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Biomedical subjects

R H Meakins

Publications and source records attributed to R H Meakins.

11 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1984

Immediate hypersensitivity, IgE and asthma.

Twenty-one asthmatic and twenty-two non-asthmatic children and nine asthmatic adults from two different rural areas of Tanzania, and eight asthmatic children from Dar-es-Salaam were surveyed by questionnaires, skin testing and the measurement of serum IgE. Asthma was significantly commoner in female rural children (four males, fifteen females). The rural asthmatic children apparently had less skin reactivity (in seven of nine tests) and lower specific (in two of four tests) and total serum IgE than age-, sex- and village-matched controls. This pattern of asthma in rural children in the tropics represents a different type of asthma from that found in temperate zones. In contrast, the adult rural asthmatics and the urban children seemed to have the pattern of increased skin reactivity and serum IgE found in asthmatic patients from temperate climates.

Asthma↗
PubMed1981

A preliminary survey of malnutrition and helminthiasis among schoolchildren in one mountain and one lowland ujamaa village in Northern Tanzania.

The nutritional status, parasite prevalence and immediate skin hypersensitivity to Ascaris and Schistosoma antigens were determined for 185 schoolchildren living in two ujamaa villages in Northern Tanzania. In the lowland village of Kwamsisi the parasite ova found were Schistosoma haematobium (53.8%), Ascaris (26.0%) and hookworm (24.7%). 57.5% of the children examined were regarded as malnourished, being less than 80% of their expected weight for age. In the mountain village of Ubiri the parasite prevalence rates were 15.2% for Schistosoma haematobium, 1.6% for S. mansoni, 65.2% Ascaris and 24.1% hookworm. Malnutrition was found in 81.9% of the boys and in 41.2% of the girls. This sex difference is considered to be due to the physiological effects of living in a hilly environment. Correlation between malnutrition and multiple infections of Ascaris, hookworm and Schistosoma gave a chi-square value of 5.972 (p = 0.02). All other statistical comparisons between parasite prevalence and nutritional status were insignificant. Immediate skin hypersensitivity tests proved unreliable with 23.3% false negatives (negative skin test with parasite ova found). The serum IgE levels were extremely high with a mean of 3174 units per ml suggesting that the immune mechanisms were not retarded by undernutrition.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1981

Nutritional status, globulin titers, and parasitic infections of two populations of Tanzanian school children.

Two schools in rural Tanzania were surveyed regarding the pupils' nutrition (weight and height), serum immunoglobulins (IgA, IgG, IgM, and IgE), autoantibodies, malaria antibodies, hepatitis B antigenemia, and fecal and urinary parasites. The survey attempted to quantify the relative importance of undernutrition and parasitic infestation in determining the serological abnormalities found. Of all the children surveyed 69% were undernourished (less than 80% of expected weight for age); 63% had fecal parasites and 38% had urinary schistosomiasis. Serum IgG and IgM concentrations were raised and the serum IgE concentration was strikingly raised (mean 4990IU/ml). Elevated serum IgE was associated with ascariasis. Autoantibodies were common but no autoimmune disease was detected. Notably there was a 35% prevalence of reticulin antibody. This reticulin antibody positivity correlated with increased malaria antibody concentrations. Reduced malaria antibody concentration was significantly associated with hepatitis B antigenemia. The study illustrates that parasites, notably malaria, are important determinants of the serum antibodies of children in the tropics and suggests that mild undernutrition has little effect.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1977

IgE, parasites and asthma in Tanzanian children.

Two rural Tanzanian primary schools were surveyed to test the hypothesis that parasitic infestation prevents the development of asthma. 242 pupils were interviewed to determine the prevalence of pupils with recurrent episodes of wheezing. The nineteen pupils so discovered had more exercise-induced bronchial lability than equivalently exercised controls. More girls (12.8%) than boys (3.3%) had asthma. In one school, 77% of the controls had faecal parasites, mainly Ascaris spp., and in the other school 55% of the controls had Schistosoma haematobium in their urine. Parasites were found in similar proportions in the asthmatics. The mean serum IgE for the whole population was 3174 u/ml with no demonstrable difference between the asthmatics and controls. There was no difference in immediate cutaneous hypersensitivity to twenty-two allergens between the asthmatics and controls. These findings suggest that parasitic infestation does not prevent the development of asthma.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1976

Parasites and asthma in Tanzanian children.

It has been claimed that parasitic infestation suppresses the development of asthma. Eight Tanzanian schoolchildren in whom asthma was confirmed by the demonstration of exercise-induced bronchospasm were found in an ascaris-endemic area of rural Tanzania. Faecal parasites were found equally commonly in the children with asthma and the ninety-seven non-asthmatic controls. The prevalence of asthma (3.3%) in the school under study was comparable with that found in developed countries.

Adolescent↗