Otitis media (OM), one of the commonest of childhood diseases, causes much suffering. OM exists in a variety of forms, two of which are acute otitis media (AOM) and otitis media with effusion (OME). The clinical courses of these conditions differ, AOM usually presenting with earache, fever and/or aural discharge, and the OME usually with hearing impairment. The tympanic membrane (TM) mirrors th...

OBJECTIVE Clinical case definitions used for influenza surveillance among hospitalized patients vary and need systematic evaluation. DESIGN, SETTING AND SAMPLE: During July 2009-August 2011, we collected clinical data and specimens (nasal and throat swabs) from rural patients hospitalized for acute medical illnesses. Specimens were tested by rRT-PCR for influenza viruses. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE...

INTRODUCTION Reports on children with Ramsay Hunt syndrome are limited in the literature, resulting in uncertainty regarding the clinical manifestations and outcome of this syndrome. Treatment for Ramsay Hunt syndrome is usually with antivirals, although there is no evidence for beneficial effect on the outcome of Ramsay Hunt syndrome in adults (insufficient data on children exists). Here, we r...

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to measure the impact of a simple parent health literacy intervention on emergency department and primary care clinic usage patterns. METHODS Study participants consisted of parents who brought their children to the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center pediatric emergency department for nonurgent complaints. Study participants filled out questionnaires regarding thei...

OBJECTIVE To document whether elements of a structured history and examination predict adverse outcome of acute sore throat. DESIGN Prospective clinical cohort. SETTING Primary care. PARTICIPANTS 14,610 adults with acute sore throat (≤ 2 weeks' duration). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Common suppurative complications (quinsy or peritonsillar abscess, otitis media, sinusitis, impetigo or celluli...

BACKGROUND Skull base osteomyelitis is an uncommon disease that usually complicates a malignant external otitis with temporal bone involvement. It affects predominantly diabetic and immunocompromised males and has a high mortality rate. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is the most common causative organism. Currently, there is no consensus about the best therapeutic option. Here we describe a case of sev...

Natural products play an important role in drug discovery and many approved therapeutics as well as drug candidates have been derived from natural sources. They have been the source of most of the active ingredients of medicines. The beneficial medicinal effects of plant materials typically result from the combinations of secondary products present in the plan. These secondary metabolites const...

Children, 4-6 years old, 153 Caucasian and 50 African-American, from a pre-school and kindergarten programme in a low income industrial area, who participated in a voluntary oral health examination, were questioned and examined for signs and symptoms of craniomandibular disorders (CMD) and of oral parafunctions. Most of the CMD signs and symptoms were mild. Eight per cent had recurrent (at leas...

INTRODUCTION Disorders of the nose and paranasal sinuses are among the most common chronic illnesses. Although considerable progress has been made in the medical and surgical control of these diseases, a large number of questions relating to the diagnosis, evaluation, and treatment of these conditions remain unanswered. The aim of the present study was to evaluate differences in the frequency o...

BACKGROUND Traditional remedies are an integral part of Colombian culture. Here we present the results of a three-year study of ethnopharmacology and folk-medicine use among the population of the Atlantic Coast of Colombia, specifically in department of Bolívar. We collected information related to different herbal medicinal uses of the local flora in the treatment of the most common human disea...