The Histo-pathological and Histo-chemical Studies on the Effects of Acute and Chronic Carbon Monoxide Poisoning in Gestated Rat Uterus

Carbon monoxide poisoning is very common home accident and one of the main health hazards in Korea, since Koreans use anthracite coal briquette as domestic fuel. Among the many harmful effects of CO poisoning, it is noteworthy that it increases the pregnancy wastage rate and, in milder cases, impedes the fetal development. But, in spite of the importance of the CO poisoning in pregnancy, there have been very few reports on the histo-pathological changes. which happen in the uterus of pregnant woman. This study was designed to investigate the histo-pathological and histo-chemical changes of CO poisoning in gestated uterus. Gestated rats exposed to carbon monoxide gas of 4, 500~5, OOOppm for 20 minutes at the 16th Gestation day comprise acute CO poisoning group. Chronic poisoning group were exposed to CO· gas of 400ppm for 8 hours from 13th to 16th day of the Gestation, therefore the total duration of exposure was 32 hours. Among twenty three rats in each group, eight were sacrificed at the end of the exposure to observe the changes at the moment. The rest fifteen were observed at the 20th gestation day that is just before the spontaneous delivery. And, as control groups, eight gestated rats were observed at the 16th day and thirty at the 20th day of the gestation. The plain H&E staining and also histo-chemical' staining were made to observe the extracted rat uteri. Investigated enzymes were NADH diaphorase, SDH,_ LIm, alkaline phosphatase, and acid phosphatase. Following results were observed: 1. In acute poisoning group sacrificed at the 16th day, fibrinoid necrosis and infiltration of lymphatic cells were observed in subplacental myometrium, and the congestion was found in the inner myometrium. In chronic exposure group, the common finding wasmild congestion. In acute exposure group observed at the 20th day, myometrium showed mild congestion and lymphatic infiltration, but in chronic exposure group, there was no difference from normal control group of the same date. 2. The activity of NADH diaphorase was reduced in both acute and chronic groups at the 16th day. It regained the normal value at the 20th day. 3. The activity of SDH was reduced in both acute and chronic exposure groups at the 16th day, but it returned to the level of normal control group at the 20th day. 4. The activity of LDH was reduced in acute ex' posure group at the 16th day, but increased in chronic exposure group of the same date. At the 20th day, both showed no difference from normal control group. 5. The activity of alkaline phosphatase was redu-ced in both groups at the 16th day. At the 20th day there was no difference between poisoning groups .and control group. 6. The activity of acid phosphatase was low at the 16th day, but it showed almost same level with normal control group at 20th day

An Epidemiological Investigation on the Outbreak of Diarrheal Illness in an Urban Slum Area in Seoul

From April 24 to June 4, 1979, an outbreak of diarrheal illness was observed in an urban slum area in SeouL For the purpose of elucidation of the causal mechanism of the causative agent and the mode of transmission in this outbreak, the authors tried an epidemiological investigation. Following conclusions are drawn: L By questionnaire survey 97 cases with diarrheal illness were detected. In three among seven diarrheal cases whose stool specimen could be collected, Shigella flexneri was confirmed by microbiological examination. 2. This illness was clinically characterized by dlarrhea, tenesmus, abdominal cramp and fever. Median duration of illness in the detected cases was five days. 3. Incidence rate in surveyed population was 6.7 %. Especially, incidence rate of 0~4 year age group was extremely high as 29.3%. Incidence rate by sex was not significantly different. 4. Incidence rate was 9.1% in population using simple piped water supply system. Difference of incidence rate between these two groups was highly significant (p<O.OO. Conclusively, simple piped water supply system played an important role as common vehicle in the outbreak of this diarrheal illness