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There is an urgent need in multinational studies for efficient and sensitive tests for the evaluation of dementias. These tests are used to investigate the regional characteristics of dementias, providing possible insight into the different etiologies of the disorders. These tests are also utilized to assess the outcome of treatment interventions at multinational levels. We validated and standardized the Syndrom Kurztest, a brief European neuropsychological test, in a population of elderly Chileans, possessing high levels of illiteracy. In our sample, the SKT was found to be an effective instrument for the diagnosis of dementias, and for differentiating mild-moderate from severe degrees of the disease. There was a good correlation between the scores on the SKT and the age of the participants, but the gender and the years of schooling had no effect. The test is a useful contribution to the study of dementias, found in the aging developing world, particularly because it can be used in illiterate populations.

In a previous study we observed that 6% of adult and 18% of children contacts of H. influenzae infected patients became carriers of the bacillus. We studied 1296 adults involved in children care, 398 from day care centers and 898 from hospitals in Santiago. A pharyngeal sample was cultured in chocolate agar plus bacitracin (300 mg/ml) and incubated at 37 degrees C in a 5-10% CO2 atmosphere for 18-24 h. Isolates of H influenzae were biotypified and serogrouped according to international recommendations. We observed that 2.4% of subjects were H influenzae carriers. Thirty carriers were treated with 2 doses of enoxacin, 440 mg. All became free of H influenzae at a 30-day follow-up.