A very high percentage of patients were infected with metronidazole and clarithromycin resistant strains. The use of antibiotics for other indications seems to be the major risk factor for the development of primary resistance. High incidence should alarm the gastroenterologist while prescribing the eradication regimen.

Phase III studies of these agents in the prevention of adenoma recurrence are necessary to confirm this hypothesis and have now been initiated at multiple institutions.

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Agate stones have been shaped and polished into beads and other decorative items for thousands of years in Khambhat, India. Agate is a silicate quartz that produces a fine dust when shaped and polished. The people who shape and polish the stones in workshops in their homes are being sickened with silicosis, as are their families and neighbors. These home-based workshops are unregulated and the workers and their families have no access to occupational health services or workers' compensation when they become ill. Occupational health activists have tried to find an effective strategy to confront these working conditions and protect the health and livelihood of the agate workers. They have had limited success, and huge challenges remain.

No abstract