Urine iodine concentration and prevalence of goiter among rural women of child bearing ages in Northeast Thailand.

Iodine deficiency was investigated in 575 women from 12 villages of Pupaman, Si Chomphu and Amphoe Chum Phae in Khon Kaen province in a project survey under Thai-German cooperation entitled "Promotion of Health and Nutrition Status of Rural Women in Northeast Thailand". The prevalence of goiter (grades 1A, 1B, 2 and 3) were 71.6 per cent in Pupaman, 58.4 per cent in Amphoe Si Chomphu and 35.1 per cent in Amphoe Chum Phae. However, the percentage of urine iodine deficiency of the women from these districts, is reversely with the palpation grading of thyroid gland. The high prevalence of goiter in Pupaman might occur due to goitrogenic effects, although the urine iodine concentration was lower than other districts. Further study about the determination of thiocyanate should be suggested in the high prevalence of goiter.

Pasteur oral cholera vaccine: studies of reactogenicity, clinical acceptability and immunogenicity in human volunteers.

Pasteur cholera vaccine consists of isolated antigenic fractions from V. cholerae El Tor Ogawa and Inaba. Enteric coated microgranules were prepared from antigen lyophilisate. Three doses of this vaccine were administered orally to 19 healthy young Thai adults at one week intervals. None of the volunteers experienced untowards reactions. The vibriocidal antibody responses manifested a significant antibody rise (> or = 4 fold) to serovar Inaba in 8 vaccinees (42.1%) and Ogawa in 4 (21.1%). Five and 6 vaccinees (26.3% and 31.6%) showed a > or = 4 fold rise of IgG and IgA anti-LPS, respectively.

Vitamin B12, folic acid and haematological status in elderly Thais.

Serum vitamin B12, folic acid and haematological data from 147 elderly people (55 males and 92 females) who visited the special clinic for the elderly at Rajvithi Hospital, Bangkok between July and November 1989 were investigated. The individuals studied came from a health-conscious group of the middle socio-economic class in Bangkok. All of them were fairly well except for minor ailments and typical diseases of elderly people such as hypertension, mild to moderate degree coronary heart diseases and non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus. There was a statistically significant difference in haemoglobin concentrations between males and females. According to the standard haemoglobin cut-off point values of 13 g/dl for males and 12 g/dl for females, anaemia was detected in 22 (15%) of the 147 subjects. The percentage of folic acid deficiency was found to be 20.6 per cent (30 of the 147 cases). Vitamin B12 insufficiency was found in only 6.9 per cent (10 of the 147 cases). No statistically significant correlation between haemoglobin, folic acid and vitamin B12 was found. However, when the data were grouped according to different intervals of increasing haemoglobin concentrations, for females there was a tendency for serum vitamin B12 to decrease, and serum folic acid to increase in both males and females. The results of this study suggest that folate deficiency may play a role in the occurrence of anaemia in elderly people, and therefore, dietary counselling and supplementation of folic acid are recommended.

B vitamins status: effect of prolonged heroin addiction and methadone treatment.

Vitamin B1, B2 and B6 status were determined in 90 male heroin addicts admitted to Pramongkutklao Army Hospital. Their age (Mean +/- S.D.) was 25.5 +/- 7.8 years. Their activation coefficients of the enzyme transketolase, glutathione oxidoreductase and aspartate aminotransferase (ETK AC, EGR AC and EAST AC respectively) were significantly increased for addicts who were on drugs for a long time which indicated a biochemical deficiency. In addition, 26 follow-up cases treated with methadone for a period of one and two weeks were compared before and after treatment and it was found that ETK AC, EGR AC, and EAST AC were significantly decreased. This means that improvement in the vitamin B1, B2 and B6 status was obtained during admission.

Relationship of vibriocidal antibodies to history of cholera vaccination in Thai adult volunteers.

Vibriocidal antibodies were determined by microtechnique in 5 groups of Thai adult volunteers who had never received or had received cholera vaccination within one year, more than one to five years ago, more than five to ten years ago and more than ten years ago respectively. Detailed questionnaires about socioeconomic status, educational levels and environmental factors were presented to every volunteer. There were no differences statistically in incomes, educational levels and environmental factors among the groups. It was found that the reciprocal geometric mean titers of antibodies in volunteers who had never received cholera vaccination was generally low. The reciprocal geometric mean titers of the volunteers who had received cholera vaccination within one year were statistically different from other groups (p = 0.05). There was no correlation between blood groups of volunteers and vibriocidal antibodies.

Immune responses following killed whole vibrio-B subunit oral cholera vaccine in human volunteers.

Immunogenicity of killed whole vibrio and B subunit oral cholera vaccines in American and Thai volunteers were analysed in terms of significant rise of antibody titre. Three doses of 2 x 10(11) killed vibrios and 5 mg of cholera toxin B subunit were given at two-week intervals. There were no differences in the percent of volunteers with significant rise of serum immunoglobulin G and secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA) to cholera toxin. However, the percent with significant rises of serum antibody to whole cell V. cholerae Inaba measured by vibriocidal titre and serum immunoglobulin G, and secretory immunoglobulin A to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) measured by ELISA in American volunteers were significantly different from those in Thai volunteers (89% VS 45%, 68% VS 9% and 53% VS 0%, respectively) (p less than 0.05).