often assigned a low priority when the call is first received. There could be major gains if some of these patients could be triaged to an alternative response, both in terms of increasing the ability of the ambulance service to respond faster to clinically more urgent calls and improving the cost effectiveness of the health service. The AMPDS priority dispatch system has been shown to be sensitive but this study suggests that its specificity may be poor, resulting in rapid responses to relatively minor problems. More research is required to determine whether AMPDS prioritisation can reliably and safely identify 999 calls where an alternative to an emergency ambulance would be a more appropriate response.

     

Pathogenesis of cancrum oris (noma): confounding interactions of malnutrition with infection

This study showed that impoverished Nigerian children at risk for cancrum oris (noma) had significantly reduced plasma concentrations of zinc (< 10.8 micromol/L), retinol (< 1.05 micromol/L), ascorbate (< 11 micromol/L), and the essential amino acids, with prominently increased plasma and saliva levels of free cortisol, compared with their healthy counterparts. The nutrient deficiencies, in concert with previously reported widespread viral infections (measles, herpesviruses) in the children, would impair oral mucosal immunity. We postulate, subject to additional studies, that evolution of the oral mucosal ulcers including acute necrotizing gingivitis to noma is triggered by a consortium of microorganisms of which Fusobacterium necrophorum is a key component. Fusobacterium necrophorum elaborates several dermonecrotic toxic metabolites and is acquired by the impoverished children via fecal contamination resulting from shared residential facilities with animals and very poor environmental sanitation.     

Ear diseases in elderly hospital patients in Nigeria

BACKGROUND: Little information is available about the pattern of ear diseases in the elderly population. Therefore, the present study aims to determine the pattern of ear diseases among elderly Nigerians, so as to provide an objective basis for cost-effective health care planning for the emerging geriatric population. METHODS: A retrospective study of 320 patients aged 60 years or older presenting with ear diseases at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Ilorin, Nigeria, between January 1996 and December 2001 was carried out. RESULTS: Impacted cerumen was the most common ear disease, occurring in 110 (34.4%) patients of the study population. Chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM) was the most common infectious disease, affecting 28 (8.8%) patients. Of the 88 patients with hearing loss, 63 (71.6%) had sensorineural, 20 (22.7%) had presbycusis, 1 (1.1%) had conductive, and 4 (4.6%) had mixed hearing loss. CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that impacted cerumen, hearing loss, and infections (notably CSOM), are the common ear diseases among elderly Nigerians.     

A 90 day chronic toxicity study of Nigerian herbal preparation DAS-77 in rats

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: The herbal preparation DAS-77, used for the treatment of various ailments in Nigeria, contains the milled bark of Mangifera indica L. and root of Carica papaya L. Toxicological assessment of the preparation was carried out in this study. METHODS: In the acute toxicity study, DAS-77 was administered to mice p.o.up to 10 g/kg and i.p. at 250-3000 mg/kg. Mortality within 24 h was recorded. In the chronic toxicity study, rats were treated p.o. for 90 days at doses of 80, 400 (therapeutic dose, TD) and 2000 mg/kg. By 90 days, animals were sacrificed and blood samples collected for hematological and biochemical analysis. Organs were harvested for weight determination, antioxidants and histopathological assessments. RESULTS: DAS-77 did not produce any lethality administered p.o. up to 10 g/kg but the i.p. LD50 was 1122.0 mg/kg. At TD, DAS-77 produced significant (p<0.05) reductions in body weight, food intake and K+, and increases in ovary weight, neutrophils and HDL, which were reversible. Histopathological presentations were generally normal. Effects at the other doses were comparable to those at TD except for reversible increases in antioxidants in the liver, kidney and testes, and sperm abnormality, and reductions in liver enzymes, sperm motility and count. CONCLUSIONS: Findings in this study revealed that DAS-77 is relatively safe with the potential for enhancing in vivo antioxidant activity. However, possibly reversible side-effects include electrolyte imbalance and sterility in males.     

Bacterial isolates in chronic suppurative otitis media: a changing pattern?

The most frequently isolated organism in chronic suppurative otitis media from different parts of the world is Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The pattern from this bacteriological study from our region is different. This study was carried out on 97 patients presenting to the outpatient clinic of the National Ear Care Center, Kaduna. Nigeria from May 2008 to April 2009. The patients were aged between 1 year and 75 years comprising 50) males and 47 females giving a male to female ratio of 1:1. Most of the patients (n=40, 41.2%) were in the age group 1-10) years. Seventy-five (77.3%) patients had a positive culture while in 22 (22.7%) patients there was no growth. Gram-negative bacteria comprised 80% of the isolates. The predominant organisms cultured were Klebsiella sp (n=31, 41.3%), Escherichia coli (n=22, 29.3%) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (n=6, 8%). The gram-positive isolates were Streptococcus sp (n=8, 10.8%) and Staphylococcus aureus (n=7, 9.3%). In-vitro drug sensitivity pattern of all isolates shows that they were more sensitive to Ofloxacin, ciprofloxacin and Perfloxacin. Klebsiella sp. Escherichia coli and Streptococcus sp. are the leading pathogenic organisms in chronic suppurative otitis media in our region and their ensitivity rates are highest to the quinolone antibiotics, which are relatively cheap, readily available as ototopic agents and lack ototoxic effects.     

Genetic reprogramming for NK cell cancer immunotherapy with CRISPR/Cas9

Natural killer cells are potent cytotoxic lymphocytes specialized in recognizing and eliminating transformed cells, and in orchestrating adaptive anti-tumour immunity. However, NK cells are usually functionally exhausted in the tumour microenvironment. Strategies such as checkpoint blockades are under investigation to overcome NK cell exhaustion in order to boost anti-tumour immunity. The discovery and development of the CRISPR/Cas9 technology offer a flexible and efficient gene-editing capability in modulating various pathways that mediate NK cell exhaustion, and in arming NK cells with novel chimeric antigen receptors to specifically target tumour cells. Despite the high efficiency in its gene-editing capability, difficulty in the delivery of the CRISPR/Cas9 system remains a major bottleneck for its therapeutic applications, particularly for NK cells. The current review discusses feasible approaches to deliver the CRISPR/Cas9 systems, as well as potential strategies in gene-editing for NK cell immunotherapy for cancers.