Dengue fever has increased to the point where it has become a major international public health and economical problem, mainly in urban and semi-urban areas in tropical and subtropical regions. Worldwide 2,5 billion people live in regions where dengue can be transmitted and approximately 100 million people get infected yearly. In 2002 there was a great outbreak in Latin America, and Costa Rica was in the top three regarding reported cases. At the time of writing, reports show that cases of dengue are currently low in Costa Rica. Although the figures vary, dengue remains a public health problem. This study aimed to describe Costa Rican registered nurses’ views and experiences of caring for patients with dengue fever. Data were collected with semi-structured interviews and conducted with eight registered nurses from Costa Rica, and analysed with qualitative content analysis method with search for similarities and differences which later were categorized. The result was divided into five categories; the conception about dengue fever, caring, patient education, prevention and the future. The result showed a similar perception of the disease and was described as terrible, causing a lot of suffering for the patient, as well as a burden on the health care, that requires large financial resources. To control dengue and suppress the proliferation it is important to have different preventive means and to educate people to achieve a change of the mindset.

The American dog tick, Dermacentor variabilis, is an obligate blood feeding ectoparasite. This tick is a known vector of pathogens that affect the health of wildlife, humans, and livestock and is abundant in Manitoba. The etiological agent of bovine anaplasmosis, Anaplasma marginale, along with members of the spotted fever group rickettsiae are bacteria that are transmitted by this tick. I examined the distribution of these bacteria in Manitoba’s tick population using molecular techniques. During the eradication of an outbreak of bovine anaplasmosis in Manitoba, there was no evidence the bacterium had spilled over into the tick population. Rickettsia montanensis was detected with a mean prevalence of infection of 9.8% (range, 0.00 - 21.74% among localities) in 8 of 10 localities within the province. It was also determined that 19.9% (SE ±1.14) of adult questing ticks collected in one vector season overwintered through to the next spring.

Hyperthermia worsens outcome after ischemia. While it seems reasonable that hyperthermia would also worsen outcome after intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), clinical studies attempting to find a causative relationship between hyperthermia and outcome have been inconclusive. We induced ICH with an injection of autologous whole blood (100 l) immediately followed by 3 hours of hyperthermia (HYPER; 39C) or normothermia (NORMO; 37C). Surprisingly, hyperthermia reduced edema at 72 hours, and improved outcome on day 3 post-ICH. There were no behavioural differences at later time points (day 11 and 32 post-ICH) and no difference in lesion volume (NORMO 14.0 mm3, HYPER: 14.5 mm3). Overall, this study does not support the hypothesis that mild, transient hyperthermia worsens outcome after ICH. Further research is needed to determine if more severe or prolonged hyperthermia worsens outcome, or if the cause of hyperthermia (e.g. infection) is important.

Copies of author's previously published articles inserted / Includes bibliographical references / [ix], 261, [101] leaves, [4] leaves of plates : ill. (some col.) ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Microbiology and Immunology, 1992

Classical Swine Fever (CSF) is a highly contagious viral disease of swine that causes major losses to pig production. CSF virus is a member of the genus Pestivirus of the family Flaviviridae and is closely related antigenically to other Pestiviruses, Bovine Viral Diarrhoea (BVD) virus and Border Disease (BD) virus. In the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Laos), CSF has been recognised as a disease that causes significant loss to the smallholder pig sector. However, there exists in Laos a deficiency in fully understanding the epidemiology and impact of CSF, together with limitations in being able to reliably detect CSF outbreaks in a timely manner. (For complete abstract open document)

Thesis (M.CM)--Hong Kong Baptist University, 2006. / Dissertation submitted to the School of Chinese Medicine. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 27-36).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Virginia Commonwealth University, 2007. / Prepared for: Dept. of Microbiology and Immunology. Bibliography: leaves 127-137. Available online via the Internet.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karol. inst. / Härtill 6 uppsatser.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Umeå : Umeå universitet, 2005. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

Thesis (MPharm.--Faculty of Health Sciences)-University of Pretoria, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references.