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Biomedical subjects

L Naggan

Publications and source records attributed to L Naggan.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1988

Prevalence of CMV antibodies among women of childbearing age in different social environments in southern Israel.

The prevalence rate of IgG antibodies to cytomegalovirus (CMV) was determined in a sample of 567 women of childbearing age in the southern part of Israel by the immunoperoxidase assay to membrane antigen (IPAMA) technique. Urban Jewish women of Afro-Asian origin showed significantly higher rates of seropositivity than urban Jewish women of European-American origin (80% vs 65%, respectively, P less than 0.001), closely resembling the level of CMV seropositivity found in Afro-Asian and European-American countries in the same age and sex population groups. The Bedouin women showed slightly lower rates of CMV seropositivity (75%) than Jewish women of Afro-Asian origin. Particularly high rates of CMV seropositivity were detected in women who live in a kibbutz environment: 96% in women of Afro-Asian origin and 80% in women of Euro-American origin. Multiple discriminant analysis also singles out the kibbutz environment as a major contributor to the variance between the groups tested (P less than 0.003).

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Evaluation of primary health services: the provider perspective.

This study proposes a strategy for the evaluation of the quality of primary health services based on the provider's satisfaction with the service. In the area of health sciences only a few studies have inquired into the factors contributing to provider satisfaction. The present study tested the hypothesis that expectation regarding availability of services as well as the self-image as a provider of care and the assessment of a provider-patient relationship are major determinants of provider satisfaction. This hypothesis is derived from job satisfaction studies as well as from research on patient satisfaction. All general physicians, pediatricians, nurses, pharmacists and administrators working in 17 primary clinics in Israel were interviewed, in their clinics, by appointment (n = 147), using structured questionnaires which were especially designed for this study. Seventy-four percent of the team members stated that they were "satisfied" or "very satisfied" with the service they provide in the clinics. Overall satisfaction was significantly lower among doctors and pharmacists. The most important predictor of satisfaction is the assessment of adequacy of time devoted to patients. Only one third of the team members stated that the amount of time devoted for examination, treatment or conversation is as great as they would wish. The finding suggests that team members understand that the lack of availability of services and equipment, and lack of opportunities to meet with peers, as well as alien and cold relationships with patients, are all likely to bring about deterioration in their normative professional behavior.

Health Services Accessibility↗
PubMed1988

Evaluation of an intervention program for head lice infestation in school children.

In order to investigate the point prevalence rate of pediculosis capitis (human head lice) among children in the southern region of Israel, 1431 elementary school children (6 to 15 years old), representing rural and urban environments, were examined and characterized by sociodemographic variables. An intervention program was initiated immediately after the first examination, which included "health education" for children and parents and free medicated shampoo (with pediculocides) provided for each child detected as "positive." The intervention program was evaluated by a second examination performed on the same population after an interval of 1 month. Fifty-five percent of the children (793 of 1431) were found to be infested with one of the markers of head lice, with the highest rate in kibbutz children (80%) and the lowest rate (37%) among children who live in an urban neighborhood of high socioeconomic status. Analysis of various characteristics (related to the children screened in this study) revealed that crowding was the main factor contributing to the variation in the rates of infestation. Evaluation of the intervention program revealed a significant success in reducing head lice infestation that was not influenced by variation in socioeconomic status or place of residence.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

Antinuclear autoantibodies in sera of healthy pregnant women and their offspring.

The presence of autoantibodies in the fetus has previously been investigated in the offspring of mothers with autoimmune diseases, but not in the offspring of healthy pregnant women. Employing the ELISA method, we examine four SLE-associated auto-antibodies (anti-dsDNA, anti-ssDNA, anti-poly(I), and anti-cardiolipin) in sera obtained from 196 healthy pregnant women and their offspring. All detected autoantibodies in maternal and blood cord sera were of the IgM isotype. Thirty-four maternal sera (17.3%) were positive for one or more tested autoantibodies: 16 (8.1%) for one autoantibody alone, 17 (8.6%) for two autoantibodies, and one (0.5%) for three autoantibodies; 1.5%, 5.6%, 9.6%, and 10.2% of the maternal sera were positive for autoantibodies against dsDNA, ssDNA, poly(I), and cardiolipin, respectively. In only one blood cord serum sample was an autoantibody (IgM anti-ssDNA) detected. This infant was born to a healthy seronegative mother. The finding that all offspring of IgM seropositive mothers are IgM seronegative is not surprising since maternal IgM autoantibodies do not cross the placenta. The finding of an IgM seropositive infant born to an IgM seronegative mother may indicate that the fetus is capable of self-production of autoantibodies.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Coping with health services disruption. Perceiving need and utilizing available services during a doctors' strike.

This study examined utilization of health services during a 118-day doctors' strike. A total of 1,663 members of 423 families were home-interviewed 1 month after the beginning of the strike. A total of 39% (649 people) perceived a subjective need for health care at least once during the month preceding the interview. A total of 813 episodes of "need" were recorded. Forty-six percent of those with perceived "need" sought medical care in all episodes of need, 6% in some episodes, and 49% sought no medical advice for any of their morbidity episodes. It was found that the socioeconomic status made a major contribution to the variation in the proportion of met needs. The relevance of socioeconomic status was supported by the finding that financial constraints were the most frequently cited reason for not utilizing services. The proportion of the subjectively perceived unmet needs for medical care was lower among people from the higher socioeconomic strata.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1983

Rickettsial antibody prevalence in southern Israel: IgG antibodies to Coxiella burnetii, Rickettsia typhi, and spotted fever group rickettsiae among urban- and rural-dwelling and Bedouin women.

A retrospective serological survey was carried out using sera obtained from women at childbirth in the southern desert region of Israel to determine exposure experience to three rickettsial agents: Coxiella burnetii, Rickettsia typhi, and spotted fever group rickettsiae. Using the indirect fluorescent antibody method for determining IgG antibodies, it was found that about 40% of all sera examined demonstrated antibodies to one or more rickettsiae. Bedouin women appeared to be at greater risk of having antibodies to C. burnetii and spotted fever group rickettsiae than did Jewish residents of Beersheba, agricultural settlements, and development towns. The residents of development towns appeared to be at lower risk of developing antibodies to spotted fever group rickettsiae than did other populations sampled. Possible reasons for these differences are discussed.

Antibodies, Bacterial↗
PubMed1983

Early acquisition of cytomegalovirus infection in kibbutz children in comparison with urban and Bedouin children in southern Israel.

Prevalence of antibody to human cytomegalovirus (CMV) was determined in healthy children aged 1 to 13 years in Beer Sheva, in the Negev region in Israel. Kibbutz children showed a significantly higher rate of CMV seropositivity by the second year of life than did urban Jewish and Bedouin children. Kibbutz children live in close contact from the sixth week of life under high standards of hygiene and good socioeconomic conditions. Among children living in urban populations, as significantly higher prevalence of CMV seropositivity by the second year of life was associated with crowding, but not with other socioeconomic indicators (place of residence, country of origin, educational level of parents). A marked rise of CMV seropositivity with age was found in urban Jewish children in the 2- to 5-year age-group, during which time they attend nurseries, and in Bedouin children in the 6- to 9-year age-group, when they first attend school. These data suggest that close contact is of major importance in CMV infection in childhood.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1983

Uncomplicated pneumonia: an evaluation of determinants of length of hospitalization.

A study was carried out on the length of hospitalization of patients with uncomplicated pneumonia. Three medical wards with comparable admissions criteria and characteristics of patients had different lengths of hospitalization (5.4, 8.1 and 9.1 days). Quality of care, defined by a score based on agreed-upon criteria of patient management and scored by independent observers, was similar for the three wards. There were also no differences in the rates of rehospitalization or complications. In the ward with the shortest hospital stay, predischarge chest X-rays were not performed; in the other two wards, 19.8% of the patients had a repeat chest X-ray before discharge. The difference in the proportion of predischarge X-rays did not explain the differences in length of stay. The data suggest that hospitalization practices should be periodically reviewed to ascertain their contribution to the length of hospitalization. The shortest hospitalization period for uncomplicated pneumonia observed on one of the medical wards seems reasonable and was not associated with obvious major complications in this small group of patients. Since only a small percentage of chest X-rays return to normal by the end of the 1st wk, and in view of their questionable contribution to therapeutic decisions, the usefulness of the predischarge chest X-ray is doubtful.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1982

Prevalence of antibodies to human cytomegalovirus in urban, kibbutz, and Bedouin children in southern Israel.

Prevalence of antibody to human cytomegalovirus (CMV) was determined in a sample of 860 healthy children aged 1-13 years in Beer Sheva, in the Negev region of Israel. Three groups of children were tested: (1) urban Jewish children of low, middle, and high socioeconomic levels; (2) 8 rural communes (kibbutz) in which children live in close contact with each other from the 6th week of life under good hygienic conditions and a high standard of living; (3) Bedouin, seminomadic Arabs living in relatively poor hygienic conditions in the desert. Kibbutz children showed a significantly higher rate of CMV seropositivity by the second year of life than urban Jewish and Bedouin children (76% versus 44% and 54% respectively) with a gradual increase to 94% in the 10-13-year age group. Among children living in urban populations a significantly higher prevalence of CMV seropositivity was associated with crowding, but not with other socioeconomic indicators (place of residence, country of origin, or education level of parents). A marked rise of CMV seropositivity with age was found in urban Jewish children in the 2-5-year age group during which time they attend nurseries (44% to 67%) and in the Bedouin children in the 6-9-year age group (59% to 86%) when they first attend school. The data suggest that close contact is of major importance in CMV infection in childhood. The clinical implications of early acquisition and high prevalence of CMV antibodies in the kibbutz setting are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1981

Antibody pattern to human cytomegalovirus in patients with adenocarcinoma of the colon.

The role of human cytomegalovirus (CMV) was examined according to serological patterns in 37 patients with adenocarcinoma of the colon (ACC). The sera were examined for the presence of IgG antibodies by the immunoperoxidase antibody to membrane antigens (IPAMA) method and by the complement-fixation (CF) test. Antibody determinations were also performed by the IPAMA method for three other members of the herpesvirus group: Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), herpes simplex virus (HSV) and varicella-zoster virus (VZV). Comparison groups included normal subjects, ACC patients treated with chemotherapy, and patients operated on for benign diseases. No significant difference was found in the geometric mean titers (GMTs) for CMV and the other herpesviruses in the sera of nontreated ACC patients when compared with the control groups. However, a significantly elevated antibody titer to CMV was found in chemotherapy-treated ACC patients by both the IPAMA and CF methods. In this group, elevated titers were found by the IPAMA method for EBV and HSV, but not for VZV. The significance of serological studies in elucidating the role of CMV in ACC patients is discussed.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed1981

Characteristics of tinnitus in acoustic trauma.

Several parameters of tinnitus were investigated in a group fo 102 subjects suffering from acoustic trauma. These parameters were then compared to the results of the hearing tests and subjective complaints. The frequency and intensity of tinnitus were established by the usual matching technique with a clinical audiometer. The most effective masking of the tinnitus due to acoustic trauma was by pure tones. There seems to be a correlation between the tinnitus level and the hearing loss level at the frequency at which the hearing loss was most severe. A significant association was found between the matched tinnitus level and its description by the patient. There is also an association between the severity of the acoustic trauma and the perceived loudness of the tinnitus, as well as other subjective complaints.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1980

Prevalence of hepatitis B markers (HBsAg and HBsAb) in women screened at time of delivery.

Two thousand women were screened at the time of delivery for two hepatitis B markers, surface antigen (HBsAg) and antibody (HBsAb), in order to determine prevalence rates, define high-risk groups and estimate the cost-efficiency of routine screening. It was found that 2.2% of the women were HBsAg positive and 32% of a 20% subsample were HBsAb positive. Jewish women of North African origin had the highest rates (HBsAg, 3.8%; HBsAb, 47%) and those of European origin had the lowest (1.2 and 14%, respectively). Bedouin women had intermediate rates (HBsAg, 1.1%; HBsAb, 28%). The issue of screening pregnant women for HBsAg is discussed in light of these results.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1979

Primary malignant lymphoma of the small intestine in Israel. Changing incidence with time.

One hundred and eighty-one cases of primary small intestinal lymphoma were diagnosed in residents of Israel--145 Jews and 36 Arabs--during a 16-year period, 1960--75. The male:female ratio was 1.8:1. Incidence rates were higher in children, the middle-aged and the elderly than in teenagers or young adults. Crude and age-adjusted incidence rates were higher in Arabs than in Jews. The pattern among the subgroups of the Jewish population varied with age. In young adults of both sexes the rates were much higher among Jews born in North Africa or Asia than among those born in Europe or Israel. In elderly males, however, the rates were almost twice as high in European-born Jews than among those born in North Africa or Asia. The mean annual incidence of primary small intestinal lymphoma fell from 4.8 per million during 1960--67 to 3.6 per million during 1968--75. This was due to a marked fall in the rates in children and young adults, whereas the rates in those aged 40 years or more rose with time. The pattern of the change with time suggests that environmental conditions are an important factor in the causation of primary intestinal lymphoma in young adults.

Adolescent↗