Chronic illnesses in rural and remote Queensland communities using two sample units.

The objective of this study is to report the prevalence rates of chronic diseases using two sampling units: (a) the rural and remote areas of the Queensland Fitzroy and Central West Statistical Divisions and (b) four rural communities within the Queensland Fitzroy Statistical Division. The design was a cross-sectional survey. The setting was rural and remote Queensland. The first sample unit was 641 households stratified and randomly selected from a commercial electronic database of 36,423 telephone numbers. Of these 641 households, 270 agreed to take part. One respondent from each household provided information, including chronic illnesses, for all 697 household members. The second sample unit was all 356 households in four small rural communities. Of these, 223 agreed to provide information regarding 594 household members. The main outcome measures were the age and gender distribution of two sample groups and the prevalence rates of chronic illnesses. The people of the first sample unit had a significantly lower proportion of university or college graduates compared with the people in the second sample unit. There was a lower prevalence rate of asthma among people in the first unit than the rate reported by people in the second unit.

Perceived industrial deafness and hearing loss among people in a small Queensland rural community.

This paper aims to describe chronic diseases including hearing loss reported by people in a small rural community. It will present the results of audiometric screening among a group of people in this community and their self reported risk factors of hearing loss. Different risk factors experienced by men and women will be compared. Two surveys were conducted in a small Queensland rural community. The first survey gathered information relating to chronic diseases among 604 people using a telephone interview method. The second survey assessed the level of hearing among 64 people who presented themselves for audiometric screening, their history of exposure to loud noise and their previous use of hearing protective measures. A higher rate of "industrial deafness" was reported (110.75 per 1,000 population) than the 1995 National rate (95.2 per 1,000 population). Of 64 people who attended the audiometric assessment, 60 (93.8%) had some level of hearing loss using the 2000 International Standard of hearing level (ISO 7029: 2000) taking age and gender into account. However, 15 persons (23.4%) perceived that they had good hearing. When compared to ISO 7029: 2000 standard, men and women had a similar pattern of hearing loss. Compared to men, a lower percentage of women were exposed to different sources of loud noise and were less likely to use hearing protection devices.

Invasive group A streptococcal disease in North Queensland (1996 - 2001).

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES: The incidence of group A streptococcal (GAS) invasive infections have been increasing worldwide. The aim of this study was to characterize clinical and microbiological features of isolates obtained from invasive GAS infections in North Queensland, Australia between 1996 and 2001. METHODS: Clinical and demographic data were collected prospectively. Isolates were biotyped, emm sequenced, M typed and tested for antibiotic sensitivity using E-test. Detection of the presence of the streptococcal pyrogenic exotoxin (spe) and fibronectin binding protein (prtF1) genes was also carried out. RESULTS: There were 109 isolates from blood and sterile sites. All isolates were sensitive to penicillin. Tetracycline and erythromycin resistance was seen in 11 and 2.7 per cent of isolates respectively. The isolates were evenly distributed by age and sex. The overall mortality was 7 per cent and there were 18 cases of streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (STSS) in which the mortality was 22 per cent. Indigenous patients had a crude incidence rate of 82.5 per 100,000 per year compared with 10.3 per 100,000 per year in the non-indigenous patients. There was no predominance of emm / M type or association of spe type with STSS. There was also no relationship between the presence of the prtF1 gene and invasive disease. INTERPRETATION & CONCLUSION: Invasive group A streptococci from North Queensland are similar to those from the Northern Territory of Australia in that no single strain is predominant. The indigenous population is overrepresented. Invasiveness and the development of streptococcal toxic shock is not related to the presence of the prtF1 gene or spe a or c.

The spectrum of Aeromonas-associated diarrhea in tropical Queensland, Australia.

During a twelve-month period (1 July 91-30 June 92), feces from 912 persons from the Townsville region in the dry tropics of Queensland, Australia were evaluated by culture and 45 (4.9%) immunocompetent patients were found to be carrying Aeromonas in their stools. All patients were index cases and no secondary cases from household or close contact of index cases were identified. Eight patients (9.3%) were from Palm Island, an Aboriginal community, and 37 (4.5%) were from the essentially Caucasian population of Townsville. This is a significant difference in incidence of cases between the two population groups. Infection occurred mainly in two age groups: the under five-year-old (27 cases) and the over 25-year-old age group (17 cases). Except for one patient, all cases of Palm Island Aborigines were children less than five years of age, and 13 of these infants (48%) were less than 1 year old, but none were neonates. Of the 37 Townsville patients, 20 cases (54%) were in the under five-year-old group. Signs and symptoms of Aeromonas-associated diarrhea in patients where Aeromonas was the sole pathogen isolated were diarrhea sometimes with vomiting, absence of fever and of fecal leukocytes and blood in the stools. No cases of Aeromonas-associated diarrhea with dysentery were encountered. After rotavirus (12.3%), Aeromonas was the second most common enteric pathogen detected, but was only marginally more common than Giardia and Salmonella. Of the aeromonad isolations, 50% were Aeromonas hydrophila, 22% were A. sobria, and 28% were A. caviae.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Community-acquired pulmonary infection due to Chlamydia in tropical Queensland.

By using enzyme immunoassay and immunofluorescence antigen detection techniques on sputum specimens, four of 260 patients with pulmonary infection resident in tropical Queensland were found to be infected with Chlamydia. All four chlamydial infections were community-acquired and there was no history of close contact with birds by any of the four patients. One woman was deemed to be suffering with Chlamydia pneumonia, while the role of the organism in the pathogenesis of respiratory disease in the other three patients was indeterminate. At present, the incidence of pulmonary chlamydial infection in the population of tropical Queensland does not warrant routine testing, but investigations for these organisms should be undertaken in patients who present to their physicians with atypical pulmonary infection or whose clinical conditions are refractory to penicillin/ampicillin therapy.