Hepatitis B infections in Kawerau.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to C D Moyes.
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Prevalance of hepatitis B surface antigen carriage amongst children in the Bay of Plenty was high, with rates in Maoris five times that found in Europeans. (12.0% versus 2.6%). Carrier rates were highest in children aged 6-10 years. This age group also had the peak incidence of acute hepatitis B. Infectivity was greatest amongst younger children and diminished with age. Transmission between children within family units may be a major route of spread of hepatitis B.
More than 1200 St Helenian schoolchildren were studied in 1973 and 1978 to determine how social factors affected growth. The association of short stature with large family size was confirmed and shown to be concentrated in the earlier members of the sibship. This was independent of birth interval. Association between birth interval and stature was most pronounced for the spacing following the index child, less for the preceding interval, and least for the family average interval. These results are similar to those of British children, for whom St Helenians form a reasonable model. It is argued that these results are not readily explained by genetic factors nor are they explained by differences of birthweight, but they are compatible with deprivation of parental care and love, for which older children have to compete with other sibings. Deprivation sufficient to retard growth is not confined to extreme circumstances or to broad social groups, but occurs selectively within the heart of the normal family.
A case of multiple mucosal neuromata and a calcitonin-secreting medullary carcinoma of the thyroid is described. Unusual features were the neonatal presentation with large bowel obstruction and severe feeding difficulties associated with giant neuromata of the intestine; severe hypotonia; developmental delay; and the early recognition and treatment of an associated medullary carcinoma of the thyroid.
More than 1000 schoolchildren on St. Helena were studied to determine factors associated with suboptimal growth. Disease was demonstrable in only a small minority, but social factors were of prime importance. In particular, family size was found to be a dominant factor, over-riding the associated effect from overcrowding. The implications of this findings are discussed, and the concept of a "threshold of coping" developed. It is suggested that failure to achieve optimal growth may be a particularly useful index of the points of stress in the child-rearing patterns of society.
Striated muscle contraction is initiated when troponin C (TnC) binds Ca(2+), which activates actinomyosin ATPase. We investigated (i) the variation between cardiac TnC (cTnC) primary structure within teleost fish and (ii) the pattern of TnC expression in response to temperature acclimation. There were few differences between rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares), yellow perch (Perca flavescens), goldfish (Carassius auratus), white sucker (Catostomus commersoni), and icefish (Chaenocephalus aceratus) in cTnC amino acid sequence. No variation existed in the regulatory Ca(2+)-binding site (site 2). The site 3 and 4 substitutions were limited to residues not directly involved in Ca(2+) coordination. Fish cTnC primary structure was highly conserved between species (93%-98%) and collectively divergent from the highly conserved sequence seen in birds and mammals. Northern blots and polymerase chain reaction showed that thermal acclimation of trout (3 degrees, 18 degrees C) did not alter the TnC isoform pattern. While cardiac and white muscle had the expected isoforms-cTnC and fast troponin C (fTnC), respectively-red muscle unexpectedly expressed primarily ftnC. Cold acclimation did not alter myofibrillar ATPase Ca(2+) sensitivity, but maximal velocity increased by 60%. We found no evidence that TnC variants, arising between species or in response to thermal acclimation, play a major role in mitigating the effects of temperature on contractility of the adult fish heart.
A survey of 87 serious head injuries of children from 3--14 years old revealed road traffic accidents to be the cause of most of the long-term morbidity and nearly all the mortality. Social background of these children was not significantly different from the general population in respect of class or family size, but there was an excess of children of high birth order and probably from single parent families, suggesting a lack of supervision. The need for a multidisciplinary approach to the rehabilitation of the child with severe head injury is emphasized.