outbreak of veno-occlusive disease of the liver in northern Iraq

This paper describes an outbreak of veno-occlusive disease of the liver which occurred in Mosul, northern Iraq in 1994. It was caused by the consumption of wheat accidentally contaminated with Senecio seeds which produced toxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids. The outbreak involved 14 people [eight males and six females] who were members of three Bedouin families. Half of the cases were under the age of 15 years. The striking clinical features were abdominal pain, rapidly filling ascites and hepatomegaly. Two deaths occurred during hospitalization, with an estimated case fatality rate of 14%

Asymptomatic hepatitis B surface antigen carriers among medical students

Two hundred medical students were screened for the HBsAg antigen. A hundred first year students showed 2% HSsAg carrier state, while 100 medical students from the sixth year showed 13% HBsAg carrier state; a highly significant risk exposure difference. x[2]=7.21 [P less than 0.005].Their sera were subjected to liver function tests analyses, but no abnormalities were detected. It suggested that HB vaccination on entry to medical school could be a useful preventive measure