Temporal and spatial history of Rift Valley fever in South Africa: 1950 to 2011.

Several outbreaks of Rift Valley fever (RVF) have been documented in South Africa since it first occurred in the country in 1950. However, there is no comprehensive account of the timing, location and extent of all known outbreaks. As part of a study investigating the epidemiology of RVF in South Africa, a full history of outbreaks was compiled using references to the disease in South Africa from scientific literature, annual reports, disease reports and animal disease databases.

Disturbances of blood coagulation associated with Salmonella typhi infections.

Disturbances of blood coagulation were studied in 32 consecutive patients with typhoid fever on their admission to hospital. Estimations of prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time, fibrinogen, fibrin degradation products (FDPs), factors VII, VIII and XII, alpha I antitrypsin, plasminogen, CI esterase inhibitor, and platelet counts were performed as well as liver function tests and blood counts. Five patients had laboratory evidence of disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) and two had a generalised bleeding disorder which in the other three was inapparent.

Platelet aggregations, fatty acids, clotting factors and serum lipids in rural and urban blacks, and urban whites in South Africa.

Platelet fatty acids, platelet aggregations, and coagulation factors were measured in 27 rural blacks, 27 urban blacks and 39 urban whites. Platelets were significantly less aggregable to collagen and arachidonic acid in in both black groups as compared to whites (p less than 0.01), but there were no significant differences in ADP or epinephrine aggregation between these groups.

Effects of a 4-week freshwater fish (trout) diet on platelet aggregation, platelet fatty acids, serum lipids, and coagulation factors.

Eight healthy subjects consumed a diet in which all animal products were replaced by 750 g/day of freshwater trout. Platelet eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) as a percentage of total platelet fatty acids rose from a prediet level of 0.2 +/- 0.

Acute promyelocytic leukaemia associated with acute myocardial infarction. A case report.

In a case of acute promyelocytic leukaemia presenting with an acute myocardial infarction a fibrin-platelet thrombus was demonstrated postmortem in the anterior descending branch of the left coronary artery. The possible pathogenesis of thrombus formation in the face of disseminated intravascular coagulation and thrombocytopenia is discussed.