Adult-onset demodicosis in two dogs due to Demodex canis and a short-tailed demodectic mite.

Infestation with a short-tailed demodectic mite and Demodex canis was diagnosed in both a six-and-a-half-year-old and a four-year-old dog. The clinical picture was compatible with generalised demodicosis complicated by staphylococcal pyoderma (case 1), or localised demodicosis (case 2). In both cases, the short-tailed demodectic mite outnumbered D canis in superficial skin scrapings. The laboratory findings (lymphopenia, eosinopenia, increased serum alkaline phosphatase and alanine aminotransferase activities, diluted urine and proteinuria) and the results of a low dose dexamethasone suppression test were suggestive of underlying hyperadrenocorticism in the first case. Hypothyroidism was considered a possibility in the second case, owing to the sustained bradycardia and the extremely low basal total thyroxine value. Systemic treatment with ivermectin and cephalexin (case 1), or topical application of an amitraz solution in mineral oil, along with sodium levothyroxine replacement therapy (case 2), resulted in a complete resolution of the skin lesions and the disappearance of both types of demodectic mite after two and one and a half months, respectively.

Stigmatization, discrimination and fear of AIDS in Greece: implications for health policy.

A prospective health-education research project about AIDS knowledge and attitudes towards AIDS was conducted in Athens and nine adjacent municipalities in west Attica, Greece. Socioeconomic and demographic data, AIDS knowledge, and attitudinal information were collected from 1552 respondents and analysed treating the attitudes of stigmatization, discrimination and fear towards AIDS as the dependent variable. Statistically significant correlations were found between each of the three attitudinal variables and the independent ones; specifically, age, place of residence, marital status and level of AIDS knowledge. Our working hypothesis--that the higher the level of AIDS knowledge, the lower the level of discrimination and stigmatization--was supported by our data. The relationship between AIDS knowledge and fear was less clear. Fear probably inhibits a rational approach to screening for HIV, and more empirical research is needed about fear and its interaction with stigmatizing and discriminatory attitudes and behaviours. Such research should be aimed at identifying population groups 'at risk' of expressing high levels of negative social attitudes about AIDS so that educational programmes can be appropriately designed.

Blood donor behaviour in Greece: implications for health policy.

Blood donation behaviour was studied in 809 residents of the Greater Athens area to identify socio-economic and attitudinal factors and level of knowledge about blood donation related to donor behaviour. The sample was randomly selected and consisted of men and women aged 18-65, the legally defined age for donation. According to stepwise regression analysis, blood donation (40.8% of the study population) was found to be correlated with gender, place of birth, occupation and knowledge about donation. Donors were more likely to be men than women; students and military recruits than professionals and scientists; and those with higher knowledge scores regarding donation. In our factor analysis of the social attitudes related to blood donation, three factors emerged as important regarding donation: health-related incentives for the donor, structural incentives (organization of blood donation education and management of facilities) and the creation of social and economic incentives. With respect to the affective measures those who expressed feelings of guilt when presented with hypothetical, emotionally charged situations dramatizing the need for donor blood were more likely to be donors. The results of the data are discussed within a larger socio-cultural context and suggestions for health policy are made.

Knowledge and attitudes about AIDS of residents of greater Athens.

A prospective research project on health education about AIDS is being conducted in the Greater Athens area. In the first phase of the project, information was collected concerning the knowledge and attitudes about AIDS of a sample of the population. The results indicated that, in general, the population was moderately well informed about AIDS. The population groups who were best informed were the females, those with a higher level of education and a longer period of urban residence, and those in the occupational category merchants/sales personnel. Three attitudinal categories were identified which could be characterized as discrimination, stigmatization and fear of those affected by AIDS. These attitudes were linked respectively to: (1) approval of the enforcement of special measures, (2) stigmatizing of persons, behaviours and districts and (3) fear that AIDS comprises a major social threat. The attitudes expressed by restrictive measures towards those affected and stigmatization were associated with a low level of knowledge about most aspects of AIDS. Health education programmes directed at the population in the districts studied should take into account the findings of this study.

Evaluation of different policies for the management of labour.

Various policies of management of prolonged labour have been proposed to prevent its two main consequences--caesarean section and fetal distress. Two randomised controlled trials were organised; the first to assess the value of amniotomy with oxytocin compared to a more conservative approach. The second trial compared the effect of continuous professional support during labour with the intermittent presence of a member of staff. These were multicentre studies in several countries of Europe. Preliminary results of early amniotomy suggested no difference in the rate of operative delivery. Continuous professional support was associated with a significant reduction in operative deliveries.

Greek children's perception of illness and drugs.

The way in which drugs are used is a result of structural factors, such as the pharmaceutical market and the system of professional health care, and of ideological ones, such as definitions of health and sickness, and perceptions about drugs and symbolic meanings attached to them. The foundations for ideological factors related to drug use are suspected to be created in childhood through personal and culturally shaped experiences related to health and sickness, with implications for adult health and illness behaviour. It is therefore important to explore the perceptions that children themselves have of medications, including the role that they play in children's ideas about therapeutic measures to be taken when they are sick. Sixty healthy Greek children, aged six and seven years, were individually interviewed about drawings they had made depicting themselves the last time they had been sick or not felt well. The content of their narratives was analysed for references to medications according to words which they used (e.g., by general description, by type of medication, by brand name), the spontaneity of their responses, attitudes expressed about the necessity of drugs for recovery, and descriptions of the process of being sick (ideas of causation, necessary behavioural changes, therapeutic measures etc.). Almost half of the children depicted and described themselves as alone while sick, often feeling isolated or denied access to regular activity; medications were seen as a way to resume normal activities and responsibilities.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)