Reliability of retrospective estimates of alcohol consumption during pregnancy by recovering women alcoholics.

Twenty-six recovering women alcoholics were interviewed concerning their alcohol consumption during a pregnancy prior to their recovery. Several months later they were reinterviewed. Test-retest correlations were found to be high. Reliability was not related to the length of time since the pregnancy or to the test-retest interval. The frequency of consumption reported did not differ significantly from test to retest. However, the reported amount of consumption per occasion was significantly lower at the second interview. Reports of binge drinking were particularly unreliable. Results should be interpreted cautiously because the sample size was small. Although it may not be possible to estimate accurately actual alcohol consumption, it is possible to rank-order consumption reliably. It is not known whether these results may be generalized to other populations of pregnant women alcoholics, or to nonpregnant women and men.

Change in obstetrician advice following a two-year community educational program on alcohol use and pregnancy.

A professional education program about the risks of drinking during pregnancy was conducted from 1979 to 1981 in King County, Washington. Advice of obstetricians to patients was measured both before and after the program. There was a significant increase in the proportion of obstetricians asking about current alcohol use of patients and in the proportion routinely recommending that alcohol be limited during pregnancy. When asked by their patients about the possible effects of alcohol on the fetus, obstetricians were more likely to mention fetal alcohol syndrome as a specific risk after the educational program. Patients of these obstetricians also reported similar, although somewhat more conservative attitudes. While no control group without access to the educational program was available, sources of information about drinking and pregnancy cited by obstetricians indicated that the program was influential in the change that occurred in the 2-year period.

Isolation of mycoplasmas and bacteria from the blood of postpartum women.

Mycoplasmas and/or bacteria were recovered from the blood cultures of 26 (20.8%) of 125 febrile postpartum women. Genital mycoplasmas were recovered from 16 (12.8%) of the 125 febrile women and from none of 60 afebrile postpartum women (p less than 0.005). The presence of mycoplasmaemia was associated with a young age, primigravidity, and nulliparity. The isolation of organisms from the blood was also associated with fever during labor, internal monitor use, and a cesarean delivery.

A/USSR and B/Hong Kong vaccine. Field experiences during an A/Brazil and an influenza B epidemic.

Young adults vaccinated in late spring of 1978 with one dose of vaccine containing either 7 microgram or 20 microgram of A/USSR (H1N1) hemagglutinin, followed by a dose of trivalent (A/USSR, A/Texas, B/Hong Kong) vaccine, were observed through an epidemic of A/Brazil influenza in the winter of 1978-1979, and of influenza B in 1979-1980. Influenza infection was diagnosed by virus isolation or serological titer rises between the spring seasons of 1978, 1979, and 1980. During the A/Brazil epidemic, rates of reported influenza-like illness and serologically confirmed H1N1 influenza infections were similar for all vaccine groups and two control groups. Naturally acquired antibody, but not vaccine-induced hemagglutination-inhibiting antibodies (HAI), appeared protective. During the influenza B epidemic, a lower rate of serologically confirmed infections was observed in the 1978 vaccine cohort than in one control group.

Influenza B virus vaccines in children and adults: adverse reactions, immune response, and observations in the field.

A double-blind trial of influenza virus vaccines was initiated in the fall of 1976. One dose of 500 chick cell-agglutinating units of subvirion influenza B vaccine gave negligible adverse reactions in schoolchildren and young adults, whereas whole-virus vaccine caused systemic reactions. Subvirion vaccines induced a complement-fixing antibody response, particularly in children, that returned to near original levels over a two-year period. Levels of hemagglutination-inhibiting (HAI) antibodies induced by the vaccine remained elevated for at least 2.5 years in the absence of natural challenge. When a major epidemic of influenza B occurred in the winter of 1979-1980, the youngest children (originally six to nine years of age) had the highest infection rate (53%); in this group protection was estimated at 44% +/- 17% by serologic evidence of infection. Little vaccine efficacy was demonstrated in older age groups at three years after vaccination, despite the persistence of HAI antibodies induced by the vaccine.