To determine total diarrhoeal morbidity and current home case management practices, a recall study was conducted among 345 mothers whose 406 children under 5 y of age had had diarrhoea in the past 4 months. The seasonally adjusted annual diarrhoea incidence rate was 0.48 episodes/child/y. For home treatment, increased amounts of fluid were given in 93% and oral rehydration solution (ORS) in 37% of cases. However, when given, ORS was diluted with other fluids in 41% of cases. More than half (55%) of the children received increased or normal amounts of food during the diarrhoeal episode, but 7% of the children were kept fasting for at least 1 d. Use of antidiarrhoeal drugs was minimal (0.7%), but products containing lactic acid bacteria were given in 44% of cases. Case management practice in cases of diarrhoea at home have much improved during the last 20 y, but are still not optimal.

Background/Objective:Empathizing-Systemizing Theory suggests that low empathizing and high systemizing are linked to autistic traits in the general population. Evidence from autistic individuals is convincing, but more research in the normal population is needed. Method: We conducted two surveys (N = 3,345) investigating the relationships between empathizing, systemizing and autistic traits in the general population, using a large variety of self-report instruments and direct performance tests. Results: Strong connections between autistic symptoms, empathizing, and systemizing were found using commonly used measures (Autism Quotient, Systemizing Quotient and Empathizing Quotient). Other measures on empathizing and systemizing found the connections that E-S-theory predicts, but the correlations were a lot more modest. Weak empathizing was related to autism's social difficulties, while systemizing was linked to non-social aspects of autism. Conclusions: The present results support the main tenets of empathizing-systemizing theory, but suggest that earlier findings might be inflated due to overlapping items in the most common assessment instruments.

To determine total diarrhoeal morbidity and current home case management practices, a recall study was conducted among 345 mothers whose 406 children under 5 y of age had had diarrhoea in the past 4 months. The seasonally adjusted annual diarrhoea incidence rate was 0.48 episodes/child/y. For home treatment, increased amounts of fluid were given in 93% and oral rehydration solution (ORS) in 37% of cases. However, when given, ORS was diluted with other fluids in 41% of cases. More than half (55%) of the children received increased or normal amounts of food during the diarrhoeal episode, but 7% of the children were kept fasting for at least 1 d. Use of antidiarrhoeal drugs was minimal (0.7%), but products containing lactic acid bacteria were given in 44% of cases. Case management practice in cases of diarrhoea at home have much improved during the last 20 y, but are still not optimal.

No abstract

Background - An estimated 240,000 newborns die worldwide within 28 days of birth every year due to congenital birth defect. Exposure to poor indoor environment contributes to poor health outcomes. In this research, we aim to evaluate the association between the usage of different type household cooking fuel and congenital birth defects in Nepal, as well as investigate whether air ventilation usage had a modifying effect on the possible association. Methods - This is a secondary analysis of multi-centric prospective cohort study evaluating Quality Improvement Project in 12 public referral hospitals of Nepal from 2017 to 2018. The study sample was 66,713 women with a newborn, whose information was available in hospital records and exit interviews. The association between cooking fuel type usage and congenital birth defects was investigated with adjusted multivariable logistic regression. To investigate the air ventilation usage, a stratified multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed. Results -In the study population (N = 66,713), 60.0% used polluting fuels for cooking and 89.6% did not have proper air ventilation. The prevalence rate of congenital birth defect was higher among the families who used polluting fuels for cooking than those who used cleaner fuels (5.5/1000 vs. 3.5/1000, p < 0.001). Families using polluting fuels had higher odds (aOR 1.49; 95% CI; 1.16, 1.91) of having a child with a congenital birth defect compared to mothers using cleaner fuels adjusted with all available co-variates. Families not using ventilation while cooking had even higher but statistically insignificant odds of having a child with congenital birth defects (aOR 1.34; 95% CI; 0.86, 2.07) adjusted with all other variates. Conclusion - The usage of polluted fuels for cooking has an increased odds of congenital birth defects with no significant association with ventilation. This study adds to the increasing knowledge on the adverse effect of polluting fuels for cooking and the need for action to reduce this exposure.