Home management of fever in children: rational or ritual?

Fever is extremely common in childhood. Parents have been shown to have unrealistic fears, resulting in inappropriate management of fever in their children. This study was conducted to survey parents about their knowledge concerning home management of fever in children in their care. Parents of 560 febrile children were randomly recruited and interviewed in the waiting areas of the outpatient clinics or emergency room in four hospitals in Riyadh city using a standard questionnaire. Most of the interviewees were mothers, aged within 20-39 years. Although more than one-half of fathers and one-third of mothers in the study were well educated, most were misinformed about recognition and definition of fever. Most parents had poor knowledge regarding minimum temperatures for administering correct doses of antipyretic drugs or for sponging/bathing with water of the correct temperature. Most parents demonstrated a poor understanding of the appropriate frequency for checking the child's temperature and administering antipyretics. Only one-third of parents indicated a reasonable educational imprint by health-care providers. Considerable efforts will be required to educate parents about fever and its management.

Anti-HIV activity of flavonoids and proanthocyanidins from Crataegus sinaica.

In addition to quercetin, hyperoside, rutin, vitexin, 2″-O-rhamnosylvitexin, (4″'-O-acetyl)-2″-O-rhamno-sylvitexin, epicatechin, procyanidin B-5, proanthocyanidin A-2, procyanidin B-2 and procyanidin C-1, which were reported before in Crataegus sinaica (Rosaceae), three more flavonoids were isolated from the same plant, i.e. (+)-taxifolin, 3-O-ß-arabinopyranosyl-(+)-taxifolin and 3-0-ß-xylopyranosyl-(+)-taxifolin. The in vitro anti-HIV activity of some selected flavonoids and proanthocyanidins was evaluated. The dimeric procyanidin B2 and proanthocyanidin A2, and especially the trimeric procyanidin C1 showed some in vitro anti-HIV activity.

Anti-complementary activity of Crataegus sinaica.

The 80% and 70% acetone extracts from fruits and leaves of Crataegus sinaica Boiss (Rosaceae) and the ethyl acetate-, butanol-, and water-fractions obtained from these initial extracts as well as the isolated compounds, quercetin (1) (1), hyperoside (quercetin 3-O-galactoside) (2) (2), rutin (quercetin 3-O-rutinoside) (3) (2), vitexin (4) (1), rhamnosylvitexin (5) (3), monoacetylrhamnosylvitexin (6) (3), epicatechin (7) (4), procyanidin B-5 (8) (4), proanthocyanidin A-2 (9) (5), procyanidin B-2 (10) (4), and procyanidin C-1 (11) (4), were tested for their influence on the classical (CP) and alternative (AP) pathways of complement-mediated hemolysis. All extracts and fractions showed a strong anti-complementary effect in a dose-dependent way which was more pronounced on the CP than on the AP. The results indicated that the pure proanthocyanidins were active on the CP. Procyanidin C-1 and proanthocyanidin A-2 were the most active on the CP and also showed activity on AP, whereas the flavonoids isolated were generally less active. However, rutin, showed a strong activity, quercetin and rhamnosylvitexin a moderate activity on the CP. This is the first report on the chemical constituents and complement-modulating activity of C. sinaica and on the occurrence of proanthocyanidin A-2 (9) in hawthorn.