Search

Aim: The aim of this study was to explore childhood immunisations with a sample of parents from a population where children have high vaccination coverage and to identify factors which might encourage uptake in other populations. Methods: This research was conducted as part of a larger study on childhood immunisations in Hong Kong. In-depth interviews were conducted with a subsample of parents (n = 15) to further explore general perceptions and health beliefs about childhood immunisations. Interview data were analysed using content analysis techniques. Results: Three core themes emerged from the data: individual influences factors, family and social factors, and system factors. [Correction added after online publication 21/8/08: sentence corrected from “Four core themes emerged from the data: individual influences, family influences and system influences.”] Parents readily admitted knowledge deficits concerning childhood vaccines but believed that the benefits of immunisation outweighed the risks. Family members and peers were a source of pro-immunisation advice and comprehensive public health programmes and mandatory vaccination requirements for school entry ensured that childhood immunisation recommendations were followed. Conclusions: Overall, Hong Kong parents are highly supportive of immunisation programmes and insight gained from this study could prove helpful to providers trying to improve uptake rates among other populations.

Mortality is an important measure of the extent of the health disadvantages experienced by Australia's Aborigines. In the absence of routinely available data on Aboriginal deaths, this paper has collated information from a number of sources. In addition to published reports and theses, it also includes unpublished data provided to the Australian Institute of Health by State and Territory health authorities. The review also draws on data on maternal deaths, collated on a triennial basis and published by the National Health and Medical Research Council. Despite improvements in some indices of mortality, the death rates of Aborigines, particularly for young and middle-aged adults, are unacceptably higher than those of non-Aboriginal Australians. Without substantial reductions in death rates, the expectation of life of Aborigines will remain comparable with that of people living in developing countries.

The aim of this paper is to highlight Potts puffy tumour as a pathological entity distinct from other causes of peri- and supraorbital swelling. This uncommon condition is usuallynot recognised initially and is easily confused with neoplasms or local eye pathology. A case is reported and investigations and management reviewed.

The health status of Australia's Aborigines is far inferior to that of non-Aboriginal Australians. The factors underlying this low standard of health are complex, but relate to the gross social inequality experienced by Aborigines, even today. The social inequality, characterised by extreme socioeconomic deprivation and relative powerlessness, is the end result of the European occupation of Australia, which caused Aboriginal depopulation and dispossession. Since the early 1970s a number of special programs have attempted to overcome the health inequalities of Aborigines, but have really met with only limited success. This limited success is explicable in terms of the gross social inequalities experienced by Aborigines. Alleviation of Aboriginal ill-health requires integrated comprehensive programs, with continued support, at least in the medium term, of special Aboriginal health programs.

Lymphocyte subpopulations were measured in the peripheral blood of fifteen patients with extrinsic bronchial asthma and twenty-seven normal control subjects. No significant differences in the absolute numbers of relative proportions of T, B or K lymphocytes were found. Antibody-dependent lymphocyte-mediated cytotoxicity (K-cell activity) was also found to be normal. The proportion and absolute number of 'null' cells were significantly increased in the asthmatic group: this population did not correlate with serum IgE levels, the eosinophil count or the duration of disease. The significance of these results in relation to suppressor T-cell control of IgE formation is discussed.

An analysis of the available population and death data confirms that the level of Aboriginal mortality is significantly higher than that of the total Australian population. The mortality of Aborigines in the Kimberley region of Western Australia in 1980-1982 was twice that of the total Australian population in 1981; for the Northern Territory, and for 14 Queensland and five South Australian Aboriginal communities the level was 3-31/2 times higher. In 1980-1981, Aboriginal mortality in country regions of New South Wales was 41/2 times the 1981 Australian total population level. In 1980-1982, specific indices of Aboriginal fetal and infant mortality in these regions and for Western Australia (excluding the Kimberley region) were generally at least 2-4 times those of non-Aboriginal Australians, and up to 7 times higher for deaths occurring after the neonatal period.