Seasonal pattern of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) in children under three years of age

Children aged one month to three years from Yangon Children Hospital were studied. A total of 923 cases of diarrhoea and 932 cases of control were included in this study. The total isolation rate of ETEC was 232 cases (25.2 percent) and 55 casea (5.9 percent) from diarrhoea and control cases respectively. In the diarrhoea group, out of 232 cases of ETEC, 43 cases (4.7 percent) were STLT, 134 cases (14.5 percent) were ST and 55 cases (6.0 percent) were LT. In the control group, out of 55 cases of ETEC, 6 cases (0.6 percent) were STLT, 21 cases (2.3 percent) were ST and 28 cases (3.0 percent) were LT. Although ETEC was found in children all the year round, the incidence rate was higher during the months of February to July with the highest peak of 47.0 percent in June. ETEC occurred in the control cases with the maximum isolation rate of 16 percent in June.

The effect of oral iodized oil on the breast milk iodine content

The effect of oral iodized oil administration on the breast milk iodine concentrations was studied at different stages of lactation in two groups of women, one control and the other, experimental group. A single dose of iodized oil contraining 400 mg iodine was given orally to each woman of experimental group during the third trimester of pregnancy. Casual urine samples before dosing and breast milk samples after parturition were collected. 37.5 percent of the subjects had low urinary iodine excretion (ie. less than 50 ug per gram creatinine). In the control group, milk iodine concentrations were low compared to Western data. Breast milk iodine concentrations were significantly higher in the experimental group, as compared to the control group up to six months postpartum. A greater part of iodine was found to be secreted in the colostrum and in most cases, milk iodine concentrations declined towards six months postpartum. The present study indicates that oral iodized oil containing 400 mg iodine given during the third trimester of pregnancy can effectively provide adequate iodine in the breast milk for the infants for the first six months.

Vitamin A status of the newborn in relation to birth weight, gestational age and maternal vitamin A levels

Vitamin A concentrations of 53 newborns delivered at Central Women's Hospita Yangon, and their mothers were studied. The mean cord vitamin A concentration (17.19 + 7.5 ug/dl) was significantly less than mean maternal vitamin A concentration (63.58 + 37.5 ug/dl) (p < 0.0001). The mean cord vitamin A concentration of newborn to mothers with vitamin A concentration loss than 20 ug/dl was significantly less than those of newborns born to mothers with maternal vitamin A concentrations more than 20 ug/dl (12.82 + 1.8 vs 17.74 + 7.3 ug/dl) (p < 0.01). Variation in birth weight was associated with differences in maternal vitamin A concentrations; lower maternal vitamin A was seen in low birth weight babies as compared to normal birth weight babies (44.13 + 37.7 ug/dl vs 69.28 + 35.8 ug/dl). No significant correlation between cord vitamin A levels and gestational age was found. The present study demonstrates that the vitamin A status of the newborn is influenced by maternal vitamin A status.

Maternal and newborn thyroid hormonal profile in a non-goitrous area of Myanmar.

Serum thyroxine (T4), triiodothyronine (T3) and thyrotropin (TSH) levels of 325 pairs of blood samples from the newborn infants and their mothers were determined with the aim of establishing the thyroid hormonal profile of the newborn babies and their mothers in a non-goitrous area of Myanmar. The mean +/- SEM cord serum T4, T3 and TSH levels were 117.47 +/- 1.92 nmol/l, 0.57 +/- 0.02 nmol/l and 6.41 +/- 0.84 mu/ml respectively. The corresponding maternal levels were 146.29 +/- 2.06 nmol/l, 2.33 +/- 0.04 nmol/l and 2.59 +/- 0.17 mu/ml maternal serum T4 and T3 levels were significantly higher than the corresponding cord serum values (p < 0.0001 in both cases) and maternal TSH level was significantly lower than cord level (p < 0.0001). Maternal and cord T4, T3 and TSH levels of premature infants were not significantly different from those of mature infants. Similarly maternal and cord hormonal levels of male infants were not significantly different from those of female infants.

Seasonal variation in acute diarrhoea in children in two village communities in Burma

639 under-five children at Htaukkyant villages in 1979-80, and over 700 under five children at Intakaw villages in 1982-83, were followed up by daily diarrhoea surveillance and monthly anthropometry for a duration of one year. There was a definite seasonality for acute diarrhoea, the incidence rates during the monsoon months being significantly higher than those during the winter months. Bacterial agents, especially enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli, were the most common pathogens for acute diarrhoea during monsoon, and rotavirus was the most common pathogen detected during winter. Presumably, because of the cytopathic effect of rotavirus, children who developed diarrhoea during winter had smaller gain in body weights per month than those who developed diarrhoea during monsoon (being most commonly associated with enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli).

Some aspects of anaemia of pregnancy in Burma

Hb. concentration was determined in 1,167 unselected pregnant women attending the ante-natal clinic of the Central Maternity Hospital, Rangoon. Hb. concentration, M.C.H.C., Hb. electrophoresis, serum iron level and iron binding capacity and serum and whole blood folate (L. casei) levels were determined in 48 anaemics and 109 non-anaemic controls from among 230 unselected, obsteretically normal, full-term pregnant women in the wards of the Central Maternity Hospital, Rangoon. Ratio of paired maternal and cord blood was also determined for Hb. serum iron, and serum folate.

A study of infantile beriberi in Rangoon

Two hundred beriberi patients admitted into the Rangoon Children Hospital were studied clinically. Thiamine excretion in the urine of 197 mothers of beriberi cases and 45 mothers of non-beriberi cases was measured. Thiamine content of the milk of 45 mothers of infantile beriberi cases and 45 mothers of non-beriberi cases was also measured. Incidence of infantile beriberi was found to be highest between the first and fourth month of life. Infantile beriberi occurs commonly and typically in infants receiving mother's milk. There is a significant relationship between the level of thiamine in the mother's milk and occurrence of beriberi. Mothers of beriberi infants do not necessarily have beriberi.