Salivary IgA subclasses and infection risk in elite swimmers.

The concentrations of total IgA, IgA1 and IgA2 were measured in saliva collected from 25 elite swimmers in the early and late phases of a 7 month training season and compared with the number of respiratory infections during the season. The IgA1 concentrations in the early phase of the training season were significantly associated (P = 0.01) with the number of respiratory infection episodes during the training season.

The neck.

Tumours, infections, aneurysms and metabolic and inflammatory diseases are rare causes of neck pain. Most cases involve neck pain of unknown origin or a whiplash-associated disorder. Neck pain is common in the general community and more common in certain occupations.

Primary cutaneous nocardiosis.

A case of primary cutaneous nocardiosis due to Nocardia asteroides occurring in a steroid-dependent asthmatic with no history of trauma is presented. He had a 5 month history of painful nodules on his right shin and calf. He was initially treated with a 6 week course of oral cephalexin 500 mg four times daily, followed by a 2 week course of minocycline 100 mg twice daily with worsening of the infection.

Contact or immersion technique for axial length measurement?

Purpose: The purpose of the present study was to determine whether contact and immersion A-scan techniques produce comparable measures of the magnitude of eye axial length.

Method: A prospective study in which 225 consecutive patients scheduled for cataract surgery in a private day surgery setting had axial lengths measured with an Alcon Ocuscan machine (Alcon Australia, Frenchs Forest, NSW, Australia) using both contact and immersion techniques. Twelve patients had both techniques repeated on a separate occasion.

Salivary IgA levels and infection risk in elite swimmers.

Unlabelled: The effects of exercise on the immune system has been shown to be dependent on the level of fitness of the subjects, the degree of intensity, and the duration of the exercise. A reduction in salivary IgA levels occurs after individual sessions of exercise.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between changes in salivary IgA and training volume, psychological stress, and infection rates in a cohort of 26 elite swimmers over a 7-month training period and to compare the changes with a group of 12 moderately exercising controls.

Correlations among Epworth Sleepiness Scale scores, multiple sleep latency tests and psychological symptoms.

The aim of this study was to identify factors other than objective sleep tendency associated with scores on the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS). There were 225 subjects, of whom 40% had obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), 16% had simple snoring, and 4.9% had snoring with sleep disruption (upper airway resistance syndrome); 9.

New measures for reporting the magnitude of small-area variation in rates.

Measuring the variation in health outcomes, for example, mortality, morbidity, hospitalization, across small areas is an accepted way of screening large amounts of routinely-collected data. Although simple measures of variation, for example, the extremal quotient, are intuitively appealing, they have poor statistical properties. More sophisticated measures, based on hierarchical models, have better statistical properties, but are in a form that is foreign to most public health officials.

Cervical spine disorders.

Recent research of disorders of the neck has concentrated on the efficacy of manual and other conservative therapies for neck pain and whiplash. Systematic reviews paint a poor picture of the quality of literature upon which many conventional, conservative therapies are based. Conclusive scientific data are lacking.

Gestational-age-specific stillbirth risk among Australian Aborigines.

Background: Previous studies have found that, for preterm babies, the risk of stillbirth among Australian Aborigines is similar to the risk for whites. In contrast, at full term, the risk for Aborigines is more than twice the risk for whites. However, these studies (like most other analyses of stillbirths) used the number of births at each gestational age to calculate the risk.

Latex allergy in non-spina bifida patients: unfamiliar intra-operative anaphylaxis.

Background: The medical literature has described the prevalence of latex allergy in the spina bifida population and its implications for surgical intervention. We report three cases of severe and unexpected intra-operative anaphylaxis secondary to latex exposure in non-spina bifida patients.

Methods: A retrospective review of case notes identified three non-spina bifida patients who suffered intra-operative anaphylaxis due to latex allergy.

Long-term follow up of patients with toenail onychomycosis after treatment with terbinafine.

The long-term outcome of 111 patients treated with oral terbinafine for toenail onychomycosis with a novel treatment protocol was assessed a median of 138 weeks after entry into the trial. All but three patients had either one or two 12 week courses of terbinafine 250 mg daily. Of the 77 evaluable patients, 72.

Naltrexone: a case report of pruritus from an antipruritic.

Intense, generalized pruritus associated with mycosis fungoides was relieved using subcutaneous naloxone but intensified when changed to the new oral opioid antagonist, naltrexone. Rechallenge again led to worsening in pruritus. This unexpected adverse effect is surprising as naltrexone and naloxone are currently thought to work via similar opioid receptor binding.

Erythrocytes enhance the immunogenicity of oral vaccination with gamma irradiated influenza virus: increasing the dose of irradiation results in a significant diminution of lung IgA response.

Previous studies have demonstrated that the ability of gamma-irradiated whole influenza virus to prime for specific anti-influenza antibody responses was dramatically enhanced when delivered in a complex with chicken red blood cell ghosts (cRBC). The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of increasing the dose of gamma irradiation used to inactivate A/Queensland/6/72 virus on the ability of the virus-cRBC complex to prime for specific influenza responses. Spleen cell proliferation studies confirmed the enhancing effect of the cRBC carrier for oral vaccination with irradiated virus.

Successful use of ivermectin in the treatment of endemic scabies in a nursing home.

Ivermectin, an antiparasitic agent, was successfully used as a sole agent to combat endemic scabies in a closed 33-bed ward of a rural nursing home. Previous topical therapies, including multiple applications of permethrin, gamma-benzene hexachloride, benzyl benzoate and precipitated sulfur in white soft paraffin, had failed. Several patients exhibited hyperkeratotic crusted scabies with head and neck involvement and all residents except one recently arrived resident had evidence of active infestation.

Identifying individuals with high fat levels and low P:S ratios, in their diets, for intensive dietary intervention.

Objectives: To assess whether simple scores from a dietary questionnaire could identify those with high dietary fat or low P:S ratio intakes, for intensive dietary intervention.

Design: Cross-sectional and longitudinal studies.

Setting: Community setting in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia.

Predictors of quality of life after hospital admission for heart attack or angina.

This study tests the hypothesis that it is possible to predict people who will have a low quality of life (QOL) 6 months after hospital admission for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) or angina. Among 424 patients discharged from hospital in the Hunter Region of New South Wales with a diagnosis of AMI or angina, follow-up questionnaires were received from 303 at 6 months. Baseline data collected during hospitalisation included demographic variables and the 'emotional' factor of a disease-specific QOL measure using a modified and validated self-administered questionnaire.

Photochemotherapy for mycosis fungoides: current status.

Phototherapy for mycosis fungoides is reviewed with particular emphasis on PUVA (psoralen ultraviolet A-range) therapy and its combination with other topical and systemic treatments. PUVA therapy has the advantages of being available in all major centres, is simple to administer, relatively inexpensive and has relatively low toxicity. Medium-term results suggest that PUVA is as effective as any of the other topical therapies for stage I disease.

A survey of screening compliance among first degree relatives of people with colon cancer in New South Wales.

Objective: To survey screening practices, knowledge, and attitudes towards screening among first degree relatives of people with colon cancer.

Setting: A random sample of people with colon cancer listed on the New South Wales (NSW) Cancer Registry were mailed a questionnaire to be passed on to an appropriate first degree relative.

Methods: Two hundred and twenty five first degree relatives completed a self administered questionnaire.

Presence of granulomas is associated with recurrence after surgery for Crohn's disease: experience of a surgical unit.

Background: The determinants for recurrence of Crohn's disease remain controversial. Eight factors that might predict recurrence were studied in 130 patients operated on for Crohn's disease over a 24-year period.

Methods: Separate survival curves were estimated for each variable.

Expression of the co-stimulatory molecule CD40 on melanoma cells.

We have previously shown that one of the co-factors required for generation of T-cell responses, B7.1, is variably expressed on melanoma cells. In the present studies we have examined the expression of another important co-factor in T-cell responses, viz.

Lamotrigine-induced toxic epidermal necrolysis treated with intravenous cyclosporin: a discussion of pathogenesis and immunosuppressive management.

There is growing evidence that the final common pathway of toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) is mediated by the cellular immune system which targets drug altered epithelial antigens. This provides a rationale for immunosuppressive therapy. The ideal regimen for quickly turning off epidermal damage in TEN has not yet been determined and the use or benefit of routine immunosuppression remains highly controversial.

Does gestational age misclassification explain the difference in birthweights for Australian aborigines and whites?

Background: After 34 weeks gestation, summary measures of location for birthweight (e.g means and centiles) increase more slowly for Australian Aborigines than for whites. A similar pattern has been observed for blacks in the US.

Biochemical isolation of a membrane microdomain from resting platelets highly enriched in the plasma membrane glycoprotein CD36.

Here we describe the isolation and characterization of a Triton X-100-insoluble fraction isolated from lysates of platelets by flotation in sucrose gradients. Transmission electron microscopy of the insoluble material revealed a heterogeneous population of vesicles ranging in size from 20 to 1000 nm, and Western blot analyses of platelet lysates for the caveolae structural coat protein, caveolin/VIP21, were negative. Biochemical characterization of the Triton X-100-insoluble fraction showed it to be cholesterol-rich, greatly and specifically enriched in the plasma membrane glycoprotein CD36, and also to contain Src and the Src-related kinase, Lyn.