Longitudinal study of rotavirus infection in child-care centres

To describe the epidemiology of symptomatic and asymptomatic rotavirus infection among young children attending Sydney child-care centres during the 1994 rotavirus season.

Methods:

Children aged 0–36 months in 11 child-care centres participated in the study. A weekly stool specimen was collected from each subject and tested for rotavirus antigen by commercial enzyme immunoassay.

Results:

One hundred and seventy-eight children (76 girls and 102 boys) with a mean age of 18.2 ± 6.5 (SD) months were enrolled for a total of 2249 child-weeks. Of 1653 weekly faecal specimens, 59 (3.6%) were positive for rotavirus antigen. Positivity for rotavirus antigen peaked at 8.0% and 7.4% of specimens in weeks 6 and 7, respectively. The 59 positive specimens were obtained from 44 children in eight of the 11 study centres. One child appeared to suffer a second episode. Eighty-two per cent of episodes were associated with symptoms of gastroenteritis. Overall, 32% of the children in the eight affected centres were infected; 52% of those <12 months were infected compared to 26% of older children. Secondary spread to household contacts was also documented.

Conclusions:

Rotavirus infection poses a significant health problem in under-3-year-old children attending child-care centres in Sydney. We believe that these results are applicable to all Australian children of this age attending group child care.     

Professional mammographic quality assessment program for a community hospital

The evaluation of mammographic interpretations is a difficult challenge for a professional quality assessment program. As most images are read by a single observer and pathologic proof is obtained only if prompted by the report or if clinical symptoms warrant surgical intervention, it is difficult to construct a meaningful quality assessment program. The authors designed a program on the basis of a mammographic coding system that allows both individual physicians and practice groups to be evaluated. The program examines mammographic reports to determine the consistency of reporting by each physician and by the entire group. In addition, the program facilitated periodic evaluation of physicians with use of test cases. The coding system provided an easy method of correlating the mammographic reports with pathology reports from biopsy specimens, allowing a more thorough examination of possible systematic errors in the evaluation of the examinations, as well as enabling calculation of the positive predictive value for the diagnosis of cancer. The professional quality assessment program can be easily implemented in a busy clinical setting to evaluate whether mammograms were read consistently and "correctly" and to provide a method of continuing education for the physicians.     

Pancreatic cancer: Preliminary experience with sodium iodide fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography in Australia

Previous studies of fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG‐PET) in pancreatic cancer have used Bismuth Germinate detector systems. This preliminary Australian study aims to confirm the accuracy of FDG‐PET in pancreatic cancer using a dedicated sodium iodide (NaI) PET system. Fifteen consecutive patients underwent FDG‐PET using a GE QUEST dedicated NaI PET scanner. The indications were the characterization of a pancreatic mass seen on CT or ultrasonographic imaging (nine cases), diagnosis or exclusion of recurrent disease following surgery and adjuvant therapy (four cases) and presurgical staging of primary pancreatic cancer (two cases). The final diagnosis was determined from histology or, when no histology was available, by radiological and clinical follow up. The FDG‐PET accurately characterized eight out of nine pancreatic masses (seven were true negative, one was true positive and one was false positive). Of the four cases performed to determine recurrent disease, three were accurately diagnosed (two true negatives and one true positive). In the fourth case, PET accurately detected a liver metastasis but did not detect the local recurrence. Results in the two cases where PET was performed for preoperative staging comprised one true positive and one false negative. Sodium iodide FDG‐PET is useful in the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, particularly in the presence of a previously detected mass.     

Electroencephalography and brain magnetic resonance imaging in asphyxia comparing cooled and non-cooled infants

Objective

The aim was to establish any differences in the predictive value of EEG and MRI for outcome in infants treated and not-treated with therapeutic hypothermia (HT) for perinatal asphyxia. We hypothesize that they are equally predictive and that combining both has the highest predictive value.

Early developmental outcome after the Norwood procedure for hypoplastic left heart syndrome

OBJECTIVE: To assess intellect and adaptive behavior in children with hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) who had undergone at least two surgical stages of the Norwood procedure. METHODS: Fourteen children with HLHS >3 years of age participated in the study. The patients underwent intelligence quotient (IQ) testing, and their parents were interviewed regarding their children's adaptive behavior. Results were compared with those of 10 family controls. Outcomes were studied for possible correlation with perioperative variables. RESULTS: Among the HLHS patients, the median scores for full scale IQ and adaptive behavior were 88 and 91, respectively (normal = 100 +/- 15). One child met criteria for mental retardation. Family controls scored generally higher than did HLHS patients, but only differences in adaptive behavior were statistically significant. A negative correlation was found between stage I circulatory arrest time and full scale IQ. CONCLUSIONS: Children with HLHS most often function in the low-normal range of intelligence and adaptive behavior. A prolonged circulatory arrest time may result in decreased intellectual function.     

Prevalence of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Helicobacter pylori</Emphasis>infection and associated factors among adults in Southern Brazil: a population-based cross-sectional study

Background  

Helicobacter pylori (Hp) infection is associated with several upper gastrointestinal disorders. Local data on the epidemiology of the infection are scarce in Brazil. The purpose of this study is to measure the prevalence rate and to explore the associated factors among the adult population living in Pelotas, a southern Brazilin city.