OBJECTIVE This report describes ambulatory care visits to hospital emergency departments in the United States. Statistics are presented on selected patient and visit characteristics. METHODS The data presented in this report were collected from the 1995 National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS). NHAMCS is part of the ambulatory care component of the National Health Care Survey...

Many epidemiological studies have shown positive short-term associations between health and current levels of outdoor air pollution. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between air pollution and the number of visits to accident and emergency (A&E) departments in London for respiratory complaints. A&E visits include the less severe cases of acute respiratory disease and are ...

BACKGROUND To examine risk factors for asthma patients' emergency room (ER) visits in a well organized asthma care setting. METHODS A random sample of 344 asthma patients from a Pulmonary Clinic of a University Hospital were followed through medical records from 1995 to 2006. All the ER visits due to dyspnea, respiratory infections, chest pain, and discomfort were evaluated. RESULTS The mea...

BACKGROUND The incidence and outcomes of respiratory viral infections in lung transplant recipients (LTR) are not well defined. The objective of this prospective study conducted from June 2008 to March 2011 was to characterise the incidence and outcomes of viral respiratory infections in LTR. METHODS Patients were seen in three contexts: study-specific screenings covering all seasons; routine...

In this study, we describe the first response regulator of S. suis serotype 2, designated RevS. RevS was cloned and the sequence was determined. No histidine kinase was found in the vicinity of revS, therefore RevS was considered to be an orphan response regulator. An isogenic knock-out mutant of RevS was shown to be attenuated in colonizing the S. suis specific organs in a competitive assay in...

The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has established a syndromic surveillance system that monitors emergency department visits to detect disease outbreaks early. Routinely collected chief complaint information is transmitted electronically to the health department daily and analyzed for temporal and spatial aberrations. Respiratory, fever, diarrhea, and vomiting are the key...

UNLABELLED Asthma is the most frequent cause of chronic illness in childhood and emergency department visits. This study aims to determine the frequency of emergency room (ER) visits, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, and nocturnal attacks among asthmatic children and to identify associated factors. Records of asthmatic children in the pediatric chest clinic, Ain Shams University during 1995...

Recent studies have associated short-term exposure to respirable particulate matter (PM(10)) and sulphur dioxide (SO(2)) with peak flow decrements, increased symptoms of respiratory irritation, increased use of asthma medications, and increased admission and hospitalization for asthma. To further delineate the association between SO(2), PM(10) exposure and asthmatic response, we compiled daily ...

BACKGROUND This study documented elevated rates of emergency room (ER) visits for acute upper and lower respiratory infections and asthma-related conditions in the children of Quito, Ecuador associated with the eruption of Guagua Pichincha in April of 2000. METHODS We abstracted 5169 (43% females) ER records with primary respiratory conditions treated from January 1-December 27, 2000 and exam...