PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

T N Saari

Publications and source records attributed to T N Saari.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

Impact of the Joint Statement by the American Academy of Pediatrics/US Public Health Service on thimerosal in vaccines on hospital infant hepatitis B vaccination practices.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the impact of the American Academy of Pediatrics/US Public Health Service (AAP/USPHS) joint statement on thimerosal in vaccines on hospital infant hepatitis B vaccination policies in Wisconsin. METHODS: The nurse managers of hospital newborn nurseries (n = 110) were surveyed by mail. Nonresponders were resurveyed. Twelve hospitals no longer provided obstetric services. Of the remaining 98 hospitals, 84 (86%) responded to the initial mailing and 14 (14%) responded to the second mailing. The number of hospitals that offered hepatitis B vaccine to infants before July 1999 was compared with that in March 2000. The number of hospitals that had policies in place to vaccinate infants whose mothers' hepatitis B surface antigen status (HBsAg) was positive or unknown during the thimerosal alert (July 1999 through November 1999) was compared with that in March 2000. RESULTS: Before July 1999, 81% of the hospitals representing 84% of reported Wisconsin births routinely offered hepatitis B vaccine to all infants. By March 2000, 50% of hospitals, representing 43% of births, had resumed routine infant hepatitis B vaccination. Physician decision to use a combination Haemophilus influenzae type b hepatitis B vaccine was the most frequently given reason for not reinstituting infant hepatitis B vaccination. During the thimerosal alert, 23% of hospitals did not have policies to vaccinate infants whose mothers were HBsAg-positive and 51% did not have policies to vaccinate infants whose mothers' HBsAg status was unknown. By March 2000, 6% of hospitals still did not have policies to vaccinate infants whose mothers were HBsAg-positive and 24% did not have policies to vaccinate infants whose mothers' HBsAg status was unknown. CONCLUSION: The AAP/USPHS joint statement on thimerosal in vaccines has resulted in a 38% decrease in the number of hospitals routinely offering infants hepatitis B vaccine. Although thimerosal-free hepatitis B vaccine is now available, some hospitals still do not have appropriate policies in place for vaccinating infants whose mothers' HBsAg status is positive or unknown. In the future, policymakers should include anticipated consequences that may result from changes in immunization policy in their recommendations.

Academies and Institutes↗

Hospitals' responses to universal infant hepatitis B vaccination recommendations.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the extent to which hospitals in a midwestern state with low acute hepatitis B virus (HBV) morbidity offered hepatitis B (Hep B) vaccine to all infants, whether offering infants Hep B vaccine was associated with hospital geographic location or size, as measured by the number of births, and how hospital staff resolved key programmatic issues. METHODS: The managers of hospital newborn nurseries (N = 110) were surveyed by mail. The written response rate was 72%; all of the nonresponders were interviewed by telephone. The outcome measured was the number of hospitals offering Hep B vaccine to all infants by geographic region and hospital size. RESULTS: Sixty-five percent of the hospitals routinely offered Hep B vaccine to all infants; these hospitals accounted for 80% of reported Wisconsin births. In univariate analysis, the decision to offer infants Hep B vaccine was associated with both hospital size and hospital location. After controlling for size, hospitals in the northeastern region were eight times more likely (relative risk, 8.21; 95% confidence interval, 1.30, 51.79) to offer infants Hep B vaccine than hospitals in the southeastern (referent) region. Regional differences in reported rates of acute HBV infection do not explain this finding, because morbidity in the northeastern region (1 per 100,000) is among the lowest in Wisconsin. Although more than 80% of hospitals with Hep B vaccination programs required written informed consent for vaccination, had standing orders for administering Hep B vaccine to infants whose mothers' hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) test results were known, and had mechanisms to notify the infants' physicians that the infants had been vaccinated, only 38% had standing orders for testing mothers whose HBsAg test results were unknown.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

Familial lung disease associated with proliferation and desquamation of type II pneumonocytes.

A family is described in which certain infants presented with a diffuse parenchymal pulmonary disorder characterized by proliferation and desquamation of alveolar epithelial cells that progressed to severe pulmonary fibrosis and cystic dysplasia, resulting in "honeycomb" lung typical of chronic pulmonary interstitial disease (idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis) at death. Electron microscopic examination of a lung biopsy specimen from one infant revealed that the proliferating/desquamating cells were ultrastructurally normal-appearing type II pneumonocytes with osmiophilic lamellar bodies. This patient did not respond to prednisone therapy, but she showed great improvement with chloroquine therapy, which was confirmed by a repeated lung biopsy. Possible mechanisms that might account for the effect of chloroquine, such as inhibition of DNA synthesis, as well as the cellular pathobiology of type II pneumonocyte proliferation in this disease, are discussed.

Cell Division↗

Waterborne Yersinia enterocolitica in the midwest United States.

One hundred forty strains of waterborne Y. enterocolitica were isolated from Wisconsin and Colorado rivers, lakes and wells between October 1974 and March 1976- Direct-plating of unconcentrated water specimens on deoxycholate-citrate-mannitol (Y-M) agar resulted in 89 isolates. Prolonged incubation of specimens in cooked meat broth produced 51 additional strains. Most organisms were indole-positive, Niléln biotype 1 with 24% belonging to the rhamnophilum subgroup. Twenty-three serotypes were represented with 13% reacting as 0:4,32/33, 43% of the isolates could not be serotyped. Twelve organisms were phagetyped as either XO or XZ.

Colorado↗

Clinical and laboratory aspects of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis infections, with a report of two cases.

Yersinia pseudotuberculosis infections in two bacteriologically confirmed cases are described. A child was found to have mesenteric adenitis and an adult had septicemia. Invariably simulating acute appendicitis, mesenteric adenitis most often occurs in male children and adolescents. Septicemia with this organism usually affects elderly, debilitated patients, who frequently have chronic hepatic disease. The infrequent diagnosis of infection with Yersinia pseudotuberculosis in the United States is probably due to failure to consider it a human pathogen. Currently classified with the Enterobacteriaceae, Yersinia pseudotuberculosis in a non-lactose-fermenting, Gram-negative coccobacillus. It is sensitive to a wide range of antibiotics, including tetracycline and streptomycin, but usually is resistant to ampicillin. Yersinia pseudotuberculosis has a worldwide distribution in wild and domestic mammals and birds. Infections in man may result from direct contact with infected animals or their excreta.

Aged↗