A retrospective non-randomized study, comparing primary repair with colostomy, was made on a series of 102 patients with penetrating intraperitoneal colon injuries, in a war surgery programme in Cambodia. The overall case fatality rate (CFR) was 25.5%, whereas in the primary repair group CFR was 20%, compared to 30.8% in the colostomy group. The difference was not statistically significant (P =...

The crashes of four hijacked commercial planes on September 11, 2001, and the repeated televised images of the consequent collapse of the World Trade Center and one side of the Pentagon will inevitably change people's perceptions of the mortality risks to people on the ground from crashing airplanes. Goldstein and colleagues were the first to quantify the risk for Americans of being killed on t...

Influenza-associated encephalopathy (IAE) is a serious complication of influenza and is reported most frequently in Japan. This paper presents an assessment of the epidemiological characteristics of influenza A (H1N1) 2009-associated encephalopathy in comparison to seasonal IAE, based on Japanese national surveillance data of influenza-like illness (ILI) and IAE during flu seasons from 2004-200...

INTRODUCTION Acute paraquat (PQ) poisoning continues to be a major public health concern in many developing countries. This study was designed to evaluate the data on cases of acute PQ poisoning and compare the different variables between survivors and non-survivors. METHODS All patients of PQ poisoning who were admitted to the poisoning emergency department during the past five years were re...

OBJECTIVE To analyze the clinical-epidemiological profile and in-hospital death predictors of infectious meningitis patients admitted to a public hospital. METHODS There were studied 694 cases of meningitis notified and investigated by a public hospital's epidemiology service from 1986 to 2002, using the National Information System of Notifiable Diseases (SINAN) as part of the local routine o...

OBJECTIVE There are limited sources describing the global burden of emerging diseases. A review of human melioidosis reported by ProMED was performed and the reliability of the data retrieved assessed in comparison to published reports. The effectiveness of ProMED was evaluated as a source of epidemiological data by focusing on melioidosis. METHODS Using the keyword 'melioidosis' in the ProME...