Immune complexes were precipitated by 3% polyethylene glycol (PEG) from 4 sera from albendazole-treated hydatid patients from Uruguay, and together with sheep hydatid cyst fluid were analysed by ion-exchange fast protein liquid chromatography (FPLC). FPLC-eluted fractions of serum preparations and cyst fluid were tested in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for the detection of specific Echinococcus granulosus antigens and also for presence of specific immunoglobulin (Ig) M and IgG in the serum samples. Two peaks (nos 13 and 25) were found to have antigenic activity. Antigens were identified in both serum and cyst fluid preparation (fraction 25) after sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis immunoblotting analysis, with approximate molecular masses 50 kDa and 62 kDa. Specific IgM antibody was also detected in the same FPLC fraction (no. 25) of PEG-precipitated serum complexes.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Reproductive issues in HIV-seropositive women: a survey regarding counseling, contraception, safer sex, and pregnancy choices.

Sixty-nine HIV-seropositive women were surveyed with regard to the reproductive counseling they had received, contraception, safer sex practices, pregnancy histories, and pregnancy plans. Of the women surveyed, 84% and 90%, respectively, felt that they had access to the birth control and safer sex methods of their choice. Less than half felt that their physician had adequately counseled them about birth control. Women primarily cited social workers (46.4%) or nurses (34.8%) as the counseling source for birth control and safer sex. When informed about the reduced risk of vertical transmission with zidovudine (AZT), 33 women indicated that information regarding AZT would affect their future pregnancy decisions. Health care professionals need to be aware of this and counsel patients accordingly.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Etiology and treatment of facial cellulitis in pediatric patients.

By a retrospective chart review patients with buccal cellulitis were divided into groups with and without a probable portal of entry of infection at the time of diagnosis. Tooth abscesses or breaks in the skin were the usual portals of entry. Patients with a portal of entry were significantly older (P less than 0.001), had lower white blood cell counts on admission (P less than 0.01) and recovered more rapidly (P = 0.001). Haemophilus influenzae type b was recovered only from those with no portal of entry. Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pyogenes caused infection in both groups but were more frequent in those with a portal of entry. Bacteremia was proved only in the group with no portal, and H. influenzae b grew from 14 to 15 positive blood cultures. All cultures of cerebrospinal fluid yielded no growth. We suggest that patients with no portal of entry on presentation receive initial parenteral therapy for H. influenzae b and Gram-positive cocci. Our current regimen is a combination of a semisynthetic penicillinase-resistant penicillin such as oxacillin and chloramphenicol. Oxacillin alone is indicated for those with a break in the skin leading to infection, whereas penicillin is appropriate for patients with dental infection. This initial therapy should be altered depending upon culture results when available.

Abscess↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Why girls smoke: a proposed community-based prevention program.

OBJECTIVES: To review the literature on reasons teenage girls start smoking and to identify the role and opportunities for nurses to have an impact on this public health problem. In addition, a proposed smoking prevention program targeted to teenage girls is presented. DATA SOURCES: Information was gathered from professional journals and texts and from MEDLINE and PROQUEST. Keywords used in the searches were smoking prevention, tobacco use, smoking and adolescents, teenage girls and smoking, health education and smoking, and smoking prevention programs. DATA SYNTHESIS AND CONCLUSIONS: Smoking initiation in teenage girls is a problem with ramifications for individual health as well as for public health. Although the literature demonstrates the rising incidence of smoking in teenage girls and evidence suggests the reasons girls start smoking differ from those of their male counterparts, a dearth of information on smoking prevention programs exists for this population. It is reasonable to assume that the best practices for adolescent smoking prevention can be applied to programs specifically for girls, along with efforts to address social influences, self-image, and self-esteem, which may be particularly important to teenage girls. The theory of reasoned action provides a framework for prevention strategies that target the behavioral beliefs and attitudes that influence teenage girls to smoke. Nurses can educate themselves about contributing factors that lead teenage girls to start smoking. Implementing this knowledge into nursing practice in a variety of settings could help meet the Healthy People 2010 goals of reducing teenage smoking to 16%.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Possible reason for the higher incidence of spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage among Hispanics than non-Hispanic whites in New Mexico.

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Cerebral Hemorrhage↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Drug information in diploma nursing education.

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Curriculum↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Access unrestricted.

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Decision Making, Organizational↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Urinary fluoride as an exposure index in aluminum smelting.

Urinary fluoride was evaluated as an exposure index for a prospective study of asthma in an aluminum smelter. Two studies were conducted to evaluate the relationship between airborne exposure and urinary excretion over a workweek, and to describe exposures among jobs and over time. Thirty-two subjects were evaluated on Days 1 and 3 of a 3-day workweek. On each day, spot urine samples were collected prior to the start of work and again at the end of the shift. Samples were analyzed for fluoride and expressed as milligrams fluoride per gram of creatinine. Airborne exposures to total particulate, fluoride particulate, and hydrogen fluoride (HF; using a 37-mm filter cassette containing a filter and treated back-up pad) were also evaluated on each subject. In the second study, postshift urine samples were collected from asthma study volunteers in three surveys extending over 1.5 years and analyzed for fluoride. Average airborne exposures were 15.7, 4.1, and 0.7 mg/m3 for particulates, particulate fluorides and HF, respectively, and were substantially higher among carbon setters than other workers. However, average urine fluorides among the same workers were reasonably low, 1.3 and 3.0 mg/g creatinine in pre- and postshift urine samples, respectively. Carbon setters, who routinely wore respiratory protection during high exposure periods, had urinary fluoride levels similar to those of other potroom personnel. A significant variation in dose, as expressed by postshift urinary fluoride levels, was observed between potroom and nonpotroom jobs and over three survey periods. These results suggest that postshift urinary fluorides provide a reasonable exposure index for surveillance of exposure levels for an epidemiologic study, and that a substantial variation of exposure occurs between jobs and over time. Although urinary fluorides may be used for exposure surveillance, additional details on individual exposure agents and patterns of exposure over time are required for complete assessment.

Air Pollutants, Occupational↗