Radiation doses from [131]I treated hyperthyroidism patients versus life style: - a survey

Radioactive iodine is widely used for the treatment of various thyroid disorders. Safety issues are often a source of worry and anxiety for the patients, their families and comforters. The patients are advised to restrict their social and work related activities. The work presented in this study describes the results of a structured survey conducted on patients visiting our hospital. The total number of patients inducted was 419. The patients were asked about their housing conditions, family set up, number of children, travelling modes and travelling time back to home. The hospital leaving exposure rates from the patients were measured and radiation doses to others were estimated. Patients residing in joint family system were 93%. The measured dose rate at one meter were 5.7, 11.0, 15.7, 18.7, 23.0 and 28.0 micro Svh-1 for the administered [131]I activity of 185, 370, 555, 740, 925 and 1100 MBq respectively. The corresponding radiation doses to others from the patient were estimated as 0.76, 1.53, 2.29, 3.06, 3.82 and 4.58 mSv. The patients using public transport were 78.04% whereas 21.96% used private transport. There were 11.93% of the patients with no children and 88.07% of the patients had children residing with them. It was observed that 1.67% of the patients had no toilets at home and 98.33% had multiple toilets available. The radiation protection advice and regulatory requirements need to be formulated keeping in view the individual patient life styles and other living conditions

Haemophilus influenzae type b diseases in children: a pre-vaccination study

Haemophilus influenzae type b [Hib] can now be prevented by vaccination. We present the clinical and laboratory characteristics of acute invasive H. influenzae diseases in children admitted over a 4-year period to a tertiary paediatric ward of the Al-Ain medical district hospital, before vaccination became available in the United Arab Emirates. In all, 38 children had bacteriologically proven H. influenzae invasive diseases and all the isolates were serotype b. Meningitis was diagnosed in 60.5% of the children and 66% of the studied children were under 12 months. There were no deaths but substantial morbidity occurred in 12 children