Search PubMedSearch

Biomedical subjects

D C McBride

Publications and source records attributed to D C McBride.

11 recordsLinked to original sources

HIV seropositivity of needles from shooting galleries in south Florida.

Needle/syringe combinations were collected from three shooting galleries in South Florida and tested for the presence of antibodies to HIV-1. Fifteen of 148 needles (10.1 percent) tested positive for HIV-1 antibody. Seropositivity rates did not vary by the day of the week of collection, nor by shooting gallery from which they were collected. When the needle appeared to contain blood residue, 20.0 percent were positive versus 5.1 percent with no blood residue. These findings suggest that needles/syringes used in shooting galleries are likely to serve as reservoirs and/or vectors of transmission of the HIV-1 virus, and that although visual inspection of the needle/syringe may be useful in lessening the chance for transmission, even the visually "clean" needles may result in transmission of infection.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome

Assessment of IgE-mediated sensitivity during immunotherapy: comparison of the RAST with and without adsorption of IgG to titrated prick skin tests.

The effect of specific IgG induced by allergy immunotherapy on specific IgE binding in the RAST was assessed by removal of the IgG with staphylococcus protein A bound to Sepharose. In sera from those patients with the highest titers of specific IgG, RAST binding was increased 8% following adsorption of the post-immunotherapy sera while in sera obtained from the same patients before immunotherapy adsorption increased binding only 3%. The effect of allergy immunotherapy on the titrated prick skin test was compared to the effect on the RAST to the same allergen. In nine patients who received the highest dose of grass extract, the area of the titrated prick skin tests was reduced following immunotherapy by 75%. Staphylococcus protein-A adsorption of sera from these patients drawn before immunotherapy resulted in an increase in RAST binding of 2.7% compared to an increase of 6% in sera obtained after immunotherapy, suggesting suppression of RAST binding of only 3% by specific IgG. It is concluded that RAST levels are affected less than prick skin tests by the immunologic response to allergy immunotherapy. Some interference in RAST binding is produced by specific IgG antibody in high titers, but for many critical purposes the degree of interference is not significant.

Absorption

Dilaudid use: trends and characteristics of users.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent of Dilaudid use and characteristics of users in a population of individuals admitted to drug treatment programs over a four-year period. It was found that the number and rate of Dilaudid use had increased from 1% of those admitted in 1974 to 10% in late 1977. In comparison to other drug users, Dilaudid users were more likely to be white and middle-class. Dilaudid users were also likely to use the drug intravenously and to obtain it by street buys and to also use heroin. Data suggest that Dilaudid use is easily integrated into a heroin-using life style and may serve as a heroin substitute, and that Dilaudid users are a population that has characteristics similar to the type described as the Southern addict.

Adult

An analysis of the accessibility and nonaccessibility of patients in a follow-up study.

In a follow-up study of 184 emergency room patients experiencing acute drug reactions, several respondents were inaccessible. In this paper the 83 accessible and 101 nonaccessible patients are compared in order to determine why respondents are often difficult to locate in a follow-up study. Those patients who were the most accessible proved to be primarily young, White males who had been referred to a traditional drug treatment program from the hospital emergency room. Those patients who were the least accessible proved to be primarily White females between 24 and 29 years of age who had not been referred for further treatment.

Adolescent

Comprehensive drug programs: the Dade County example.

The authors present data from a survey of four methadone maintenance programs, five outpatient clinics, six nonresidential facilities, and nine therapeutic communities affiliated with the Dade County Comprehensive Drug Program. The treatment population included more blacks but fewer Latins than the general county population. Primary drugs of abuse were narcotics in methadone clinics and "softer" drugs in outpatient and nonresidential facilities. Most patients were either self- or court referrals. Direct per patient costs, which were lowest in the outpatient clinics, averaged $1,041. The authors suggest that their data may aid other comprehensive drug treatment programs in establishing guidelines.

Adolescent

Crack use and correlates of use in a national population of street heroin users. The National AIDS Research Consortium.

Traditionally, researchers and clinicians have viewed street heroin users as representing an end point in a drug-using career. It is toward this population that major national treatment efforts have been directed. Concomitant with the historical national concern about heroin use has been concern about the increase in crack cocaine use. There has been speculation that crack use may have become a substitute for the higher risk of heroin injection. This article examines the impact of crack use in a national population of heroin users. It was consistently found that there was a correlation between the frequency of crack use and the frequency of speedballing as well as the use of other forms of cocaine, amphetamines, and marijuana. There was also a positive relationship between frequency of crack use and such HIV risk behaviors as renting needles and having a large number of sex partners. The data suggest that in this population of heroin users, crack is not a substitute for heroin but rather is a part of a drug-use pattern that includes an increased use of other drugs and increased high-risk behaviors for contracting HIV.

Adolescent