BACKGROUND Latent toxoplasmosis, protozoan parasitosis with prevalence rates from 20 to 60% in most populations, is known to impair reaction times in infected subjects, which results, for example, in a higher risk of traffic accidents in subjects with this life-long infection. Two recent studies have reported that RhD-positive subjects, especially RhD heterozygotes, are protected against latent...

BACKGROUND Acute rheumatic fever (ARF) and rheumatic heart disease (RHD) remain significant causes of morbidity and mortality in resource-limited settings. In Zimbabwe ARF/RHD characteristics have not been systematically documented. OBJECTIVES To document cases of ARF/RHD among children presenting at referral hospitals in Harare, Zimbabwe, determine their clinical and echocardiographic charac...

This research provides further data regarding non-literal language comprehension following right hemisphere damage (RHD). To assess the impact of RHD on the processing of non-literal language, ten participants presenting with RHD and ten matched healthy control participants were administered tasks tapping humour appreciation and pragmatic interpretation of non-literal language. Although the RHD...

Not all cases of rheumatic fever (RF) end up as rheumatic heart disease (RHD). The fact raises the possibility of existence of a subgroup with characteristics that prevent RF patients from developing the RHD. The present study aimed at exploring the risk factors among patients with RHD. The study assessed the risk of RHD among people both with and without RF. In total, 103 consecutive RHD patie...

BACKGROUND The objective was to evaluate the diagnostic value of RHD fetal genotyping from the plasma of D- mothers as soon as 10 weeks' gestation in a routine clinical practice in Belgium. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS A prospective study was conducted between November 2002 and December 2006. DNA extraction was performed in an automated closed tube system. Fetal RHD/SRY genotypes were detected in...

Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) is a preventable non-communicable condition that disproportionately affects the world's poorest and most vulnerable. The World Heart Federation Roadmap for improved RHD control is a resource designed to help a variety of stakeholders raise the profile of RHD nationally and globally, and provide a framework to guide and support the strengthening of national, regiona...

We examined whether deficits in planning and control during a manual collision avoidance task in children with hemiparesis are associated with damage to the left or right hemisphere (LHD and RHD). Children pushed a doll across a scale-size road between two approaching toy cars. Movement onset and velocity served as indicators of planning and control. In Experiment 1, children with hemiparesis c...

BACKGROUND Globally, rheumatic heart disease (RHD) remains an important cause of heart disease. In Australia it particularly affects older non-Indigenous Australians and Aboriginal Australians and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples. Factors associated with the choice of treatment for advanced RHD remain variable and poorly understood. METHODS The Australian and New Zealand Society of Cardiac a...

BACKGROUND Since its introduction in the 1960s Anti-D immunoglobulin (Anti-D Ig) has been highly successful in reducing the incidence of haemolytic disease of the fetus and newborn (HDFN) and achieving improvements to maternal and fetal health. It has protected women from other invasive interventions during pregnancy and prevented deaths and damage amongst newborns and is a technology which has...