sodium-ethylxanthate and Diarrhea

Patients presenting to the emergency department with diarrhea should be evaluated for infectious causes. Information obtained from the history and physical examination should be used in deciding whether symptomatic treatment alone is sufficient or whether the patient's stool should be examined for pathogens. Antiperistaltic agents should be used only in selected patients, usually after the results of stool cultures are known to be negative. Antibiotic administration should be based on results of stool cultures and examination for parasites. Finally, the emergency physician should be familiar with the special situations of traveler's diarrhea, food-borne illness, and sexually transmitted enteric disease.

Topics: Adult; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Antidiarrheals; Child Day Care Centers; Child, Preschool; Communicable Diseases; Diarrhea; Emergencies; Epidemiologic Methods; Feces; Fluid Therapy; Food Contamination; Homosexuality; Humans; Male; Physical Examination; Sex; Travel

This report investigates the links between son preference and differential treatment of children by analyzing data from the Demographic and Health Surveys of Morocco and Tunisia, two countries that are thought to vary considerably regarding indicators of gender. The analyses find no significant differences in either country in the duration and intensity of breastfeeding and small differences in favor of boys in Tunisia regarding immunization and the treatment of diarrhea. These findings, which are, to some degree, unexpected, are discussed in light of other research relevant to son preference in the two countries.. An analysis of Demographic and Health Survey data from Morocco (1987) and Tunisia (1988) failed to document the expected link between son preference and differential treatment of children. Although excess female child mortality and morbidity have been declining in the Middle East, gender-based differentials persist in selected health and nutrition variables. The present analysis used data on breast feeding, immunization, and the treatment of diarrhea for the sample of children in both countries born 5 years before the surveys. A slightly higher proportion of boys than girls breast fed for durations exceeding 18 months in Tunisia, but no pattern of difference by gender was observed for Morocco. In both countries, boys were slightly more likely to be fully immunized than girls (67% versus 64% in Morocco and 88% versus 85% in Tunisia). In Morocco, the proportion of children with diarrhea not receiving either home or medical treatment was slightly higher among girls than boys (46% versus 42%); in Tunisia, 35% of girls but only 31% of boys were untreated. The unexpectedly small magnitude of the sex differences found in this analysis contradicts the social science literature, which emphasizes a pattern of sex discrimination in both these countries. Also surprising was the finding that Tunisia, considered the more egalitarian of the two countries, had stronger son preference than Morocco for indicators of both fertility and health behavior. This calls into question simplistic explanations of the effect of women's status on demographic behavior.

Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Breast Feeding; Child; Child Care; Child Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; Child Welfare; Child, Preschool; Cross-Cultural Comparison; Diarrhea; Female; Humans; Immunization; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Male; Morocco; Parent-Child Relations; Sex; Tunisia

1976 census data and data on births to 8788 ever married women from the 1980 Egyptian Fertility Survey were analyzed to determine if son preference was responsible for higher mortality among girls than among boys and what factors were associated with this higher mortality. During 0-3 years, boys were more likely to die than females. For example, the overall male-female sex ratio for the 1st year was 118:100. At ages 5, 10, 15, and 2 0, however, girls were more likely to die. The sex rations for these years were 98, 95, 93, and 91. In fact, the excess mortality among illiterate mothers accounted for most of the overall excess mortality. As mother's educational level rose, the excess mortality of girls fell, so that by university level boys experienced excess mortality (130, 111, 112, 105). Less educated mothers breast fed sons longer and waited more months after birth of a son to have another child indicating son preference, but these factors did not necessarily contribute to excess mortality. The major cause of female excess mortality in Egypt was that boys received favored treatment of digestive and respiratory illnesses as indicated by accessibility to a pharmacy (p.01). Norms/traditions and religion played a significant role in excess mortality. The effect of norms/traditions was greater than religion, however. Mother's current and past employment strongly contributed to reducing girls' mortality levels (p.01). These results indicated that Egypt should strive to increase the educational level of females and work opportunities for women to reduce female child mortality. Further, it should work to improve women's status which in turn will reduce norms/traditions that encourage son preference and higher mortality level for girls.

Topics: Africa; Africa, Northern; Behavior; Birth Intervals; Birth Rate; Breast Feeding; Cause of Death; Censuses; Cross-Sectional Studies; Culture; Demography; Developing Countries; Diarrhea; Disease; Economics; Educational Status; Egypt; Employment; Family Characteristics; Family Relations; Fertility; Health; Health Workforce; Income; Infant Mortality; Infant Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; Infections; Methods; Middle East; Mortality; Mothers; Nuclear Family; Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; Parents; Population; Population Characteristics; Population Dynamics; Psychology; Regression Analysis; Research; Respiratory Tract Infections; Sex; Social Class; Social Values; Socioeconomic Factors; Statistics as Topic; Therapeutics; Women's Rights

Topics: Abdomen, Acute; Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aging; Crohn Disease; Diarrhea; Female; Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage; Humans; Intestinal Fistula; Intestinal Obstruction; Male; Middle Aged; Norway; Sex

The clinical picture of regional enteritis was reviewed in 98 cases collected from five hospitals in the City of Edmonton. There was no apparent racial prevalence, although only one case was reported among Indians and Eskimos. More than one-half had their onset between the ages of 11 and 30 years. Men were more commonly affected than women. The onset in 44 patients was acute and closely mimicked acute appendicitis. Twenty-eight patients had had abdominal surgery prior to the onset of symptoms. Major symptoms were abdominal pain, diarrhea and weight loss. Abdominal tenderness, fever and abdominal mass were the most consistent physical signs. The most valuable diagnostic procedure was radiological examination of the bowel. Complications were largely confined to the gastrointestinal tract. In the majority of cases, surgery was the ultimate form of therapy.

Topics: Abdominal Pain; Acute Disease; Adolescent; Appendectomy; Appendicitis; Canada; Child; Crohn Disease; Diagnosis; Diarrhea; Enteritis; Epidemiology; Female; Gastroenterostomy; Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage; Genetics, Medical; Geriatrics; Hemorrhage; Humans; Intestinal Perforation; Male; Sex; Surgical Procedures, Operative