Premarital syphilis screening: weighing the benefits.

Brazilian daycares: weighing the risks and benefits.

The number of day care centers in Brazil has doubled over the last few years; with this increase has come a rise in the numbers of cases of communicable disease, particularly pneumonia (the main cause of child mortality in Brazil). A study by Dr. Walter V.C. da Fonseca states that a day care child is 5 times more likely to contact pneumonia. However, since the income earned by women in Brazil...

Weighing the risks and benefits of tamoxifen.

Nanosilver: Weighing the Risks and Benefits

Silver nanoparticles are added to a variety of textiles and home goods as an antimicrobial. Although silver has been used safely for centuries, some question whether the rapid expansion of new exposure sources to nanosilver could have adverse consequences.

Premarital HIV screening in Johor--(2002-2004).

A descriptive study was conducted on premarital HIV screening programme in Johor over a three year period. HIV screenings were done at government clinics and confirmed by accredited laboratories. As a result, 123 new HIV cases were detected (0.17%) from 74,210 respondents. In 2004, 24 cases (64.9%) advanced to marriage (n = 37) after they underwent counselling and six of them married among them...

Asthma and swimming: weighing the benefits and the risks.

Swimming is a healthy exercise that is well tolerated by asthmatics because it induces less severe bronchoconstriction than other forms of physical activity. This protective effect of swimming probably results from the high humidity of inspired air at water level, which reduces respiratory water loss and possibly osmolarity of airways mucus. The horizontal position of the body during swimming m...