ABSTRACT
Osteoporotic femoral neck fractures are increasing as the population ages. There is a significant cost to care for patients with such fractures. We prospectively analysed the in-hospital cost of managing 85 patients admitted to the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) with such fractures. The majority of patients were females, 78.8%, and the mean age of the cohort was 83.7 years. There was a significant difference in the mean preoperative delay and length of stay between those patients treated publicly as compared to those treated privately, 9.6 vs 3.1 days and 18.9 vs 8.8 days, respectively. The mean acute cost of those treated publicly was 39% of the cost of those treated privately, J$110 878.80 vs J$284 287.61. The economic cost per year to the country for the acute management of femoral neck fractures was calculated at J$46 264 528.76 which is 0.30% of the 2005-2006 budgetary allocation for health. This cost was significantly associated with the length of hospital stay and the number of complications developed.
Subject(s)
Aspergillosis/etiology , Bandages/adverse effects , Dermatomycoses/etiology , Intubation, Intratracheal/instrumentation , Amphotericin B/therapeutic use , Aspergillosis/diagnosis , Aspergillosis/drug therapy , Aspergillus flavus/isolation & purification , Aspergillus niger/isolation & purification , Bandages/microbiology , Dermatomycoses/diagnosis , Dermatomycoses/drug therapy , Fatal Outcome , Female , Humans , Infant, Newborn , Infant, Premature , Male , Respiratory Insufficiency/therapy , Sepsis/microbiologyABSTRACT
Moderately penicillin-resistant Neisseria meningitidis is rare in North America. We report an outbreak of meningococcal disease in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, with serogroup C N. meningitidis. The MICs of penicillin ranged from 0.12 to 0.25 micrograms/ml, and all isolates showing decreased susceptibility had identical genomic fingerprints when they were compared by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. Our data indicate that N. meningitidis that is moderately resistant to penicillin is prevalent in Saskatchewan, Canada.
Subject(s)
Meningitis, Meningococcal/drug therapy , Neisseria meningitidis/drug effects , Penicillin Resistance , Adolescent , Adult , Child , Child, Preschool , DNA Fingerprinting , DNA, Bacterial/genetics , DNA, Bacterial/isolation & purification , Disease Outbreaks , Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field , Female , Humans , Infant , Male , Meningitis, Meningococcal/epidemiology , Meningitis, Meningococcal/microbiology , Neisseria meningitidis/classification , Neisseria meningitidis/genetics , Saskatchewan/epidemiology , SerotypingABSTRACT
The results of chromosome studies on 6809 consecutive newborn infants are presented. One hundred and one (1.48%) were heterozygous for a marker chromosome, the significance of which is not at present clear. Twenty-two infants (0.32%) had a major chromosome abnormality. Only six of these infants (0.09%) had a clinically recognizable abnormal phenotype (Down's syndrome). The occult chromosome abnormalities included five sex chromosome abnormalities (one 47,XYY; two 47,XXY; two 47,XXX) and 11 balanced translocations. Seven of these were t(DqDq) and four were reciprocal translocations. The results of the present survey are combined with four other similar neonatal surveys in which a total of 23,328 newborns have been screened. Of these, 117 (0.5%; range 0.65-0.32%) had major chromosome abnormalities. The majority of these (72.7%) would not have been detected at birth without chromosome studies, an important fact in the context of prenatal diagnosis of chromosome disease and the early ascertainment of high-risk families.
