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Data are presented from an investigation of the assocation of presenting complaints with gonococcal infection in females seeking primary care in an urban emergency room. Over 27% of patients in the study had cultures positive for Neisseria gonorrhoeae (GC). The GC positivity rates which were significantly higher than expected were found in patients with abnormal uterine bleeding, urinary tract symptoms, and cervicitis, as well as acute PID. Clinical findings suggest an etiologic role for the gonococcus in the pathogenesis of these disorders. Where the incidence of gonorrhea is high, new approaches in the managment of patients with these presenting complaints are necessary in order to prevent the more serious complications of gonorrhea and further spread of the disease.

In June and July 1982, a large interstate outbreak of Yersinia enterocolitica infections caused by an unusual serotype occurred in Tennessee, Arkansas, and Mississippi. Eighty-six percent of cases had enteritis characterized by fever, abdominal pain, and diarrhea. In three separate case-control studies, drinking milk pasteurized by plant A was statistically associated with illness. In a survey of randomly chosen households, 8.3% of persons who recalled having drunk milk from plant A during the suspect period experienced a yersiniosislike illness. Inspection of the plant and cultures of the available raw and pasteurized milk did not reveal the source or mechanism of contamination or a breach in normal pasteurizing technique. Although outbreaks of enteric disease caused by pasteurized milk are rare in the United States, the ability of Y enterocolitica to grow in milk at refrigeration temperatures makes pasteurized milk a possible vehicle for virulent Y enterocolitica. The extent to which milk is responsible for sporadic cases of yersiniosis is unknown.

In a progressive surveillance programme designed to detect gonococcal infection in females, 113,063 women were screened for gonorrhoea in Memphis-Shelby County, Tennessee, during a 2-year period. The importance of including the urban community hospital in the surveillance programme is emphasized by the contribution of the City of Memphis Hospital where 53-3 per cent. of all positive cases of gonorrhoea were detected in only 34-2 per cent. of all tests done. The City of Memphis Hospital emergency room was an especially productive surveillance area, giving 29-0 per cent. of all positives with only 6-1 per cent. of all tests performed. The importance of taking routine cultures for gonococci from women presenting for prenatal care, delivery, or for genitourinary complaints in an urban hospital is stressed.

This study substantiates a previous report concerning the importance of the urban community hospital, particularly its emergency room, in the detection of gonorrhoea in women. Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), a major complication of gonorrhoea in women, significantly declined during a nine-year surveillance and control programme in the Memphis-Shelby County area. This suggests that the programme may have prevented PID developing in women through the early detection and treatment of asymptomatic infections.

Review of all hepatitis B surface antigen-positive patients reported to the county health department over the past 3 years showed that 60% of patients had been diagnosed at our hospital, which serves an inner city, predominantly black, indigent population. Sera from 524 adult patients admitted to the hospital were prospectively collected and tested for hepatitis B surface antigen, eight (1.5%) of which were antigen-positive. Census tract data allowed us to perform selective screening of sera from 95 other patients who were subsequently hospitalized and deemed "high risk" for hepatitis B infection. Nine of 95 (9.5%) selectively screened samples were positive for hepatitis B surface antigen, which represented a significantly higher rate of antigen carriage (P less than 0.0001) in hospitalized patients from "high risk" areas than that found in the general population screen. The methodology presented herein may be useful in providing a means of identifying hepatitis B surface antigen-positive patients from adult, urban, indigent care populations.