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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2000

[Serpulids (Polychaeta: Serpulidae) from the Northwestern Caribbean with keys to the Grand Caribbean region: Salmacina, Ficopomatus, Pomatoceros, Pomatostegus, Protula, Pseudovermilia, Spirobranchus and Vermiliopsis].

From the revision of more than 1,250 serpulids, 15 species from the Grand Caribbean Region were identified and characterized. Thirteen species were collected along the shores of the Yucatan Peninsula and eight were found in other localities in the Gulf of Mexico, seven others are from Cuba and comments on type specimens of two species are also included. Three morphometric analyses were made to evaluate some characters. The first on Pomatostegus stellatus (Abildgaard), and related species and subspecies: P. brachysoma Schmarda, P. macrosoma Schmarda, P. s. fruticosa Mörch, P. s. pentapoma Mörch and P. s. tetrapoma Mörch, indicated that they are conspecific. Another one on Spirobranchus de Blainville species: S. dendropoma Mörch, S. giganteus (Pallas), S. polycerus (Schmarda) and S. polycerus augeneri ten Hove; indicated that S. giganteus differs from the other three taxa. The third analysis was made on Vermiliopsis annulata (Schmarda) sensu lato; it allowed the recognition of three different forms. Several incomplete specimens might belong to an undescribed genus. A key for identification of all the species recorded in the Grand Caribbean Region is also included.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Breastfeeding in Africa and the Latin American and Caribbean region: the potential role of urbanization.

This paper compares breastfeeding patterns in Africa (AFR) and the Latin American and Caribbean region (LATCAR) based on demographic and health surveys conducted in 23 countries between 1986 and 1990. Results indicate that the proportion of infants who are never breastfed is twice as high in LATCAR than in AFR. The average median breastfeeding duration is 1.64 times higher in AFR (19.3 months) than in LATCAR (11.8 months). The longer breastfeeding duration found in AFR was due to a better lactation performance in both rural and urban areas. In both LATCAR and AFR 71 per cent of the 0-4-month infants were not breastfed exclusively during the first 4 months of life and breastfeeding duration was longer in rural than in urban areas. However, the degree of urbanization had a stronger negative effect on breastfeeding in LATCAR than in AFR. It is concluded that: (a) while LATCAR is in great need of breastfeeding promotion programmes, breastfeeding in AFR should be protected as it becomes more urbanized; (b) the promotion of exclusive breastfeeding remains a priority in both regions; and (c) the magnitude of the inverse association between urbanization and breastfeeding is likely to vary among regions with different socio-economic and cultural backgrounds.

Africa↗
PubMed1997

[Participation in the IEC Workshop on Adolescent Sexual Health--a challenge to protect reproductive health/right in Latin America and Caribbean Region].

In order to explore the possibility of new global activity in nursing/midwifery to be performed by the WHO Collaborating Center for Nursing Development in Primary Health Care at St. Luke's College of Nursing, the center sent two faculty members to attend the IEC Workshop on Adolescent Sexual Health held in November 1996 in Mexico. The two representatives took part as resource persons and reported to the workshop on the activities of nurses and midwives for adolescent sexual health in Japan. During the session, they obtained information on the actual situation of adolescent sexual health in Latin America and Caribbean region and the novel strategies which were carried out in cooperation between governmental and non governmental organizations. The workshop also provided a good opportunity for international communication and information exchange with health workers in the region about adolescent sexual health. By participating in the workshop, we obtained first-hand information on various aspects of cooperation in international health.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Promotional strategies in occupational health. Can it be extrapolated to general preventive medicine in the Caribbean Region?

This article highlights promotional strategies that are currently in use in occupational health which have yielded positive results in terms of cost-effectiveness and the prevention of occupational disease. Suggestions are offered on the possible extrapolation of these strategies to disease prevention programmes in medical practice in the Caribbean Region.

Health Promotion↗
PubMed2000

Lymphatic filariasis in the Caribbean region: the opportunity for its elimination and certification.

In order to support the case for a certification of elimination of lymphatic filariasis (LF) in some Caribbean countries, we compared the prevalence of circulating Wuchereria bancrofti antigen in communities in Guyana, Suriname, and Trinidad. For the study, we assayed school children in six communities in Guyana, five communities in Suriname, and three communities in Trinidad for the prevalence of circulating W. bancrofti antigen, using a new immunochromatographic test for LF. We also assayed adults in these three countries, with a special focus on Blanchisseuse, Trinidad, where mass treatment for LF elimination had been carried out in 1981. The prevalences of W. bancrofti circulating antigen found in the school children populations ranged from 1.7% to 33.2% in Guyana and were 0.22% overall in Suriname and 0.0% in Trinidad. Among adults in two Guyana communities the prevalences were 16.7% and 32.1%. The results were all negative from 211 adults in communities in the north, center, and south of Trinidad, as well as from 29 adults in Suriname. The data suggest that contrary to reports of LF endemicity from the World Health Organization, LF may no longer be present in Trinidad and may be of very low prevalence in Suriname. Trinidad and Tobago and other Caribbean nations proven negative could seek to be awarded a certificate of LF elimination. In Suriname the small localized pocket of infected persons who may serve as a reservoir of LF infection could be tested and appropriately treated to achieve LF elimination. Such LF-positive countries as Guyana should access new international resources being made available for LF elimination efforts. An adequate certification program would help identify which countries should seek the new LF elimination resources.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Serological survey of ruminant livestock in some countries of the Caribbean region and South America for antibody to bluetongue virus.

A serological survey of 6250 sera from cattle, sheep and goats in seven Caribbean and two South American countries showed that antibody to bluetongue virus was widely distributed in each species throughout the survey area. Overall prevalences of antibody were 70 per cent in cattle, 67 per cent in sheep and 76 per cent in goats as assessed by an immunodiffusion test. Within countries the percentage prevalences were Jamaica 77, St Kitts/Nevis 70, Antigua 76, St Lucia 82, Barbados 61, Grenada 88, Trinidad and Tobago 79, Guyana 52 and Surinam 84. No clinical cases of bluetongue have been confirmed in the area surveyed and there are no virus isolates available to indicate which serotype(s) of virus is/are causing the infection(s).

Animals↗
PubMed1990

[Adult T-cell leukemia and non-malignant adenopathies associated with HTLV I virus. Apropos of 17 patients born in the Caribbean region and Africa].

Adult T-cell leukaemia is the first blood disease caused by a retrovirus: HTLV-1. The authors report the first French series of 15 patients, of whom 9 came from the classical endemic areas--the Antilles and outer Caribbean Islands--and 6 from Africa where the serological prevalence of HTLV-1 is high but few cases of adult T-cell leukaemia have been reported. Emphasis is laid on the importance of immunodeficiency (refractory strongyloidiasis, Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, polyclonal B lymphoproliferative syndrome) and of other pathologies associated with the retrovirus (polyarthritis, lymphocytic interstitial pneumonia). The authors also describe the presence of adenopathy in healthy carriers: either adenitis suggestive of retroviral infection, or Castelman's disease adenopathy. These clinical presentations are similar to those described in lymphadenopathy syndromes due to the human immunodeficiency viruses. Aggressive lymphomas require chemotherapy, but sooner or later resistance develops, and the prognosis is very poor. The indications for allogeneic bone marrow transplantation are still to be determined. The diagnosis of adult T-cell leukaemia must be considered in all patients with blood disease coming from the endemic areas.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

PCR-ribotyping of Xenorhabdus and Photorhabdus isolates from the Caribbean region in relation to the taxonomy and geographic distribution of their nematode hosts.

The genetic diversity of symbiotic Xenorhabdus and Photorhabdus bacteria associated with entomopathogenic nematodes was examined by a restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of PCR-amplified 16S rRNA genes (rDNAs). A total of 117 strains were studied, most of which were isolated from the Caribbean basin after an exhaustive soil sampling. The collection consisted of 77 isolates recovered from entomopathogenic nematodes in 14 Caribbean islands and of 40 reference strains belonging to Xenorhabdus and Photorhabdus spp. collected at various localities worldwide. Thirty distinctive 16S rDNA genotypes were identified, and cluster analysis was used to distinguish the genus Xenorhabdus from the genus Photorhabdus. The genus Xenorhabdus appears more diverse than the genus Photorhabdus, and for both genera the bacterial genotype diversity is in congruence with the host-nematode taxonomy. The occurrence of symbiotic bacterial genotypes was related to the ecological distribution of host nematodes.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

The human type-C retrovirus, HTLV, in Blacks from the Caribbean region, and relationship to adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma.

Type-C RNA tumor viruses have been implicated in the etiology of naturally occurring leukemias and lymphomas of animals. Human T-cell leukemia/lymphoma virus (HTLV) is the first human virus of this class consistently identified in association with a specific type of human leukemia/lymphoma. The isolation of HTLV was made possible by the ability to grow mature T-cells in tissue culture usually with T-cell growth factor (TCGF). We now report a cluster of adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma among Blacks from the Caribbean in which all eight cases are positive for HTLV virus and/or antibody. These patients have disease that appears indistinguishable from Japanese adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma which, as we have also reported, is associated with HTLV in over 90% of cases. The finding of HTLV antibodies in some of the normal population in the Caribbean and Japan, and the clustering of a specific form of T-cell leukemia/lymphoma in these virus-endemic areas, suggest that HTLV infection may be associated with the occurrence of a distinctive clinico-pathologic entity.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

Current trends in screwworm myiasis in the Caribbean region.

In a random sample of animal producers and animal health personnel, 33% of the respondents in Trinidad, 15% in Guyana, 11% in Suriname and 9% in Jamaica recalled at least one case of human myiasis due to Cochliomyia homivorax (Coquerel). During 1981, respondents in Surinam (88%), Jamaica (90%), Guyana (85%) and Trinidad and Tobago (82%) found at least one case of myiasis in their livestock, occurring mainly in cattle, pigs and dogs. Feral animals, e.g. jaguars, were also found to be infested. The initial wounds were mainly the umbilicus of neonates, and arbitrary wounds, and vampire bites were also affected. Fifty-three to 78% of all respondents examined their livestock daily for wounds and infestation by the screwworm. Annual estimates of losses (in U.S. dollars) due to surveillance and medication ranged from $4.82 to $10.71 per animal. Nationally, these losses amount to $0.30 million (Surinam), $1.02 million (Trinidad and Tobago), $4.33 million (Guyana) and $6.78 million (Jamaica). Figures for other losses, arising from failure to thrive, reduction in milk production and hide injury due to screwworm activity were not available. Most producers found that the greatest screwworm infestation occurred in the wet season, and most described it as second in importance to Boophilus spp. ticks as a pest of livestock, but of greater significance than biting flies, such as tabanids and stable flies. Eradication of the screwworm from the islands of Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago can be recommended, but in Surinam and Guyana eradication seems feasible only on the 100-km wide coastal strips where most human and livestock populations exist.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Bluetongue epidemiology in the Caribbean region: serological and entomological findings from a pilot sentinel system in Trinidad and Tobago.

When monitored by the agar gel immunodiffusion test for antibody to bluetongue viruses, a sentinel flock of twenty-five lambs remained seropositive through the year, whereas in a sentinel herd of twenty calves only two individuals seroconverted and these became negative again within 2 months. A light trap operated with the calf herd yielded high numbers of Culicoides insignis Lutz (over 18,000 per trap night) along with C. filariferus Hoffman, C. pusillus Lutz, C. leopoldi Ortiz, C. foxi Ortiz, C. limai Barretto, C. diabolicus Hoffman and C. guyanensis Floch and Abonnenc. Culicoides were trapped at the sheep station which had housed the lambs 3 years following the sentinel study. No virus was isolated from pools of C. insignis, C. filariferus and C. pusillus. Six other species were collected in insufficient numbers to warrant attempted virus isolations.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

Bluetongue epidemiology in the Caribbean region: serological and entomological evidence from a pilot study in Barbados.

Variation in the percentage of lambs seroconverting to bluetongue viruses was seen between sites and years in Barbados. Transmission at some sites was nearly absent whereas all lambs at one site became seropositive. The agar gel immunodiffusion test for bluetongue gave consistent results in series of serum samples from 112 of 121 sentinel lambs. Collections of biting midges in association with sheep yielded six species: Culicoides insignis Lutz, C. pusillus Lutz, C. phlebotomus (Williston), C. furens (Poey), C. jamaicensis Edwards and C. trilineatus Fox. The first two species comprised 92% of those caught during a sentinel lamb study and were the predominant species trapped for virus isolation. No viruses were recovered from 5517 C. insignis, 614 C. pusillus, three C. trilineatus and two C. furens placed into pools during two brief intensive trapping operations.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

[Seroepidemiologic data on viral infections (HTLV-I and LAV/HTLV-III) in the Caribbean region and intertropical Africa].

Since two years our laboratory is involved in the sero-epidemiology of retroviruses in Martinique, French Guiana and Equatorial Africa. French West Indies is an endemic area for HTLV-I with 3 to 5% positivity in blood donors. Such a prevalence increases with age in the general population, reaching 30% after 60 years of age. Data are given here regarding hematological and neurological syndromes observed in Martinique and associated with HTLV-I. Furthermore, we recently discovered an association between HTLV-I and the neuro-myelopathy named endemic Tropical Spastic Paraparesis. Such an association has been confirmed in Jamaica, South West Japan and Ivory coast. French West Indies appeared quite free of LAV/HTLV-III in 1983/1984 but AIDS cases have been increasingly diagnosed in 1985. Recent data (early 1986) from the Blood Transfusion Center in Martinique (Dr. N. Monplaisir) indicate that 0.45% of blood donors have LAV/HTLV-III antibodies, as detected by the ELISA test. We present here a comparative view of preliminary prevalence data for LAV/HTLV-III in different areas of Equatorial Africa.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗