High Prevalence of Hepatitis C Virus Infection in Chronic Hemodialysis Patients.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is very common among hemodialysis (HD) patients. Transmission of infection in this setting has been related to the number of blood transfusions, the duration of hemodialysis and to nosocomial transmission of virus in the dialysis unit. We conducted a study of 74 HD patients to determine the frequency of HCV at a single point in time (cross-sectional analysis), and to evaluate the association between HCV infection and patients' demographic, clinical and biochemical features.

Acceptance and effects of nasal lavage in volunteer woodworkers.

Wood dust is an irritant and is carcinogenic to the nasal mucosa. It inhibits its own clearance from the nose. It therefore makes sense to lavage retained wood dust from the nose following exposure.

Hypertonic saline challenge in an adult epidemiological survey.

Bronchial provocation tests using pharmacological agents such as methacholine or histamine are used in epidemiological studies to identify asthma despite recognition of limitations in specificity, positive predictive value and availability of reagents. Hypertonic saline (4.5%) bronchial challenge (HSBC), although less sensitive than pharmacological challenges, is reportedly highly specific in diagnosing current asthma.