Surveillance of communicable diseases for decision-making in Egypt: 2006–2013

The Egyptian Ministry of Health and Population surveillance system provides data about notifiable communicable diseases. This study aimed to provide information for decision-making to reduce the burden of communicable diseases in Egypt by analysis of the surveillance data for 2006–2013 to identify trends in the incidence of the diseases by governorate, season, age and sex. Composite risk-index scores were estimated to rank the 27 Egyptian governorates into 3 groups: high, medium and low risk. The 15 diseases with the highest incidence were food and waterborne diseases [5 diseases], vaccine-preventable diseases [7 diseases] and others, e.g. hepatitis C infection. Bloody diarrhoea and typhoid had the high incidence for 2006–2013. There were 11 high-risk governorates; Ismailia had the highest risk-index score. The findings suggest the need for specific interventions related to environmental sanitation and improving the childhood immunization programme, particularly in the high-risk governorates

Prevalence of type 2 diabetes and pre-diabetes in a rural area of Giza-Egypt; a community based study

Diabetes has a priority position on the Egyptian health policy agenda, since it became an emerging public health problem. this study responded to the need for [early detection] of diabetes, among rural individuals >/= 20 years. an epidemiological cross - sectional, community-based survey was conducted in nazlet el ashtar village, giza, upper egypt. a simple random sample of 1,000 male and female individuals >/= 20 years was taken. all participants were subjected to interview questionnaire [to assess sociodemographic characteristics, and diabetes risk factors], anthropometric measurements, blood pressure measurements, screening test to detect a random capillary blood glucose level and diagnostic tests; the fasting and 2 hours post prandial venous blood sample. history of diagnosed type 2 diabetes was stated by 4.3% of the individuals. findings of the screening test revealed prevalence of diabetes and pre-diabetes at 7.7% and 4.9% respectively. the diagnostic test conducted to positive cases for diabetes provided a prevalence rate for diabetes at 6.3%. the peak prevalence of diabetes and pre-diabetes was found to occur in the age interval 40-49 and the prevalence of pre-diabetes was significantly higher among males than females [p < 0.05]. stepwise logistic regression analysis revealed that positive history of hypertension, positive family history of diabetes and waist circumference >/= 88 in females and >/= 102 in males as risk factors for prediabetes and diabetes. the prevalence of type 2 diabetes is increasing in the rural area in greater cairo among >/= 20 years of age population. consider introduction of blood glucose testing, starting before the age of 40 years, for early detection of diabetes at the PHC level especially in the family medicine practice

Effect of selected cereal flours on chemical composition, rheological properties and cake quality

THIS RESEARCH was carried out to substitute 10, 20 and 30% levels of wheat flour with rice, barley or yellow corn flour and their effects on rheological and baking properties, as well as, the acceptability of the cake. Water absorption increased by increasing the levels of rice flour. Meanwhile, development time, extensibility and energy were decreased. Dough Stability and maximum resistance to extension were gradually increased with increasing the replacement level with barley flour in comparison to control. The maximum viscosity value increased with addition of rice, barley or yellow corn flour. While, set-back values were decreased gradually with increasing the level of rice or barley flour. The results revealed that crude fiber, lipid and ash contents of cakes had gradually increased with increasing the levels of barley or yellow corn flours. Protein content was gradually increased with increasing the level of barley flour. Gradual improvement in both of cake weight and volume were noticed for cake samples prepared with rice or barley flour .The replacement of wheat flour by rice or barley flour retarded the rate of staling. This point was considered very important because of the major economic losses that stale bakery products may entail. The sensory evaluation data demonstrated that, the rice, barley or yellow corn flour successfully replace wheat flour in produced cake up to 20% without any unfavorable change

Evaluation of total milk proteinate as a milk subsitute of egg in cake and mayonnaise making

The possibility of using total milk proteinate [TMP] as a partial substitute with egg solids and optimization its levels to develop cake and mayonnaise making with good physical, rheological, chemical and sensory properties was studied. TMP solution was added during cake and mayonnaise making as a partial substitute with fresh whole egg at the levels of 25 and 50%. The results revealed that the protein content of TMP was higher, while fat and ash contents were lower than the whole egg. TMP and whole fresh egg had a similar percentage of carbohydrate. Moreover, the emulsifying activity indexes of TMP and whole egg were similar. Emulsifying stability index of whole egg was stable and had higher values as compared with the TMP after 3 days from the testing. Whole egg had significantly higher foam capacity than the TMP. Also, fresh whole egg had exhibited higher foam volume stability than that of TMP. The foam volume of whole egg characterized with stability during 40 min under testing as compared with TMP. Higher solubility at pH 7.5 and buffering capacity values were observed for TMP than the whole egg. Among the microbiological counts, TMP samples showed lower counts than whole egg. When using TMP as a partial replacement of whole egg in cake prepared, the cakes prepared had higher protein and carbohydrate levels as compared with control cake samples. The weight and volume of cake samples prepared with TMP were significantly affected [p<0.05]. Also, the specific volume of cakes prepared with partial replacement of 25% and 50% whole egg by TMP had higher specific volume values than the control cake samples. The bulk densities were reduced for TMP cakes than the controls. The addition of TMP as a partial replacement of whole egg had an improving effect in colour characteristics of cakes. On the other hand, partial replacement of 25 and 50% of whole egg by TMP considerably increased the initial viscosity and improved the rheological parameters of the resulting mayonnaise. Generally, the individual replacement of 25% and 50% whole egg by TMP caused an improvement in the sensory properties of cake and mayonnaise samples

Some biochemical and haematological alterations in hypocupremic ewes and a trial for treatment

A total number of 42 ewes [local breed], 2-5 years old, was selected from a flock containing 250 heads and used in this study. The animals were grazed in free pasture at El-Tall El-Kebir region, Ismailia Governorate. The pastures were improved using azotic urea and lime superphosphate as fertilizers. After the clinical and parasitological examination of the blood, feces and skin, the ewes were divided into two groups [20 healthy controls, group A, and 22 hypocupremic ewes manifested by alopecia and wool abnormalities, group B]. It was concluded that the biochemical analysis of the biological samples of sheep is a reliable tool for the early diagnosis of some nutritional deficiency disorders and cupric glycinate is an effective treatment for hypocupremic sheep

Urinary leukotriene E[4] in asthmatic children with and without nocturnal exacerbations

Nocturnal exacerbations of bronchial asthma are very common and disturbing signs with serious consequences on patient's quality of life. The exact mechanism of these exacerbations is not known but inflammatory mediators may play an important role. To study the role of leukotriene E[4] [LTE[4]] in the pathogenesis of nocturnal exacerbations of bronchial asthma. The study was conducted on 50 asthmatic children who used to attend the outpatient clinics of the Pediatric and Chest Departments of Tanta University Hospital. Their ages ranged 8-14 years. The study was carried out over 10 months from October 1, 2000 to July 31, 2001. They were classified into two groups. Group A included 25 asthmatic children without nocturnal symptoms, and group B comprised 25 children who used to have nocturnal asthma exacerbations. Twenty non-asthmatic children of comparable ages were included in the study as controls. All of the children were subjected to full history taking, clinical examination, pulmonary function tests [PFTs], methacholine bronchial challenge test, and measurement of LTE[4] in urine. Values of morning drop of peak expiratory flow [PEFR] in children with nocturnal symptoms [Group B] was significantly higher than those in the asthmatic children without nocturnal exacerbations [Group A] [P<0.05]. The PC[20] FEV[1] was significantly lower in group B than in group A [P<0.05]. Urinary LTE4 levels were found to be significantly higher in group B than in group A [P<0.05]. In asthmatic children with nocturnal exacerbations [group B], urinary LTE[4] levels were found significantly higher at night more than at day hours [P<0.05]. Also, in this same group B, there were significant positive correlations between urinary LTE[4] levels and morning drop in PEFR values and significant negative correlation between urinary LTE[4] levels and PC[20] FEV[1] [P<0.05]. There was no significant difference in urinary LTE[4] levels between atopic and non-atopic asthmatic children. Measurement of urinary LTE[4] levels may represent a non-invasive method for assessment of airway inflammation and for predicting the outcome of nocturnal exacerbations that disturb the life of asthmatic children

Effect of feeding over and unheated oil with or without vitamin E supplementation on growth and reproductive performance of Japanese quail

This work was conducted to study the effect of feeding diets containing 2-4% over and unheated oil with or without vitamin E supplementation on growth and reproductive performance of Japanese quail. A total of 288 one-day old Japanese quail were allotted into 9 groups. Quail of group 1 were fed on basal diet [BD] without any supplementation. Quail of groups 2 and 3 were fed on BD containing 2 and 4$ unheated oil. Quail of groups 4 and 5 fed the BD containing 2 and 4% over-heated oil. Quail of groups 6, 7, 8 and 9 were fed as groups 2, 3, 4 and 5, respectively, in addition to vitamin E supplementation [6 mg/kg diet during starting and growing periods and 12 mg/kg diet during the laying period]. From the results it was concluded that, the addition of 4% unheated oil and vitamin E to the used diet of quail improves their growth and reproductive performance

Comparative histopathological study of placental bed in complicated and uncomplicated pregnancy

Placental bed biopsies were taken from 45 pregnant cases, of these 25 were normal pregnancies, 10 pre-eclamptic and 10 diabetic cases. The spiral arteries at the level of the decidual-myometrial junction in the placental bed were examined histologically. The association of physiological changes of spiral arteries with uncomplicated pregnancy and their inadequacy in pre-eclampsia as noted in the literature has been confirmed. The condition is not clear-cut in diabetic cases. In cases with hypertension, inadequate physiological changes in spiral arteries with normal infant weight, suggests the hypothesis that the hypertension of pregnancy in these cases is a compensatory mechanism to ensure adequate blood supply to the placenta when physiological changes fail. The variation in birth weight in normal pregnancy with comparable adequate physiological changes in spiral arteries raises the possibility of a role of a quantitative arterial effect on fetal growth rather than, or in conjunction with a qualitative one

Application of the argyraphil nucleolar organizer regions[Ag NOR] staining method on cervical smears

The argyrophil [AgNOR] staining technique for nucleolar organizer regions was applied on both cervical smears and 4 micron sections from cervical biopsy specimens. There was 5 cases with chronic cervicitis, 10 cases with different grades of cervical intra-epithelial neoplasia [CIN] and 5 cases with invasive squamous cell carcinoma. The mean AgNOR count per nucleus in sections was significantly higher in invasive carcinoma than in non-neoplastic conditions, without overlap between counts of in dividual cases of different groups, and still higher in Grade III CIN compared to Grade I and II. However, no difference was found between Grade I and II CIN and chronic cervicitis. The difference in mean AgNOR count was higher for cytological preparations than from paraffin sections for each group of cases and this was particularly evident in invasive carcinoma. Furthermore, individual AgNOR dots were much more readily discerned in smears as compared to sections. AgNOR staining of smears appears to be the method of choice for the diagnosis of cervical malignancies