Laboratory-based surveillance for rotavirus United States, January 1989-May 1991.

Geographic and temporal trends of rotavirus detections in the United States for the period January 1989-May 1991 were determined by analyzing data reported monthly by 47 virology laboratories participating in the North American Rotavirus Surveillance System. Reports included complete information on the number of specimens tested, the number of test results positive for rotavirus, and the method used to detect rotavirus. Consistent trends in regional and geographic area were identified, with distinctly different peaks of rotavirus activity in the western and eastern states. Each year in the western states, rotavirus activity began in November and peaked in December-January, whereas in the eastern states activity began in January and peaked in February-March. These differences do not correlate with obvious trends in strain variation of rotavirus and remain unexplained. Unexpected reporting of summer rotavirus activity by some laboratories in 1989 was traced to the use of a single diagnostic kit and to two questionable laboratory practices: having more than six medical technologists perform the test and failure to use controls with the test. Laboratory-based surveillance of rotavirus activity has proven to be useful in identifying and correcting problems in laboratory methods for detecting rotavirus and will be a sensitive means for monitoring coverage of the rotavirus vaccine now being developed.     

An overview of pulmonary embolism.

Unfortunately, acute pulmonary embolism is still a far too common occurrence. Fortunately, with prompt recognition, diagnosis, and treatment, mortality can be reduced. This article provides an overview of risk factors, diagnostic studies, and treatment of patients with acute pulmonary embolism in the critical care setting.     

Cancellation test performance in African American, Hispanic, and White elderly.

Shape and letter cancellation test performance was investigated among large samples of African American, Hispanic, and White non-demented elders. Ethnic minority elders took significantly longer to complete both tasks compared to Whites. An index of task efficiency, which simultaneously measures time and accuracy, suggested that slower time by minority elders was not related to a measurable effort to achieve greater accuracy. The frequency of commission errors was greater in our sample than in previous reports, especially among ethnic minority elders. Although significant differences were observed between the ethnic groups when matched for years of education, equating for literacy level eliminated all performance differences between African Americans and Whites on both cancellation tasks.