Eight-year outcome of implementation of abusive head trauma prevention.

Low incidence rates and economic recession have hampered interpretation of educational prevention efforts to reduce abusive head trauma (AHT). Our objective was to determine whether the British Columbia experience implementing a province-wide prevention program reduced AHT hospitalization rates. A 3-dose primary, universal education program (the Period of PURPLE Crying) was implemented through maternal and public health units and assessed by retrospective-prospective surveillance.

The medical assessment of fractures in suspected child maltreatment: Infants and young children with skeletal injury.

Fractures are common injuries in childhood. While most fractures are caused by accidental trauma, inflicted trauma (maltreatment) is a serious and potentially unrecognized cause of fractures, particularly in infants and young children. This practice point identifies the clinical features that prompt concern for inflicted skeletal injury and outlines a management approach based on current literature and published guidelines, including the clinician's duty to report suspicion of child abuse to child welfare authorities.

Education about crying in normal infants is associated with a reduction in pediatric emergency room visits for crying complaints.

Objective: The primary aim of this study was to determine whether there was any change in visits of 0- to 5-month old infants to the medical emergency room (MER) of a metropolitan pediatric hospital after province-wide implementation of a public health prevention program that teaches new parents about the properties of early crying in normal infants.

Methods: Free-text descriptions of Presenting Complaint and Final Diagnosis on electronic MER clinic visit files were used to classify infants as cases of infant crying not due to disease. Annual crying case visits as a percent of MER visits were analyzed pre- and post-introduction of the prevention program.

Single-dose oral dexamethasone in the emergency management of children with exacerbations of mild to moderate asthma.

Objective: To compare the efficacy of a single dose of oral dexamethasone (Dex) versus 5 days of twice-daily prednisolone (Pred) in the management of mild to moderate asthma exacerbations in children.

Study Design: A prospective, randomized, double-blinded trial of children 2 to 16 years of age who presented to the emergency department (ED) with acute mild to moderate asthma exacerbations. Subjects received single-dose oral Dex (0.

Variation in utilization of computed tomography scanning for the investigation of minor head trauma in children: a Canadian experience.

Objectives: To compare the utilization rates of CT scans in investigating minor head trauma in children in Canada, to identify the injuries determined by these scans, and to identify clinical findings that are highly associated with its diagnosis and the injury itself.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study involving nine pediatric hospitals in Canada was conducted. A structured data collection method was used.

Puncture wounds.

Puncture wounds are common in children, and most are uncomplicated. For children who have a delayed presentation or signs of infection, consider the possibility of a retained foreign body. The diagnosis of P aeruginosa osteochondritis should be considered in any child who exhibits persistent signs and symptoms after puncture wounds; timely use of laboratory tests, radiologic imaging, and orthopedic referral is required.

Case-control study of primary human herpesvirus 6 infection in children with febrile seizures.

Rationale: Human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) has been demonstrated to be the causative agent in roseola infantum. It has been suggested that HHV-6 may have neurotropic properties and be involved in the pathogenesis of febrile seizures in infants. We describe a case-control study to examine the hypothesis that acute HHV-6 infection occurs more commonly in children with febrile seizures than in controls.

HBV markers in Chinese in Hong Kong.

A study was carried out on 779 hospital patients in the Orthopaedic and Paediatric Unit of Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong. Patients who had no clinical evidence of liver disease, previous history of transfusion with blood or blood products and no major surgery in the past were entered into the study. Markers of previous exposure to Hepatitis B virus (HBV) were HBsAg, anti-HBc and anti-HBs (radioimmunoassay) were done.

Bronchial cancer in Hong Kong, 1976-77: a preliminary report.

A case-control study of the relationship of bronchial cancer to smoking was conducted during 1976-77 in Hong Kong, in which we took particular note of the histologic type of the tumor. A total of 132 male and 111 female patients were interviewed. The association with smoking was more evident in males than it was in females, and squamous and small-cell type carcinomas, as a group, appeared to be more closely associated with smoking than did adenocarcinomas and large cell tumors.

Bronchial cancer in Hong Kong 1976-1977.

Bronchial cancer is a disease of high and increasing annual incidence in Hong Kong, especially in women, whose age-specific death rates from this cause are amongst the highest in the world. A case-control study of the relationship of bronchial cancer with smoking was carried out during 1976--77, taking particular note of the histological type of the tumour. Two hundred and eight male and 189 female patients were interviewed, covering about half the total number of cases of bronchial cancer registered as dead from the disease in Hong Kong during the period of the survey.

Food hygiene and travel at sea.

The incidence of gastroenteritis on a passenger ship is reviewed and discussed in relation to the agents of infection from stool specimens, the bacteriological condition of food samples, and the practice of galley hygiene.