Hysterical epidemic in a classroom

1973 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 366-373 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvio Benaim ◽  
John Horder ◽  
Jennifer Anderson

SYNOPSISAn epidemic of falling, confined to one single class of a large comprehensive school in a London suburb, is described. There were 24 adolescent girls in the class, all in the 16 to 17 age group, and the class was involved in examinations. The school authorities decided to close down the class one week before the end of term, when eight girls and a young locum teacher lay unconscious on the floor. Most of the girls affected belonged to the ‘in group’: the very bright, the Greek, the Jewish, and the one coloured girl were unaffected. Although the school refused permission for a sociometric investigation, information was obtained from the school medical officer, from two teachers, and from the two girls who were clearly the most powerful members of the class and the protagonists of the epidemic. They were both referred for medical treatment and, after all physical investigations had proved negative, they were both admitted to a psychiatric hospital for observation and treatment. Their case histories are given in some detail, together with a ‘confession’ written by the girl who started the epidemic. This same girl, during the course of her hospital admission, started a ‘pseudo-pregnancy epidemic’ in her ward. It was discovered that one member of the class had left the school during the course of the previous trimester because she had become pregnant. The epidemic, which appears to follow her childbirth and subsequent death from cerebral haemorrhage, lasted from December to the following July. Possible dynamic factors are discussed.

Author(s):  
Ritu Gupta ◽  
Ravinder K Gupta ◽  
Vallabh Dogra ◽  
Himani Badyal

Objective: To study the various beliefs and problems regarding menstruation among adolescent girls living in rural border areas. Design- Prospective study. Setting- Pediatric outpatient clinic. Materials and methods- About 200 adolescent girls (11-19 years) living in rural border areas were enrolled for the study. These girls were asked about menarche, duration of the cycle, amount of blood loss and the various menstrual problems. They were also asked about the various beliefs and myths regarding menstruation. The girls having any illness affecting the menstrual cycle or those suffering from neuropsychiatric disorders were excluded from this study. Results- About 51% of the study population was in the age group 17-18 years. About 43.5% of girls attained menarche at the age of 10-12 years. About 51% of girls did not know about menstruation before menarche. Abdominal pain was the most common side effect seen in 41% of girls during menstruation. About 61% of girls considered themselves unclean during menstruation.  Twenty percent avoided schools, 20% avoided kitchen, 12% avoided temples while 10% stayed away from friends/ relatives. Only 33% of girls knew that menstruation stops temporarily after becoming pregnant. Twenty-two percent girls were using sanitary napkins while the rest used different types of clothes during the menstrual cycle. Conclusion- There is a dire need to educate girls regarding menstruation before menarche in the rural border areas. Every mother should discuss in a friendly way regarding various aspects of menstruation.


2017 ◽  
Vol 68 (5) ◽  
pp. 1063-1069
Author(s):  
Cristina Simeanu ◽  
Daniel Simeanu ◽  
Anca Popa ◽  
Alexandru Usturoi ◽  
Dan Bodescu ◽  
...  

Polyodon spathula sturgeon breed is successfully reared in Romania in many fishery farms for meat production and it is capitalized on domestic market as consumption fish. In the current paper were studied a number of 1400 sturgeons from Polyodon spathula breed (1200 individuals of one summer - P.s.0+ and 200 individuals of fourth summers - P.s.3+). From this flock were weighted around 10%, for each age group, and for laboratory determinations were chosen 10 fishes for each age with the corporal mass close to the group mean. After analysing the fillets gathered from the studied fishes for establishing the chemical characteristics, nutritive and biological values of proteins were drawn some interesting conclusions. So, regarding chemical composition we notice that in the meat of analysed fishes water is in a rate of 75.41% at P.s.3+ and 78.37% for P.s.0+; proteins - between 18.08% for P.s.0+ and 19.89% for P.s.3+, values which place those fishes in the group of protein fishes; lipids - between 2.45% and 3.45%, values which situated those sturgeons in category of fishes with a low content in lipids; collagen � 3.83% at P.s.0+ and 4.14% at P.s.3+ which indicate low values for proteins of weak quality in the meat of those sturgeons. Study of nutritive value for the analysed fishes indicate the fact that fishes P.s.0+ have a mediocre nutritive value, having the ratio w/p of 4.33 while sturgeons P.s.3+ were placed in the 2nd category � fishes with a good nutritive value (rate w/p = 3.79). Energetic value of the studied fillets was 97.39 kcal/100 g for P.s.0+ and 114.31 kcal/100 g for P.s.3+, which enlightened an increase of nutritive value with aging, fact especially due to accumulation of adipose tissue. Study of proteins quality, through the presence of those 8 essential amino-acids in the meat of analysed fishes, show the fact that at sturgeons P.s.0+ proportion of essential amino-acids was 20.88% from total amino-acids, while at sturgeons P.s.3+ was 26.23%, fact which enlightened an increasing of proteins� biological value with fish aging. This fact was also shown by calculation of proteins� biological value through chemical methods (EAA index); calculated value for sturgeons P.s.0+ was a little bit lower (118.73) than the one calculated for sturgeons P.s.3+ (118.79).


2020 ◽  
Vol 79 (Suppl 1) ◽  
pp. 1076.1-1077
Author(s):  
L. Moroni ◽  
L. Giudice ◽  
G. A. Ramirez ◽  
S. Sartorelli ◽  
A. Cariddi ◽  
...  

Background:Subglottic stenosis (SGS) is defined as airway narrowing below the vocal cords and is a common and potentially life-threatening manifestation of Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis (GPA), with an estimated prevalence of 16-23% (1). Balloon catheter dilation is effective in GPA-related SGS, but relapses are frequent. Little is known about the role of immunosuppression in this setting.Objectives:to analyse the clinical characteristics of a monocentric GPA cohort, describe phenotype differences among patients with and without SGS and investigate the role of surgical and medical treatments on relapse risk and general outcome.Methods:Biopsy-proven patients with SGS were identified by review of medical charts among a cohort of patients with GPA, classified according to the algorithm of the European Medicine Agency (2). The clinical characteristics of patients with SGS were retrospectively collected over a median follow-up time of 15.9 years and compared to those of patients without SGS.Results:Fourteen patients with SGS-GPA were identified, with a female to male ratio of 1:1 and a prevalence of 29.2% among the cohort. The mean ± SD age at GPA onset was 30.8 ± 14.4 years, with a mean time from GPA diagnosis to SGS onset of 4.7 ± 4.2 years. ANCA were positive in 78.6% (54.0% anti-PR3, 18.1% anti-MPO and 27.9% IFI only). The mean Birmingham Vasculitis Activity Score (BVAS) at onset was 10.0 ± 5.6. The main clinical manifestations associated with SGS were crusty rhinitis (100%), sinusitis (78%), pulmonary disease (72.7%), otitis/mastoiditis (50%), glomerulonephritis (42.9%), orbital pseudotumor (28.6%). Six patients (42.9%) received medical treatment only, other six (42.9%) had one to three balloon dilations and two (14.2%) underwent four or more procedures. Eight patients had no SGS relapse (maximum one dilation) and they all received immunosuppression with rituximab (RTX), cyclophosphamide (CYC) or azathioprine (AZA). All patients who received no immunosuppression, methotrexate (MTX) or mycophenolate (MMF) had at least one relapse. Patients treated with MTX or MMF had a mean relapse-free survival of 13.1 months, which was comparable to the one of patients not receiving medical treatment (40.2 months; p=NS) and shorter than the one of patients receiving CYC or RTX (153.2 months; p=0.032). CYC use also inversely correlated with the number of surgical procedures (r=-0.691, p=0.006). Compared to patients without SGS (31 consecutive patients with at least 4 years of follow-up), patients with SGS-GPA had an earlier disease onset (mean age 30.8 vs 50.4 years; p<0.001), but with lower BVAS (mean 10.0 vs 15.3; p=0.013) and showed a higher prevalence of crusty rhinitis (100% vs 67.7%; p=0.019). No difference was observed in damage accrual over time between the two groups.Conclusion:Subglottic stenosis is highly prevalent in patients with GPA and may define a milder disease subset occurring more frequently in younger patients. MTX and MMF might be insufficient to prevent SGS relapses requiring balloon dilation. Aggressive immunosuppression (CYC or RTX) might have a non-redundant role in this setting and reduce the risk of relapses.References:[1]Quinn KA, et al. Subglottic stenosis and endobronchial disease in granulomatosis with polyangiitis. Rheumatology 2019; 58 (12), 2203-2211.[2]Watts R, et al. Development and validation of a consensus methodology for the classification of the ANCA associated vasculitides and polyarteritis nodosa for epidemiological studies. Ann Rheum Dis 2007; 66: 222-7.Disclosure of Interests:Luca Moroni: None declared, Laura Giudice: None declared, Giuseppe Alvise Ramirez: None declared, Silvia Sartorelli: None declared, adriana cariddi: None declared, Angelo Carretta: None declared, Enrica Bozzolo: None declared, Lorenzo Dagna Grant/research support from: The Unit of Immunology, Rheumatology, Allergy and Rare Diseases (UnIRAR) received unresctricted research/educational grants from Abbvie, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Celgene, Janssen, Merk Sharp & Dohme, Mundipharma Pharmaceuticals, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, Sanofi-Genzyme, and SOBI., Consultant of: Prof Lorenzo Dagna received consultation honoraria from Abbvie, Amgen, Biogen, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Celltrion, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, Sanofi-Genzyme, and SOBI.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad H. Al-Qahtani ◽  
Abdullah A. Yousef ◽  
Bassam H. Awary ◽  
Waleed H. Albuali ◽  
Mohammed A. Al Ghamdi ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The Emergency Repartment (ER) is one of the most used areas in healthcare institutions. Problems with over utilisation and overcrowding have been reported worldwide. This study aims at examining the characteristics of paediatric ER visits, the rate of hospital admissions and its associated predictors at King Fahd Hospital of the University in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. Methods This is a retrospective, medical record-based study. Variables included gender, age group, nationality, complaints, Triage level, shifts and seasons. Descriptive statistics were reported as frequencies/percentages. P-values were obtained through a Chi-Squared test while unadjusted and adjusted odds ratios were estimated by binary logistic regression, where admission was considered as the outcome. Results The total number of paediatric patients included was 46,374, and only 2.5% were admitted. Males comprised 55.4% while females comprised 44.6%. The most common age group were toddlers, and 92.4% of the total sample were Saudis. The most common complaint was fever (26.9%) followed by respiratory symptoms (24.9%). Only 7 patients (0.02%) were classified as triage I (Resuscitation), and most were triage IV (Less urgent) (71.0%). Most visits occurred during the winter months. Adjusted ORs showed that neonates had higher odds of admission (OR = 3.85, 95%CI = 2.57–5.76). Moreover, those presenting with haematological conditions showed an OR of 65.49 (95%CI = 47.85–89.64), followed by endocrine conditions showing an OR of 34.89 (95%CI = 23.65–51.47). Triage I had a very high odds of admission (OR = 19.02, 95%CI = 2.70–133.76), whereas triage V was associated with a very low odds of admission (OR = 0.30, 95%CI = 0.23–0.38). Conclusions A low rate of hospital admission was found in comparison with other rates worldwide. This was mostly attributed to an alarmingly high number of non-urgent ER visits. This further emphasises the problem with improper use of ER services, as these cases should be more appropriately directed towards primary healthcare centres. Further studies to examine the impact of prioritising patients in the ER based on the identified predictors of hospital admission, in addition to the standard triage system, are suggested.


2021 ◽  
pp. 109821402093194
Author(s):  
Timothy J. Weston ◽  
Charles N. Hayward ◽  
Sandra L. Laursen

Observations are widely used in research and evaluation to characterize teaching and learning activities. Because conducting observations is typically resource intensive, it is important that inferences from observation data are made confidently. While attention focuses on interrater reliability, the reliability of a single-class measure over the course of a semester receives less attention. We examined the use and limitations of observation for evaluating teaching practices, and how many observations are needed during a typical course to make confident inferences about teaching practices. We conducted two studies based on generalizability theory to calculate reliabilities given class-to-class variation in teaching over a semester. Eleven observations of class periods over the length of a semester were needed to achieve a reliable measure, many more than the one to four class periods typically observed in the literature. Findings suggest practitioners may need to devote more resources than anticipated to achieve reliable measures and comparisons.


2003 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 185-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anuradha Chowdhary ◽  
Rajlakshmi Bansal ◽  
Kirti Singh ◽  
Varinder Singh

A retrospective study was conducted on all histopathologically proven cases of ocular cysticercosis spanning a decade in a tertiary referral centre of North India. The symptomatology, presentation, complications and treatment therapies of 18 of these patients are discussed. The most common age group to be affected was 11–20 years (50%), while the most common site involved was subconjunctival (78%), followed by lid (11%). Spontaneous extrusion was documented in three cases. Medical treatment with albendazole under the cover of corticosteroids was found to be a useful adjunct to surgical excision.


Author(s):  
Robert E. Dundas

This paper is Part 1 of a two-part paper on the principles and methods of failure investigation in gas turbines. The qualities of a successful failure investigator are presented, and the most efficacious approaches to an investigation are discussed. An example of an aircraft accident that might have been avoided is used to support the necessity for thorough and conclusive investigations into failures. Two case histories involving heavy-duty industrial gas turbines are described to demonstrate different aspects of the logical approach to construction of hypotheses and the determination of the essential cause of a failure — the one event without which the failure would not have occurred.


Author(s):  
Максикова ◽  
Tatyana Maksikova ◽  
Бабанская ◽  
Evgeniya Babanskaya ◽  
Меньшикова ◽  
...  

Smoking is a significant risk factor of chronic noncommunicable diseases. Smoking prevalence is variable in different populations. A study of the prevalence of this risk factor allows to estimate its contribution to the development of cardiovascular pathology, to plan the necessary amount of medical care for people using tobacco, and to determine the effectiveness of prevention activities in the region. As a result of the study, smoking frequency in population of the Irkutsk region older 18years of age or over was established as 29.5%. The number of smokers increased with age, reaching maximum value of 38.6% in the group 30–39 years. Male smokers made maximum in the age group 30–39 years, women – in the age group of 18–19 years. The average age of smokers was 34 years, the one of nonsmokers – 43 years. The age difference was 9 years, and it was lower in the group of men than in the group of women (5 and 11 years, respectively). The number of the smoking men were 3 times larger, than women: 50.2% and 13.5%, respectively. Among persons with arterial hypertension, 22.1% were smoking with the maximum frequency of smoking in age groups from 20 to 49 years. These figures point to a considerable problem of smoking in the region.


Nutrients ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 1429 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sang-Youp Lee ◽  
Gucheol Jung ◽  
Myoung-jin Jang ◽  
Myung-Whan Suh ◽  
Jun Lee ◽  
...  

Coffee is the one of the most common beverages worldwide and has received considerable attention for its beneficial health effects. However, the association of coffee with hearing and tinnitus has not been well studied. The aim of this study was to investigate the association of coffee with hearing and tinnitus based on a national population-based survey. We evaluated hearing and tinnitus data from the 2009–2012 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and their relationship with a coffee consumption survey. All patients underwent a medical interview, physical examination, hearing test, tinnitus questionnaire and nutrition examination. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to examine the associations between coffee and hearing loss or tinnitus. We evaluated 13,448 participants (≥19 years) participants. The frequency of coffee consumption had a statistically significant inverse correlation with bilateral hearing loss in the 40–64 years age group. Daily coffee consumers had 50–70% less hearing loss than rare coffee consumers, which tended to be a dose-dependent relationship. In addition, the frequency of coffee consumption had an inverse correlation with tinnitus in the 19–64 years age group but its association was related with hearing. Brewed coffee had more of an association than instant or canned coffee in the 40–64 years age group. These results suggest a protective effect of coffee on hearing loss and tinnitus.


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