Showing papers by "Pan American Health Organization published in 1976"

Dental caries experience in the deciduous dentition of rural Guatemalan children ages 6 months to 7 years.

Abstract: A study of 528 Guatemalan children indicated that caries prevalence in the deciduous dentition was twice as great as but in the permanent dentition was similar to that for US white children. This is a repeated observation for children of some preindustrial societies. Caries experience was significantly greater in boys. Until 4 years of age, caries attack was greater in the anterior segment of the oral cavity; linear enamel hypoplasia was a predisposing factor.

Alcoholism in Latin America

Abstract: For the purposes of this discussion. the name Latin America will be used in reference to that part of the Americas that extends from Mexico south to the Antarctic. Excluding the area's former and current British, American, and Dutch possessions, the region includes 21 independent countries and five overseas French territories. At present. its total population is about 300 million. With an average annual growth rate of 2.9Yc. this number is expected to double before the end of the century. It is pertinent to note here that Latin America, as a whole, qualifies among the regions of the world that are a t early stages of social development. Allowing for some subregional differences. its demographic and social characteristics are, by and large, typical o f the developing countries. Such conditions must be considered when attempting to approach and evaluate any health problem that affects its population. For instance. close to 50%) of Latin Americans are still living dispersed or isolated in small rural communities of less than 2000 people.' O n the other hand, the industrial development process is provoking active internal migrations, and the large urban centers of the region are growing a t an alarming pace. SHo Paulo, Brazil offers a good example: its population has doubled in less than 20 years. There are a t present 15 cities with more than one million inhabitants on the Continent. Understandably, s ixable sectors of such urban agglomerations are poorly organized. poorly serviced, and present rather high degrees of social pathology. The distribution by age groups in the Latin American population shows differences from that of more developed areas. FIGUKE 1 indicates that 42% of Latin Americans are less than 15 years old. whereas this age group amounts to only 29% of the total population in North America. The older age groups (above 45 years), on the other hand. have a larger representation in the latter (30 vs 14%). This finding is consistent with the higher birthrate and shorter life expectancy observed in Latin Arne rica. 1-here are clear indications that overall health and sanitary conditions are poorer in this Continent than in the more developed regions. In 1972, infective and parasitic diseases were responsible for 19% of all deaths. whereas in North America. this figure was less than 1%. This situation is more easily understood when one considers that in 1973. a mere 39.5% of the urban and 4.3% of the rural inhabitants of Latin America were registered as receiving the services of water and sewerage systems. The general conditions of poverty in which the people of the Continent live become evident when examining child mortality and malnutrition rates. In 1972. 35.15$, of all deaths in Latin America were individuals under 5 years of age, as compared to only 4.1% in North America. In the same year, the ratio of deaths due to avitaminoses and other nutritional deficiencies was I i 100,000 in Canada and the

Survival of hydatid cysts after puncturing.

Abstract: The release of antigens from hydatid cysts, essential for the induction of a detectable host antibody response, is considered to depend on alterations in the physical integrity of the cyst germinal membrane. This explanation, however, does not account for the detection of serologic responses in persons harbouring hyaline cysts unless it were possible for membrane microfissures to arise and provide an antigenic stimulus without adversely affecting cyst viability. The results of the present study have demonstrated that hydatid cysts are able to survive when experimentally punctured in vitro or in vivo. These findings on the capacity of hyaline cysts to repair or recuperate from a microfissure are consistent with the detection of antibody responses in persons harbouring hyaline hydatid cysts with apparently intact membranes and with the hypothesis of an association between integrity of cyst membranes and degree of host immunological responses.

Malaria eradication in Guyana.

Abstract: Over the past 25 years, many malaria eradication campaigns have been launched throughout the world with varying degrees of success. Malaria eradication has been achieved in a number of countries of the temperate zone and in some tropical island territories. Under continental conditions in the tropics, however, results, even if brilliant, have only been partial and to date no country has been able to claim eradication throughout its national territory. Seven years ago, this goal was attained in Guyana; over the period 1969-1972 in spite of greatly curtailed antimalarial activities, the disease has been reduced to a localized frontier problem, the cases recorded being due to infections either imported or introduced from outside the national territory. Guyana has an area of 215,025 square kilometres, and lies between 1° and 8° North Latitude and 56° and 61° West Longitude; it has a typical equatorial climate with high rainfall, distributed in two rainy seasons; it also has a uniform high temperature and high humidity. It is wedged between Venezuela, Brazil, and Surinam and its international boundaries extend over 2,500 kilometres through inaccessible areas sparsely inhabited by semi-nomadic Amerindians. In 1972 the population of the territory

Wildlife Disease Curricula in North American Universities

Abstract: A brief review of the history of the Wildlife Disease Association is presented, together with a discussion of the various institutions in North America offering training in wildlife diseases In tabular form, a list of these institutions and their specialty is enumerated It is stressed that the future positive development in the field of Wildlife Diseases is represented by quality in education

Hyporiboflvinosis in rural and urban pre‐school age children in Northeast Brazil

Abstract: Dietary, biochemical, and clinical data have indicated that hyporiboflavinosis is a problem in Brazil. Since few studies have been done in Northeast Brazil on the pre‐school age child, a detailed study was conducted on preschool age children living in Recife and in a rural area. Both dietary and biochemical data indicated that the pre‐school age children living in a rural area (engenhos) had a lower intake and excretion of riboflavin compared with children living in Recife (Santa Terezinha). The probable reason for the observation is the higher milk consumption of the pre‐school age children in Santa Terezinha. These data confirm other nutrition studies in that the riboflavin status is better in pre‐school children living in Recife as compared to those living in the sugar cane area of northeast Brazil. Studies have been started at the Nutrition Institute, Recife, Brazil, to examine the effects of supplementation of sugar with riboflavin.