Type 1 diabetes mellitus in the African population: epidemiology and management challenges. (25/82)

Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus (T1DM) is a growing concern worldwide; while there has been a great improvement in the knowledge, epidemiology and management of this condition in the developed worlds, there has been little or no improvement in sub-Saharan Africa. The true burden of this disease is not even known, but a difference in the pattern and outcome of T1DM in the sub-Saharan Africa compared to the western World seems to be present. Moreover, much of the available data is not population-based and is of limited value for making generalizations about Diabetes in children of Sub-Saharan Africa. Despite the limitations, there is evidence that these populations may be important for studying the aetiology and natural history of Type 1 diabetes. Effective management and/or prevention of diabetes and its complications in Sub-Saharan African children should adopt multidisciplinary approaches. In order to improve care for diabetes patients in developing countries, specialized clinics need to be established.  (+info)

Uropathogens from diabetic patients in Libya: virulence factors and phylogenetic groups of Escherichia coli isolates. (26/82)

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Plague outbreak in the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya. (27/82)

Plague is circulating regularly in localised areas worldwide, causing sporadic cases outside Africa and remains endemic or causes limited outbreaks in some African countries. Furthermore, some notable outbreaks have been reported in Asia in the last 20 years. A limited outbreak with five cases has recently been notified by the health authorities of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya.  (+info)

Incidence of mandibular fractures in Eastern part of Libya. (28/82)

The objective of this retrospective study is to evaluate the incidence of mandibular fractures in the eastern part of Libya and to present our experience in treating this type of facial fracture. We analyzed factors such as the incidence of age, sex, time distribution, cause and site of the fracture and the associated injuries in 493 patients presenting a total of 666 mandibular fractures. These patients were treated at Al-Jala Trauma Hospital, Benghazi-Libya between 2000 and 2006. The results were obtained from 432 males and 61 females, for which the ages ranged from 8 months to 72 years. The maximum number of the patients was recorded in 2004, and the busiest month was May. The most common cause of fracture was road traffic accidents and the most common site was the parasymphysis. Among those treated with closed reduction were 241 patients, whereas 201 patients were treated with open reduction. In conclusion, we found that the results were similar to most studies from developing countries and were in contrast to other studies. This may be due factors such as geography, socioeconomic trends, religion, road traffic legislation and seasons, which differ from one country to another. The period during which there was an embargo in Libya also appears to have affected the results.  (+info)

Seroprevalence of parvovirus B19 among pregnant women in Tripoli, Libya. (29/82)

BACKGROUND: Human parvovirus B19 has been implicated as a primary etiologic agent of erythema infectiosum (fifth disease) and aplastic crisis in patients with chronic haemolytic anemias. Human parvovirus B19 is known to be associated with adverse effects on fetuses such as hydrops fetalis, intrauterine fetal death, and chronic anaemia in immunocompromized individuals. The objective of this study was to assess the seroprevalence of human parvovirus B19 among the pregnant women in Tripoli, Libya. METHODOLOGY: A total number of 150 participants were included in the study, consisting of women of child-bearing age ranging from 18 to 41 years, and divided into age groups as follows: < or = 21 years, 22-27, 28-32, 33-37, and > or = 38 years. Specific IgM and IgG antibodies were measured using a commercial ELISA kit. RESULTS: IgG was observed to be prevalent (61%) among the women of child-bearing age. The sero-prevalence of IgM was found to be 5% overall and there was no detectable IgM in the age group between 33 and 37. CONCLUSION: The presence of IgG and absence of IgM indicate immunity to primary infection, but a significant percentage of child-bearing aged women are at risk of primary infection with parvovirus B19 which could adversely affect their pregnancy.  (+info)

Mutation of the prion protein in Libyan Jews with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. (30/82)

BACKGROUND: Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is a transmissible neurodegenerative disorder that occurs more than 100 times more frequently among Libyan Jews than in the worldwide population. We examined 11 patients with the disease--10 Libyan Jews from Israel and 1 Libyan Jew from Italy--to determine whether abnormalities of the prion protein could be detected in them. Abnormal forms of this host-encoded protein are the predominant if not sole components of the transmissible agent that causes the disease. METHODS: The prion-protein open-reading frame in peripheral-leukocyte DNA from the Italian patient was amplified with the polymerase chain reaction and sequenced. Allele-specific oligonucleotide hybridization was used to assess a prion-protein codon 200 lysine mutation in the 10 Israeli patients and 37 control subjects. RESULTS: The prion-protein sequence in DNA from the Italian patient revealed a single nucleotide change (G----A) at the first position of codon 200 that resulted in a substitution of lysine for glutamate. This substitution was detected in all 10 Israeli patients, 8 of whom had a positive family history of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. One patient was homozygous for the lysine mutation, and her clinical course did not differ from that of the patients heterozygous for the mutation. The lysine mutation was not found in one Moroccan Jew from Israel with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. CONCLUSIONS: The codon 200 lysine mutation of the prion-protein gene is consistently present among Libyan Jews with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, strongly supporting a genetic pathogenesis of their illness. The similarity of the clinical courses of the patient homozygous for this mutation and the patients heterozygous for it argues that familial Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is a true dominant disorder.  (+info)

Rapidly progressive Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in patients with Familial Mediterranean Fever. (31/82)

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Maternal and neonatal seroprevalence of Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) in Tripoli, Libya. (32/82)

BACKGROUND: Pregnant women with Hepatitis B virus HBV represent a major reservoir of the virus in the community. Data regarding the prevalence of HBV in pregnant women and maternal transmission of the virus in Libya are lacking. METHODOLOGY: Hepatitis blood samples from 1,500 pregnant women and 1,500 cord blood samples of their neonates delivered at Tripoli Medical Center, Tripoli, were tested for HBsAg by ELISA technique. HBsAg-positive samples were also tested for HBeAg. RESULTS: HBsAg was detected in 1.5% (23/1,500) pregnant women and in 0.9% (14/1,500) neonates. Although HBsAg was detected at higher rate in pregnant women aged > 25 years [1.8% (22/1,235)] than in pregnant women aged < 25 years [0.4% (1/265)], the difference was not statistically significant (P > 0.05). All HBsAg-positive neonates were born to HBsAg-positive mothers with a rate of maternal transmission at 60.9% (14/23). HBeAg was detected in 21.7% (5/23) and in 7.1% (1/14) of HBsAg-positive pregnant women and neonates, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Because of the high risk of developing chronic HBV infection at birth among infants born to HBsAg-positive mothers, administration of HBIG in combination with hepatitis B vaccine as post-exposure prophylaxis for such infants is of paramount importance. In addition, universal HBsAg screening of all pregnant women will greatly assist in reducing the maternal transmission of HBV in the country.  (+info)