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Biomedical subjects

G T Curlin

Publications and source records attributed to G T Curlin.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1987

The association between malnutrition and diarrhoea in rural Bangladesh.

The interaction between diarrhoeal disease and nutritional status measured by anthropometry was investigated in approximately 1000 children aged 1 to 4 years during April-December 1976 in a rural area of Bangladesh. Data on diarrhoeal disease were provided by the mothers interviewed at seven-day intervals. Weight and height data were collected bimonthly. Children classified using anthropometric criteria--weight-for-age, height-for-age, and weight-for-height--were prospectively evaluated for incidence and duration of diarrhoea during a short (two-month) period and a long (eight-month) period. Incidence of diarrhoea was not found to be related to nutritional status measured by any of the anthropometric criteria for any of the periods. But duration of diarrhoea was found to be related consistently to nutritional status measured by weight-for-age and weight-for-height. Diarrhoea in the short term affected weight increment in the short term, but not in the long term and did not affect height increment for any of these periods. Diarrhoea in the long term affected both weight increment and height increment in the long term.

Anthropometry↗
PubMed1985

Alternative anthropometric indicators of mortality.

The ability of anthropometric indicators, weight-for-age, height-for-age, weight-for-height, weight velocity, and height velocity to discriminate mortality during a one-year period is examined for three time frames beginning in different seasons. Data on approximately 1,000 children of one to four years of age come from the Matlab, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh. The indicators' mortality-discriminating power is assessed in terms of the magnitude of difference between the mean indicator values of living and dead children expressed in standard deviation units and of the maximum sum of sensitivity and specificity. The indicators' mortality curve by nutritional status shows the discriminating power visually; the t test indicates its statistical significance. Weight-for-age and height-for-age perform better than weight velocity and height velocity as discriminators of mortality during a one-year period. The ability of weight and height velocity to discriminate short-term mortality is examined by comparing the mean velocity of the last two bimonthly intervals of the dead children. Weight velocity is likely to be a good indicator of short-term mortality.

Anthropometry↗
PubMed1982

Patterns of Shigella infection in families in rural Bangladesh.

To assess the mode of transmission of Shigella infection in rural Bangladesh, questionnaire and culture surveys were conducted in baris (neighborhoods) where persons with diarrhea associated with Shigella infection and index controls with non-Shigella diarrhea lived. Nineteen percent of persons in Shigella baris and 7% of persons in control baris were infected during the survey periods (P less than 0.001). The prevalence of Shigella infection was highest for children 1-9 years of age and for females than 39 years and was not related to socioeconomic status, family size or household crowding. Use of surface water for drinking was not a risk factor for Shigella infection; in fact, use of river water was more frequent in control baris. Both household and bari contacts of Shigella index cases frequently excreted different serotypes from that excreted by the person with the index case. In Shigella baris, families with infection were significantly more likely than uninfected families to have a history of an overnight stay away from home by a family member during the previous week. These observations suggest there were multiple introductions of Shigella into some families and that the epidemiology of Shigella infection for families in rural Bangladesh differs from that observed for families living in more industrialized countries.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1982

Epidemiology of eltor cholera in rural Bangladesh: importance of surface water in transmission.

In order to define the role of water used for drinking, cooking, bathing, and washing in the transmission of Vibrio cholerae biotype eltor infections in an area with endemic cholera, surveillance was initiated in neighbourhoods with a culture-confirmed cholera index case and others with index cases with non-cholera diarrhoea as controls. In neighbourhoods with cholera infection, 44% of surface water sources were positive for V. cholerae, whereas only 2% of surface sources were positive in control neighbourhoods. Canals, rivers, and tanks were most frequently positive. There was an increased risk of infection for families using water from culture-positive sources for drinking, cooking, bathing, or washing and for those using water sources used by index families for drinking, cooking or bathing. Analysis of the results for individuals showed that in this case there was an increased risk of infection associated with using water from culture-positive sources for cooking, bathing, or washing, but not with using water from culture-positive sources for drinking. Individuals who used the same water source as an index family for bathing were more likely to be infected than those using different sources. For families drinking from a culture-negative source, there was an association between infection and bathing in a positive source. For families using a different bathing source from the index family there was an association between infection and drinking from the same source as the index family, and for families using a different drinking source from the index family there was an association between infection and bathing in the same source as the index family. These data suggest that use of surface water is important in the transmission of V. cholerae and that, in addition to providing safe drinking water, education regarding the risk of transmission of infection by water from potentially contaminated sources used for other purposes, especially bathing, may also be necessary to control transmission in areas where eltor cholera is endemic.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1980

A two-year study of bacterial, viral, and parasitic agents associated with diarrhea in rural Bangladesh.

Enteric pathogens associated with diarrhea were studied for two years at a diarrhea treatment center in rural Bangladesh. Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) was the most frequently identified pathogen for patients of all ages. Rotavirus and ETEC were isolated from approximately 50% and approximately 25%, respectively, of patients less than two years of age. A bacterial or viral pathogen was identified for 70% of these young children and for 56% of all patients with diarrhea. Most ETEC isolates were obtained in the hot dry months of March and April and the hot wet months of August and September. Rotavirus identification peaked in the cool dry months of December and January, but infected patients were found year-round. The low case-fatality rates for patients with watery diarrhea and substantial dehydration further document the usefulness of treating patients with diarrhea with either a glucose- or sucrose-base electrolyte solution such as those used in this treatment center.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1980

Reduction of neonatal tetanus by mass immunization of non-pregnant women: duration of protection provided by one or two doses of aluminium-adsorbed tetanus toxoid.

Immunization of non-pregnant women in rural Bangladesh with two doses of aluminium-adsorbed tetanus-diphtheria toxoids reduced neonatal mortality by one-third during a period of 9-32 months after vaccination. The reduction in mortality rate was attributable almost entirely to a 75% lower mortality rate among 4-14-day-old infants, when tetanus was the predominant cause of death.In the period up to 20 months following vaccination, the reduction in deaths among 4-14-day-old infants after a single dose of tetanus-diptheria toxoids was about the same as that after two doses. However, beyond 20 months a single dose did not appear to provide protection.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1979

Epidemiology of Shigella dysenteriae, type 1 infections, in Dacca urban area.

A prospective study of 47 families with an index case of Shigella dysenteriae type 1 was conducted in the urban areas of Dacca. The subsequent infection rates in contacts type 1 were 30.6% and 28.3% in the age groups 0--4 and 5--9. Total secondary infection rate was 20.4% with rates in males higher than in females. Among the contacts 12.5% developed diarrhoea caused by the same serotype, but 22.1% developed diarrhoea with undiagnosed causes. For one hospitalised case there were seven symptomatic cases and 10 infections. All the infected infants age 0--4 developed diarrhoea and one fourth needed hospitalisation; but none aged over 9 needed it. Of these families 19% coincidentally had infections with other shigela types. Many factors were related with the higher infection rate. Use of open source of water was a significant factor. Multiple resistance to antibiotic was found, however, Shigella shiga was sensitive to Ampicillin, Kanamycin, Colistin and Furazolidone.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1978

Vibrio parahaemolyticus enterocolitis in Bangladesh: report of an outbreak.

In March 1974 eight men in Chandpur, Bangladesh, experienced an illness characterized by severe abdominal cramps, nausea, vomiting and bloody diarrhea with onset 20 min to 9 h (median 2.5 h) after eating one of two fish dishes at a restaurant. Rectal cultures from all eight grew Kanagawa-positive strains of Vibrio parahaemolyticus (serotype O3K5) that were negative in the Sereny test for invasiveness and the Y-1 adrenal cell and infant mouse assays for enterotoxin production. The short incubation, severity of abdominal cramps and grossly bloody stools distinguish this illness from that usually associated with V. parahaemolyticus infection in the United States.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1970

Furazolidone in paediatric cholera.

Tetracycline continues to be an effective antimicrobial agent in the clinical control of cholera but because of its high cost, relatively short shelf-life and recent reports of increased resistance of vibrios to tetracycline in vitro, alternative antimicrobial agents have been tested. Furazolidone, effective against cholera caused by the El Tor biotype in adults, was found to be as effective as tetracycline in reducing the volume and duration of diarrhoea in children with classical cholera and, given over a period of 7 days, only slightly less effective in reducing duration of vibrio excretion.Therapy with an antimicrobial agent over a period of 7 days was associated with a significantly smaller rise in vibriocidal antibody titre (of no clinical significance) in the youngest age-group studied; this was probably due to a diminished antigenic stimulus from the primary infection. Undernourished children showed a poorer response to anti-microbial therapy.The study indicated that furazolidone is a reasonable alternative to tetracycline in the treatment of cholera.

Antibody Formation↗