A prospective study of blood donations in healthy elderly persons

Iron stores were observed in 57 healthy elderly volunteers, between 63 and 77 years of age, who donated 5 units of blood over approximately 1 year. An equal number of nondonors who contributed approximately 7 mL of blood at each visit for iron status measurements only were seen at the same frequency as the donor population. At entrance to the study, iron stores in women and men averaged 724 and 875 mg, respectively. After five donations, mean iron stores dropped to 67 mg in women (n = 27) and 362 mg in men (n = 30); four women (15%) became iron deficient, while two (7%) developed iron deficiency anemia. Three men (10%) developed iron deficiency, but none were found to be anemic. Mean intakes of iron were 23.3 and 22.5 mg per day, respectively, for women and men. Iron intakes were adequate to meet iron requirements of nondonors, but they were not sufficient to halt the steady decrease in iron stores among the donor population, in whom iron absorption increased from approximately 5 percent at entrance to 14 percent at the time of the fifth donation. In summary, healthy elderly persons may contribute to the national blood resource; however, donations should probably be limited to less than five per year or donors should regularly take an iron supplement to preserve reasonable amounts of iron reserves.     

A comparison of the efficiency of surfactant contact lens cleaners in removing eyeliner adherent to various soft contact lenses

We compared the efficiency of removing cosmetic eyeliner deposits from soft contact lenses with a variety of surfactant cleaners. Four types of daily cleaners were used to clean two groups of soft contact lenses (Group 1 and Group 2 : FDA classification) contaminated with an eyeliner. The lenses were cleaned in a Clensatron 700CL Automatic Contact Lens Cleaning unit. The amount of lens contamination before and after cleaning was quantified by digitising a photograph of the lens surface. We found that: 1. the eyeliner was less likely to adhere to Group 2 lenses, 2. the efficiency of removing eyeliner was independent of the cleaning solutions we used; when contaminated, Group 2 lenses were generally easier to clean, 3. the Clensatron unit was not as efficient as digital rubbing in removing the eyeliner.     

Bilateral subacromial bursitis with macroscopic rice bodies: Ultrasound,CT and MR appearance

The radiological findings of ultrasound, CT and MR of a case of bilateral subacromial bursitis with macroscopic rice bodies is described. The previous literature is also reviewed.     

Reduced basal salivary cortisol in children with asthma and allergic rhinitis

Aim: Reduced basal cortisol is reported in allergic disease. We investigated if basal salivary cortisol levels were reduced in children with asthma or allergic rhinitis, controlling for inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) use. Methods: Morning and evening saliva of asthmatic children aged 7–12 years (n = 50) and that of controls (n = 52) were sampled. A total of 19 asthmatics and four controls had allergic rhinitis. Healthy children were controls without rhinitis. Of all, 14 asthmatic children used low, and 12 used moderate or high doses of ICS. Cortisol was analysed by radioimmunoassay. Results: Morning salivary cortisol median (95% CI) was lower in asthmatics (8.7 (7.1, 9.7)) compared with that in controls (10.4 (9.6, 11.8); p = 0.006), which was similar for evening cortisol levels. Regression analyses demonstrated that asthmatics using moderate or high doses of ICS had reduced morning salivary cortisol adjusted (for age and gender) odds ratio (aOR) (95% CI) (0.54 (0.37, 0.80); p = 0.002) and reduced evening cortisol aOR (0.09 (0.01, 0.6); p = 0.02) compared with that in healthy children. Asthmatics with rhinitis on no or low doses of ICS had reduced morning cortisol aOR (0.73 (0.56, 0.96); p = 0.02) compared with that in healthy children. Conclusion: Asthmatic children on moderate or high doses of inhaled corticosteroids had reduced salivary cortisol, but co‐morbidity of asthma and rhinitis was also associated with reduced cortisol levels.     

Knowledge and attitudes of infection prevention and control among health sciences students at University of Namibia

Background

Health Sciences students are exposed early to hospitals and to activities which increase their risk of acquiring infections. Infection control practices are geared towards reduction of occurrence and transmission of infectious diseases.

Objective

To evaluate knowledge and attitudes of infection prevention and control among Health Science students at University of Namibia.

Methods

To assess students'' knowledge and attitudes regarding infection prevention and control and their sources of information, a self-administered questionnaire was used to look at standard precautions especially hands hygiene.

Results

One hundred sixty two students participated in this study of which 31 were medical, 17 were radiography and 114 were nursing students. Medical students had better overall scores (73%) compared to nursing students (66%) and radiology students (61%). There was no significant difference in scores between sexes or location of the high school being either in rural or urban setting.

Conclusion

Serious efforts are needed to improve or review curriculum so that health sciences students'' knowledge on infection prevention and control is imparted early before they are introduced to the wards.     

Peritoneal interleukin-10 increases with decrease in activated CD4+ T lymphocytes in women with endometriosis

This study was performed to determine whether peritoneal T cells are suppressed in the CD4+ or CD8+ T cell subpopulation and whether they are Th1 or Th2 predominant in women with endometriosis. Immune cells in the peritoneal fluid (PF) were obtained from women undergoing laparoscopy for endometriosis or tubal ligation. Three-colour flow cytometry was utilized for immunophenotyping of peritoneal fluid mononuclear cells (PFMC). Concentrations of interleukin (IL)-4, IL-5 and interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) produced by PFMC with and without mitogen stimulation and concentrations of IL-10 and IL-12 were measured in PF. The peritoneal T lymphocytes were predominantly of the Th1 type that produced much more IFN-gamma but less IL-4 or IL-5 in women with or without endometriosis. The decrease in peritoneal lymphocytes was significant in the HLA-DR+ CD4+ CD3+ subpopulation and the concentrations of peritoneal IL-10 and IL-12 were significantly elevated in women with early stage endometriosis. There was impaired IL- 5 production by PFMC after phytohaemagglutinin stimulation in women with advanced stage endometriosis. We concluded that the activated peritoneal CD4+ Th1 cells from the women with endometriosis were decreased in number. The suppression of these T cells may be due to the elevation of IL-10 and IL-12 in the peritoneal fluid.      

Paired human chorionic gonadotrophin determinations for the prediction of pregnancy outcome in assisted reproduction

The aim of this study was to determine the prognostic value of single and paired measurements of serum concentrations of human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG) for successful pregnancy following in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and tubal embryo transfer (TET). We analysed serum HCG concentrations 15 and 22 days after IVF or TET in 198 conception cycles. Cut-off values of serum HCG were determined by a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. On the basis of single HCG samples on day 15 (HCG15) after transfer, using a cut-off value of HCG15 = 150 mIU/ml, the sensitivity was 71% and the specificity was 77%. The positive predictive value (HCG15 > or = 150 mIU/ml indicating a normal pregnancy) was 89%, while the negative predictive rate (HCG15 < 150 mIU/ml indicating an abnormal pregnancy) was 51%. Patients with HCG15 < 150 mIU/ml but HCG22/HCG15 ratio > or = 15, still had a 90% chance of normal pregnancy. However, in patients with HCG15 < 150 mIU/ml and an HCG22/HCG15 ratio < 15, there was an 84% chance of an abnormal pregnancy. We conclude that a single HCG15 determination combined with the ratio of HCG22 to HCG15 has a higher diagnostic accuracy for prediction of pregnancy outcome than either analysis alone.