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Biomedical subjects

U Bollag

Publications and source records attributed to U Bollag.

32 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1982

Medical education in action: community-based experience and service in Nigeria.

Problem-based, student-centred learning at the Faculty of Health Sciences, Unilorin, Nigeria were incorporated in the overall objectives of producing students with a sense of service and a strong inclination toward broad community care and preventive medicine. The educational programme reflecting this concept was called COBES (community-based experience and service). Twice a year groups of between seven and fourteen students, each accompanied by two to three staff members, settled in a village or other community for 1 month. According to the Faculty's objectives, each group assessed the size of its community (population, areal map) at first. Malnutrition and infectious diseases were selected as the two health problems which were to be studied in depth during the first two COBES placements. Data were collected and analysed by the students from which deductions were made, and at the end of the placement a written report was required by the Faculty. Three learning situations and the experience gained from them by one group of students are reported: (1) What was our community? (2) The nutritional status of children, and (3) Guinea-worm infection. The educational benefits of the programme are discussed and the view of the students is brought out. A correct assessment of students' performances proved difficult. Other problems were related to the experimental situation of COBES, such as insufficient support of the programme by some staff members, the lack of programme structure and logistical shortcomings. The COBES programme, however, set a pattern of medical education which specifically suits Nigerian needs and probably those of other African countries.

Child↗
PubMed1980

Practical evaluation of a pilot immunization campaign against typhoid fever in a Cambodian refugee camp.

An outbreak of typhoid fever in the largest refugee camp of the besieged capital of Phnom-Penh, Cambodia, and availability of a locally manufactured Anti-Tetanus-Typhoid-Paratyphoid vaccine prompted us to test the practicability of a mass immunization campaign by carrying out a trial in the smaller, well delineated refugee camp of Pochentong. Initial acceptance was good, due to a comprehensive service (information, health education and individual care of patients). Attendances by adults and children showed a steady decline with only 20% completing the course. It is concluded that multiinjection immunization campaigns against typhoid-paratyphoid are a waste of money in a war-torn situation with an unstable population.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1980

Problem based medical education in the community: a student nutritional survey in Nigeria.

Students in their second year of medical studies perceived nutritional deficiency as a possible health problem in rural Nigeria and conducted a survey to investigate and compare the nutritional and health status of three distinct groups of children (Bokos in Babana, Bokos in Marami, Fulani). The nutritional status of the children in the three study populations differed and seasonal change affected the one to four year old children among the Fulani more than the other 2 groups. An attempt was made to explain the results on the basis of environmental and socioeconomic differences among the groups. This account, more than just elaborating on figures and more than making indisputable statements, aims at showing how medical students, from their earliest studies, can learn from an apparent health problem of the community, how they can be messengers of data relevant to picture the local epidemiology (practical aspect) and how their findings can be used as self instructive teaching--learning material (educational aspect).

Anthropometry↗
PubMed1980

Social and nutritional parameters of acute diarrhoea.

Data were collected on 60 children who were admitted for acute undifferentiated diarrhoea during a 5-month period to this hospital. Stool cultures for bacterial pathogens were all negative. Social and economic factors in the homes of the children were conspicuous.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1978

Studies into the incidence of carriers of enteropathogenic E. coli.

Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) is frequently found in asymptomatic carriers. When checked over a period of two and a half months at fortnightly intervals, nine out of 20 children at a child care centre in Jamaica showed EPEC of three different serotypes in faecal smears. Four stool specimens were found to be positive in another 45 children, controlled routinely on admission to a district hospital in Jamica. None of either group had diarrhoea at the time of collection. These results confirm that serotypes should not be equated with pathogenicity. Also, current methods of detecting enterotoxin are too time-consuming and impractical for non-specialized laboratories. The place of antibiotics in EPEC diarrhoea is criticized. Initial control measures should centre on fluid and electrolyte replacement irrespective of the aetiology of the diarrhoea.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗
PubMed1978

Why not saline nose drops?

Most respiratory tract infections are of viral origin. The nose is obstructed and bypassed. Dry air is inspired and this paralyses the ciliary mechanism. Body temperature falls and dehydration threatens the infant as water is lost by evaporation. Humidification by saline nose drops prepared and applied by the people themselves, offer a simple, cheap and harmless means of humidification. Teaching and educating the patients and parents to help themselves is much more efficient than prescribing more or less hazardous, expensive and inaccessible drugs. The author has employed this method in mass medicine treatment in poor countries as well as in individual curative medicine of rich countries with striking success. Controlled studies will be needed to prove scientifically that quantitative reduction in pharmaceutical zeal does not imply qualitative loss in medical care.

Humans↗
PubMed1977

[Community health aide. Critical estimation of his task within the nutrition program].

Community Health Aides (CHA), locally recruited and trained, visit households and identify malnourished children by means of weighing them in monthly intervals, recording the results on "Gomez" weight-for-age charts. The CHA acts as the people's nearest adviser. In order to become a useful if not the most important member of the health team, some common mistakes and distorted views should be corrected early in her career. The weight-for-age chart is an invaluable tool to record the child's state of health. It is the trend in weight gain that is relevant and not an isolated weight point on the graph. Maternal, perinatal and neonatal histories should be taken as they help to classify the low weight child. 3/4 of the children in the Young Child Nutrition Programme (YCNP) are underweight but also underheight for age. The designation of malnutrition grade I/II/III is misleading. Either one speaks of "undernutrition" if one considers weight-for-age only or one takes other anthropometric measurements such as the height or length in order to classify Protein-Energy-Malnutrition. A physical examination and clinical records are essential in the evaluation of malnutrition - one should not rely on the graph only. By measuring the height of children, one may well be surprised to discover that many children in St. James are on the obese side. Obesity is another form of malnutrition prevalent in the wealthy societies of western industrialized countries. It is paradox that we should increase the number of obese people in a world which is threatened by shortage of food energies and proteins.

Age Factors↗