Pregnancy characteristics of women giving birth to children with fetal alcohol syndrome in Far North Queensland.

Background: Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) has been identified as a major cause of impairment to normal physical and intellectual development among Indigenous children in Far North Queensland; however, little is known of the pregnancy characteristics of mothers of those children diagnosed with FAS or of interventions that might assist in lowering the prevalence of the syndrome.

Aim: To review the pregnancy records of women whose infants were subsequently diagnosed with FAS by the Paediatric Outreach Service (POS) of the Cairns Base Hospital, and to determine how such women might be identified prospectively in pregnancy and offered intervention to reduce alcohol consumption.

Methods: A retrospective case-control study involving all children diagnosed with FAS by the POS between 1994 and 2006; maternal pregnancy records were accessed and details obtained.

The epidemiology of acute rheumatic fever in Indigenous people in north Queensland.

Objective: To describe the epidemiology and features of acute rheumatic fever (ARF) in Indigenous people in north Queensland from mid-1999 to mid-2004.

Methods: Enhanced surveillance, including regular reminder letters to relevant clinicians and computer searches of hospital discharge diagnoses, was implemented to capture cases of ARF.

Results: Over the five years, 144 episodes of ARF occurred in 133 Indigenous people in seven of the Health Service Districts in north Queensland.