Fusariotoxicosis from barley in British Columbia. I. Natural occurrence and diagnosis. (1/1295)

Clinical sickness was observed in domestic ducks, geese, horses and swine during October 1973. All species showed upper alimentary distress with mortalities occurring in the geese. Barley derived from a common source had been fed. Examination of the barley revealed invasion by Fusarium spp and detection of a high level of dermatitic fusariotoxins.  (+info)

Fusariotoxicosis from barley in British Columbia. II. Analysis and toxicity of syspected barley. (2/1295)

Fusariotoxin T-2, a trichothecene, was tentatively identified in barley samples which caused field outbreaks of mycotoxicosis in British Columbia. Geese died when fed the contaminated barley experimentally but mice were little affected after long term feeding. The methods used in the laboratory for trichothecene extraction and identification of T-2 toxin are described.  (+info)

Some leptospira agglutinins detected in domestic animals in British Columbia. (3/1295)

During a period of six years 7,555 bovine sera, 421 canine sera, 251 porcine sera and 135 equine sera were tested for agglutinins to Leptospira interrogans serotypes canicola, grippotyphosa, hardjo, icterohemorrhagiae, pomona and sejroe. The bovine sera reacted predominantly with hardjo and/or sejroe at a rate of 15% compared to 3.5% with pomona. Breeding or abortion problems were associated with pomona but not with sejroe/hardjo agglutinins. The canine sera reacted to canicola (9.9%y and icterohemorrhagiae (5.4%), tcted predominantly with canicola (8.9%) and icterohemorrhagiae (8.1%).  (+info)

Screening Mammography Program of British Columbia: pattern of use and health care system costs. (4/1295)

BACKGROUND: The use of mammography for screening asymptomatic women has increased dramatically in the past decade. This report describes the changes that have occurred in the use of bilateral mammography in British Columbia since the provincial breast cancer screening program began in 1988. METHODS: Using province-wide databases from both the breast cancer screening program and the provincial health insurance plan in BC, the authors determined the number and costs of bilateral mammography services for women aged 40 years or older between Apr. 1, 1986, and Mar. 31, 1997. Unilateral mammography was excluded because it is used for investigating symptomatic disease and screening abnormalities, and for follow-up of women who have undergone mastectomy for cancer. RESULTS: As the provincial breast cancer screening program expanded from 1 site in 1988 to 23 in 1997, it provided an increasing proportion of the bilateral mammographic examinations carried out each year in BC. In fiscal year 1996/97, 65% of bilateral mammographic examinations were performed through the screening program. The cost per examination within the screening program dropped as volume increased. Thirty percent more bilateral mammography examinations were done in 1996/97 than in 1991/92, but health care system expenditures for these services increased by only 4% during the same period. In calendar year 1996, 21% of new breast cancers were diagnosed as a result of a screening program visit. INTERPRETATION: Substantial increases in health care expenditures have been avoided by shifting bilateral mammography services to the provincial screening program, which has a lower cost per screening visit.  (+info)

Pap screening clinics with native women in Skidegate, Haida Gwaii. Need for innovation. (5/1295)

PROBLEM ADDRESSED: First Nations women in British Columbia, especially elders, are underscreened for cancer of the cervix compared with the general population and are much more likely to die of the disease than other women. OBJECTIVE OF PROGRAM: To develop a pilot program, in consultation with community representatives, to address the Pap screening needs of First Nations women 40 years and older on a rural reserve. MAIN COMPONENTS OF PROGRAM: Identification of key links to the population; consultation with the community to design an outreach process; identification of underscreened women; implementation of community Pap screening clinics; evaluation of the pilot program. CONCLUSIONS: We developed a Pap screening outreach program that marked a departure from the usual screening approach in the community. First Nations community health representatives were key links for the process that involved family physicians and office staff at a local clinic on a rural reserve. Participation rate for the pilot program was 48%, resulting in an increase of 15% over the previously recorded screening rate for this population. More screening clinics of this type and evaluation for sustainability are proposed.  (+info)

Variation by body mass index and age in waist-to-hip ratio associations with glycemic status in an aboriginal population at risk for type 2 diabetes in British Columbia, Canada. (6/1295)

BACKGROUND: It is unclear whether obesity and age modify or confound relations between abdominal adiposity and metabolic risk factors for type 2 diabetes. OBJECTIVE: Our objective was assess the consistency of relations between abdominal adiposity and glycemic variables across discrete categories of obesity and age. DESIGN: We performed a stratified analysis of prevalence data from a rural screening initiative in British Columbia, Canada. Subjects were Salishan Indians, all healthy relatives of individuals with type 2 diabetes [n = 151; age: 18-80 y; body mass index (BMI, in kg/m2): 17.0-48.2]. We measured waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) (2 categories); insulin, glycated hemoglobin (Hb A1c), and 2-h glucose concentrations (2 categories); and BMI (4 categories). BMI and age-specific odds ratios (ORs) and 95% CIs were calculated. RESULTS: WHR-glycemic variable relations were not consistent across BMI and age strata. Risks associated with high WHR were: for persons with BMIs from 25 to 29, elevated insulin (OR: 6.71; 95% CI: 1.41, 34.11) and Hb A1c (OR: 16.23; 95% CI: 2.04, 101.73) concentrations; for persons aged 18-34 y, elevated insulin concentrations [OR: indeterminate (+infinity); 95% CI: 1.89, +infinity]; and, for persons aged 35-49 y, elevated Hb A1c (OR: +infinity; 95% CI: 3.17, +infinity) and 2-h glucose (OR: 9.15; 95% CI: 1.74, 59.91) concentrations. CONCLUSIONS: WHR discriminates risk of type 2 diabetes in overweight but not obese individuals. Abdominal adiposity is associated with elevated insulin concentrations in younger age groups and with impaired glucose control in middle-aged groups, suggesting metabolic staging by age on a continuum from insulin resistance to impaired glucose tolerance.  (+info)

Relative virulence of three isolates of Piscirickettsia salmonis for coho salmon Oncorhynchus kisutch. (7/1295)

Piscirickettsia salmonis was first recognized as the cause of mortality among pen-reared coho salmon Oncorhynchus kisutch in Chile. Since the initial isolation of this intracellular Gram-negative bacterium in 1989, similar organisms have been described from several areas of the world, but the associated outbreaks were not reported to be as serious as those that occurred in Chile. To determine if this was due to differences in virulence among isolates of P. salmonis, we conducted an experiment comparing isolates from Chile, British Columbia, Canada, and Norway (LF-89, ATL-4-91 and NOR-92, respectively). For each of the isolates, 3 replicates of 30 coho salmon were injected intraperitoneally with each of 3 concentrations of the bacterium. Negative control fish were injected with MEM-10. Mortalities were collected daily for 41 d post-injection. Piscirickettsiosis was observed in fish injected with each of the 3 isolates, and for each isolate, cumulative mortality was directly related to the concentration of bacterial cells administered. The LF-89 isolate was the most virulent, with losses reaching 97% in the 3 replicates injected with 10(5.0) TCID50, 91% in the replicates injected with 10(4.0) TCID50, and 57% in the fish injected with 10(3.0) TCID50. The ATL-4-91 isolate caused losses of 92% in the 3 replicates injected with 10(5.0) TCID50, 76% in the fish injected with 10(4.0) TCID50, and 32% in those injected with 10(3.0) TCID50. The NOR-92 isolate was the least virulent, causing 41% mortality in the replicates injected with 10(4.6) TCID50. At 41 d post-injection, 6% of the fish injected with 10(3.6) TCID50 NOR-92 had died. Mortality was only 2% in the fish injected with 10(2.6) TCID50 NOR-92, which was the same as the negative control group. Because the group injected with the highest concentration (10(4.6) TCID50) of NOR-92 was still experiencing mortality at 41 d, it was held for an additional 46 d. At 87 d post-injection, the cumulative mortality in this group had reached 70%. These differences in virulence among the isolates were statistically significant (p < 0.0001), and are important for the management of affected stocks of fish.  (+info)

Improved survival among HIV-infected patients after initiation of triple-drug antiretroviral regimens. (8/1295)

BACKGROUND: The efficacy of triple-drug antiretroviral regimens in the treatment of patients infected with HIV has been established in several randomized clinical trials. However, the effectiveness of these new regimens in patient populations outside clinical trials remain unproven. This study compared mortality and AIDS-free survival among HIV-infected patients in British Columbia who were treated with double- and triple-drug regimens. METHODS: The authors used a prospective, population-based cohort design to study a population of HIV-positive men and women 18 years or older for whom antiretroviral therapy was first prescribed between Oct. 1, 1994, and Dec. 31, 1996; all patients were from British Columbia. Rates of progression from the initiation of antiretroviral therapy to death or to diagnosis of primary AIDS were determined for patients who initially received an ERA-II regimen (2 nucleoside analogue reverse transcriptase inhibitors [NRTIs] including lamivudine or stavudine, or both) and for those who initially received an ERA-III regimen (triple-drug regimen consisting of 2 NRTIs and a protease inhibitor [indinavir, ritonavir or saquinavir] or a non-NRTI [nevirapine]). RESULTS: A total of 500 men and women (312 receiving an ERA-III regimen and 188 an ERA-III regimen) were eligible. Patients in the ERA-III group survived significantly longer than those in the ERA-II group. As of Dec. 31, 1997, 40 patients had died (35 in the ERA-II group and 5 in the ERA-III group), for a crude mortality rate of 8.0%. The cumulative mortality rates at 12 months were 7.4% (95% confidence interval [CI] 5.9% to 8.9%) for patients in the ERA-II group and 1.6% (95% CI 0.7% to 2.5%) for those in the ERA-III group (log rank p = 0.003). The likelihood of death was more than 3 times higher among patients in the ERA-II group (mortality risk ratio 3.82 [95% CI 1.48% to 9.84], p = 0.006). After adjustment for prophylaxis for Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia or Mycobacterium avium infection, AIDS diagnosis, CD4+ cell count, sex and age at initiation of therapy, the likelihood of death among patients in the ERA-II group was 3.21 times higher (95% CI 1.24 to 8.30, p = 0.016) than in the ERA-III group. Cumulative rates of progression to AIDS or death at 12 months were 9.6% (95% CI 7.7% to 11.5%) in the ERA-II group and 3.3% (95% CI 1.8% to 4.8%) in the ERA-III group (log rank p = 0.006). After adjustment for prognostic variables (prophylaxis for P. carinii pneumonia or M. avium infection, CD4+ cell count, sex and age at initiation of treatment), the likelihood of progression to AIDS or death at 12 months among patients in the ERA-II group was 2.37 times higher (95% CI 1.04 to 5.38, p = 0.040) than in the ERA-III group. INTERPRETATION: This population-based cohort study confirms that patients initially treated with a triple-drug antiretroviral regimen comprising 2 NRTIs plus protease inhibitor or a non-NRTI have a lower risk of morbidity and death than patients treated exclusively with 2 NRTIs.  (+info)

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