Organophosphate compounds are commonly used as insecticides in rural areas and powerful warfare agents by military personnel. These agents inhibit cholinesterases especially acetylcholinesterase and accumulate acetylcholine causing muscarinic, nicotinic and central nervous system manifestations. Currently, drugs such as atropine, oximes and benzodiazepine are used to treat these symptoms. But t...

(CWP) in the USA over the last 30 years. They then state, ‘Similar trends have been noted in Europe’. We would like to expand on this statement in respect of our experience here in the UK. In the UK coal mining industry, health surveillance (by chest X-ray) has been provided, over the last four decades, initially at 5 year, and since 1974, 4 year intervals. The prevalence of CWP among employed ...

Enzyme therapy for the prevention and treatment of organophosphate poisoning depends on the availability of large amounts of cholinesterases. Transgenic plants are being evaluated for their efficiency and cost-effectiveness as a system for the bioproduction of therapeutically valuable proteins. Here we report production of a recombinant isoform of human acetylcholinesterase in transgenic tomato...

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Ciguatera is a common form of fish poisoning, endemic in all nations of the Pacific region. Several thousand cases have been notified to Queensland authorities over a 10-year period. However, many cases remain undiagnosed and most go unreported. The public health implications include raising awareness of the condition, ensuring that ciguatera is considered in differential diagnosis and promotin...

The distinction between true and suspected poisoning in children has not been made clear in previous work on childhood poisoning. A study of suspected poisoning in children under 15 years of age in a defined population of North East Bristol from November 1970 to July 1973 carried out by the Health Education Council Medical Research Division included 53,000 child-years at risk. The number of sus...