Accidental immersion and unintentional drowning of rural children: An investigation for the Child Accident Prevention Foundation of New Zealand

In New Zealand drowning amongst preschoolers is one of the leading causes of death. The monetary and emotional costs to society are devastating and cannot be underestimated . The need to reduce the high number of deaths and the monetary and emotional costs prompted this research. This research presents the possibility for proactive measures to be taken in this area. In addition, it provides insightful knowledge for parents and educators alike. Ultimately, it seeks to reduce the number of child drownings that occur in the rural environment

Laughter, Humor and Pain Perception in Children: A Pilot Study

Although there are many clinical programs designed to bring humor into pediatric hospitals, there has been very little research with children or adolescents concerning the specific utility of humor for children undergoing stressful or painful procedures. Rx Laughter™, a non-profit organization interested in the use of humor for healing, collaborated with UCLA to collect preliminary data on a sample of 18 children aged 7–16 years. Participants watched humorous video-tapes before, during and after a standardized pain task that involved placing a hand in cold water. Pain appraisal (ratings of pain severity) and pain tolerance (submersion time) were recorded and examined in relation to humor indicators (number of laughs/smiles during each video and child ratings of how funny the video was). Whereas humor indicators were not significantly associated with pain appraisal or tolerance, the group demonstrated significantly greater pain tolerance while viewing funny videos than when viewing the videos immediately before or after the cold-water task. The results suggest that humorous distraction is useful to help children and adolescents tolerate painful procedures. Further study is indicated to explore the specific mechanism of this benefit

Bacterial antimicrobial metal ion resistance

Metals such as mercury, arsenic, copper and silver have been used in various forms as antimicrobials for thousands of years with until recently, little understanding of their mode of action. The discovery of antibiotics and new organic antimicrobial compounds during the twentieth century saw a general decline in the clinical use of antimicrobial metal compounds, with the exception of the rediscovery of the use of silver for burns treatments and niche uses for other metal compounds. Antibiotics and new antimicrobials were regarded as being safer for the patient and more effective than the metal-based compounds they supplanted. Bacterial metal ion resistances were first discovered in the second half of the twentieth century. The detailed mechanisms of resistance have now been characterized in a wide range of bacteria. As the use of antimicrobial metals is limited, it is legitimate to ask: are antimicrobial metal resistances in pathogenic and commensal bacteria important now? This review details the new, rediscovered and 'never went away' uses of antimicrobial metals; examines the prevalence and linkage of antimicrobial metal resistance genes to other antimicrobial resistance genes; and examines the evidence for horizontal transfer of these genes between bacteria. Finally, we discuss the possible implications of the widespread dissemination of these resistances on re-emergent uses of antimicrobial metals and how this could impact upon the antibiotic resistance problem

The Impact of Breast Care Nurses: An Evaluation of the McGrath Foundation's Breast Care Nurse Initiative

Objective: Over the four years to 30 June, 2017 the McGrath Foundation's Second Federal Government Breast Care Nurse (BCN) Initiative funded 57 McGrath BCNs (MBCNs) to deliver better continuity of care and provide specialized support to those diagnosed with and undergoing treatment for breast cancer. This article summarizes the findings generated through a mixed-method evaluation of the program's appropriateness, effectiveness, and efficiency. Methods: The evaluation comprised surveys and semi-structured interviews with patients, multidisciplinary clinicians and MBCNs. The research also drew on secondary materials, including MBCN activity and patient caseload data, a review of existing programs and costing information. Results: The evaluation generated evidence that access to an MBCN results in an improved experience for patients and clinicians, and that these impacts are more profound when MBCNs come into contact with their patients at the time of diagnosis. The economic modeling component of the evaluation revealed that there are cost savings to the health system when breast cancer patients have early access to an MBCN (through reduced health service utilization). The net saving produced by the program was estimated to be worth $6,323,257 per year, or$1,527 per new breast cancer patient seen. Stakeholders indicated that the MBCN model of care could be evolved to respond to emerging trends in breast cancer care pathways, such as a greater role in survivorship. Conclusion: This research advances the current understanding of the impact of BCNs on different levels of the health system and holds relevance for health-care funders, providers, and policy-makers. The evaluation demonstrates that access to an MBCN results in an improved experience for patients and clinicians, along with savings to the health system (through reduced health service utilization). The evaluation also shows that these impacts are more profound when MBCNs come into contact with their patients at the time of diagnosis

Performance and Cost Evaluation of One Commercial and Six In-House Conventional and Real-Time Reverse Transcription-PCR Assays for Detection of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus

We evaluated seven reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) assays, including six in-house assays and one commercial assay for the detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) RNA in clinical specimens. RT-PCR assays targeted different genomic regions and included three conventional assays (one nested and two non-nested) run on a conventional heat block and four real-time assays performed in a LightCycler (LC; Roche Diagnostics). All in-house assays were optimized for assay parameters, including MgCl(2), primer, and probe concentrations. The commercial assay was the RealArt HPA CoV RT-PCR assay (Artus), which was run in the LC. Testing serial dilutions of cultured SARS-CoV showed that the analytical sensitivity of the assays ranged from 10(−8) to 10(−6), corresponding to 1 and 100 copies of viral RNA, respectively. Significant differences in analytical sensitivities were observed between assays (P < 0.01, probit regression analysis for 50% sensitivity levels for the top two assays versus the others). Testing 68 clinical specimens (including 17 respiratory tract specimens, 29 urine samples, and 22 stools or rectal swabs) demonstrated that six of the seven assays detected at least 17 of 18 positives (defined as positive in at least two assays), and two of the assays had a sensitivity of 100%. There were no significant differences in sensitivity between the assays (P = 0.5 [Cochrance Q test, least sensitive 15 of 18 versus 18 of 18]). The specificities of the assays ranged from 94.0 to 100% without significant differences (P = 0.25 to 0.5 [McNemar test]). The reagent and technologist cost of performing the in-house PCR assays ranged from $5.46 to$9.81 Canadian dollars (CDN) per test. The commercial assay cost was considerably higher at $40.37 per test. The results demonstrated good performance for all assays, providing laboratories that need to do SARS RNA testing with a choice of assay formats

Epidemiology of rheumatic heart disease (RHD) in pregnancy : Australia and New Zealand

Poster presentatio

Working with health services : the AMOSS rheumatic heart disease (RHD) in pregnancy study

Effective mechanisms to increase awareness of RHD-P span remote, cardiac and Aboriginal and Maori health professionals and groups, as well as the usual AMOSS model of notification within maternity care. In additional to perinatal data, information systems including cardiac and remote health data have been queried to enhance notification. The enhanced surveillance and educative processes are serving to improve notification and awareness of this disease, which can have such a deleterious impact during pregnancy