Eye protection practices and symptoms among welders in the Limpopo Province of South Africa+

Welding is associated with several ocular and systemic hazards especially where adequate protective measures are not taken.  The purpose of this project was to study the eye protection practices and symptoms among welders in the Capricorn District of Limpopo Province, South Africa. Questionnaires designed to investigate eye protection practices and symptoms experienced were completed byone hundred and fifty (150) welders. The types of welding done were shielded metal arc (84%), oxyacetylene gas (4%) and silver brazing (12%). The number of years spent in the welding industry ranged from one to 10 years with a mean of 5 ± 3.1 years and the number of hours of welding per day ranged from one to 10 hours with a mean of 6 ± 2.1 hours. A large percentage of the welders (89%) reported wearing protective devices when welding and the most common protective devices used by the welders were: helmets (57%), goggles(22%), and face shields (15%). Six percent used inefficient protective devices such as sunglasses.   Sixty one percent reported occasional exposure to welding flashes when not wearing any eye protection. Welding-related eye symptoms reported included foreign body sensation (18%), persistent after-images (31%), and watery eyes (50%).  Al- though the majority of the welders wore protective devices while welding, a few did not always use such devices while others used sunglasses for protection.  Moreover, many of the welders were occasionally, and only a few were always, exposed to welding flashes when protective devices were not used. Therefore, we concluded that eye protectionpractices amongst the welders appeared to be inadequate to avoid hazards associated with welding.  It is recommended that an eye protection educational campaign for welders should form part of the SouthAfrican Government’s workplace safety program

Association between adolescent idiopathic scoliosis prevalence and age at menarche in different geographic latitudes

BACKGROUND: Age at menarche is considered a reliable prognostic factor for idiopathic scoliosis and varies in different geographic latitudes. Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis prevalence has also been reported to be different in various latitudes and demonstrates higher values in northern countries. A study on epidemiological reports from the literature was conducted to investigate a possible association between prevalence of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis and age at menarche among normal girls in various geographic latitudes. An attempt is also made to implicate a possible role of melatonin in the above association. MATERIAL-METHODS: 20 peer-reviewed published papers reporting adolescent idiopathic scoliosis prevalence and 33 peer-reviewed papers reporting age at menarche in normal girls from most geographic areas of the northern hemisphere were retrieved from the literature. The geographic latitude of each centre where a particular study was originated was documented. The statistical analysis included regression of the adolescent idiopathic scoliosis prevalence and age at menarche by latitude. RESULTS: The regression of prevalence of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis and age at menarche by latitude is statistically significant (p < 0.001) and are following a parallel declining course of their regression curves, especially in latitudes northern than 25 degrees. CONCLUSION: Late age at menarche is parallel with higher prevalence of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. Pubarche appears later in girls that live in northern latitudes and thus prolongs the period of spine vulnerability while other pre-existing or aetiological factors are contributing to the development of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. A possible role of geography in the pathogenesis of idiopathic scoliosis is discussed, as it appears that latitude which differentiates the sunlight influences melatonin secretion and modifies age at menarche, which is associated to the prevalence of idiopathic scoliosis

Eye health promotion in the South African primary health care system*

Objective: There is currently very little or no research being done in South Africa on eye health promotion. Also, there is no evidence of any existing eye health promotion policy in the South African primary health care system. The purpose of this paper therefore is to highlight the lack of an integrated eye health promotion policy in the South African primary health care system. Approach: A literature review of research databases was conducted to identify research done in the previous years pertinent to eye health promotion in South Africa. Also, documents were requested from the South African National Department of Health to ascertain claims of any existing guidelines on eye care. It was found that these documents included the national guidelines on prevention of blindness, refractive error screening for persons 60 years and older, cataract surgery in South Africa, management and control of eye conditions at primary level.Although there is currently no integrated eye health promotion policy in South Africa, the fragmented national guidelines represent the existing policies on eye health promotion.  The custodians of these policies are the eye care coordinators located in each of the nine provinces. Conclusion: Although there are eye care coordinators in each province, there is no evidence of any eye health promotion activities being done in those provinces. Also, only one province out of nine has dedicated health promotion personnel that are not only focusing on eye health matters. This greatly compromises the initiatives of eliminating avoidable blindness. It is therefore recommended that an integrated eye health promotion model be developed so that it may form part of the South African primary health care system. (S Afr Optom 201069(4) 200-206

Oculo-visual status of the welders in the Capricorn District of the Limpopo Province of South Africa*

The process of welding can lead to several ocular disorders when adequate protective precautions are not taken. There is a possibility that welders in the Limpopo Province of South Africa are not taking adequate precautions due to lack of knowledge on the adverse effects of welding. Good vision is also important for effective and injury-free welding.  This study therefore screened welders in the Capricorn district of the Limpopo Province for oculo-visual disorders.  Case history established visual symptoms among the welders and ophthalmic tests such as visual acuity (VA) measurement, pinhole, ophthalmoscopy, external assessment of the adnexa and Amsler grid were used to determine their oculo-visual status.  One hundred and fifty welders were included in the study and their ages ranged from 18 to 65 years with a mean of 39 ± 14.9 years.   Reduced distance vision was reported by 32% of the welders, 14% reported reduced vision at near; 43% reported double vision and 11% reported colour vision anomaly.   Forty seven percent of the welders had VA less than 6/6 at distance and 8% could only read 1M or larger print at near Following the pinhole test, there was no improvement in 7% of the welders who had VA less than 6/6, indicating a possibility of pathological conditions. Amsler grid showed that 6% of the welders had possible macular disorders. Ophthalmoscopy and external observations revealed that 7% of the welders had cup disc ratio (H/V) of more than 0.6/0.5, Fourteen percentage (14%) had pterygia and 5% had pinguecula.  The study established that although many of the welders had normal oculo visual status, there were a few with ocular disorders which warrant further assessment and managemen by eye care professionals

Feeding Rice Husk-Poultry Manure with and without Enzyme Supplementation on Performance and Carcass Profile of Rabbit

A total of thirty-six (36) rabbits of mixed sexes were used in a ten (10) week feeding trials to investigate the relative effect of dietary levels of rice husk poultry manure (RHPM) supplemented with or without &beta;-xylanase. The rabbits were randomly allotted into six (6) dietary treatment groups of 0, 10 and 20% of RHPM with or without &beta;-xylanase in a randomized complete block design experiment. Each treatment has three (3) replicates with two (2) rabbits in each. Analyzed data on daily weight gain, average daily feed intake, feed conversion efficiency, live shrunk weight, dressed carcass and dressing percentage were significantly (p0.05) in percentage primal cuts of rabbits. There was no mortality, however, the best performance was observed with rabbits fed 10% RHPM with enzyme supplementation.Key words: rabbits, nutrase XYLA, rice husk, poultry manure, Carcass characteristic