A survey of infant feeding practices was conducted among children aged less than 1 year attending an urban health clinic and the main Children's Outpatients Department (COPD) in Port Moresby in 1986. A further survey was conducted in 1987 to assess the short-term trends. The use of artificial milk increased by 60%, from 9.4% in the first to 15.2% in the second survey. This increase was particularly marked in the COPD sample. Bottle feeding accounted for 95% of artificial feeding methods. In 67% of cases the reason given for using artificial feeding was that the mother was working. Legislation and an explicit government policy to foster the establishment of creches in the work place may be necessary to counter the worrying increase in artificial feeding.
Bottle Feeding - trends ; Female ; Humans ; Maternal Behavior ; Papua New Guinea ; Urban Population ; Women, Working

Objective: To assess the knowledge, attitudes and behaviour of high school students (grade 10) with regard to HIV infection and AIDS. Methods: A self-administered questionnaire survey was carried out in 21 high schools in 6 different provinces. The questionnaire was anonymous and contained questions about HIV transmission, preventive measures, attitudes towards HIV infection and a few questions about personal sexual behaviour. Preliminary results: A total of 1811 students completed the questionnaire. 46% were female. The average age was 17 years. Over 98% knew what AIDS and HIV were. 97% knew that HIV was sexually transmitted, but many misconceptions existed: one-third thought that HIV was transmitted by mosquitoes, 7% that HIV-infected persons were a danger in the classroom. 72% knew that using a condom at every sexual encounter was a way of protection from HIV infection. Approximately 25% reported to have had sexual contacts, and of 15-year-old students 14% were sexually active. Although STD/AIDS education is part of the curriculum for grade 8 the principals of the majority of the schools reported that no formal teaching was done. Discussion: Although the majority of students knew that HIV is sexually transmitted, basic knowledge about STDs is lacking and is not taught as part of the curriculum in most of the schools. Teaching about STDs and HIV needs to be enforced and safe sexual practices need to be discussed with the students.
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome - prevention & ; control ; Adolescent Behavior ; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice ; Papua New Guinea ; Risk-Taking ; Students - statistics & ; numerical data*

Background: Identifying the causes of childhood meningitis is difficult. Conventional diagnostic tests (culture, bacterial latex and Gram staining) have limitations, especially in settings where many children receive antibiotics prior to presentation. A point-of-care test called Binax NOW detects meningitis due to 'Streptococcus pneumoniae' in 15 minutes and is not affected by pre-test antibiotic use.

Methods: A prospective study was conducted among children with suspected bacterial meningitis at Angau Memorial General Hospital to evaluate the usefulness of the Binax NOW 'S. pneumoniae' test in comparison with conventional tests: cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) bacterial culture, Gram stain and latex agglutination. Latex antigen testing was done for 'S. pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae and Neisseria meningitidis'. We analysed the CSF of all children who had a lumbar puncture done for clinical suspicion of meningitis. FINDINGS: 132 children were enrolled in the study, of which 3 were excluded because of insufficient CSF sample to do the Binax NOW test. 5 CSFs were culture positive, all for 'S. pneumoniae'. 13 (10%) of 129 CSF specimens had organisms seen with Gram staining; 7 had Gram-positive cocci and 6 showed Gram-negative bacteria. Latex antigens were positive in 20 cases: for S. pneumoniae (11), 'H. influenzae' (8), 'N. meningitidis' (1). Using the 3 conventional tests combined (culture, Gram stain and antigens) 14 cases of 'S. pneumoniae' meningitis were detected. Binax NOW was positive for 'S. pneumoniae' in 19 cases (15% of meningitis cases): the 14 samples positive by conventional methods and a further 5 cases that were not detected by conventional methods.

Conclusion: The Binax NOW test increases the diagnostic yield for pneumococcal meningitis on CSF. This may be important in surveillance for the effectiveness of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine introduced in Papua New Guinea (PNG) in 2014, and in clinical diagnosis. 'H. influenzae' is rarely identified on culture in PNG provincial hospital laboratories, so latex antigen testing is still needed for the accurate diagnosis of 'Haemophilus' meningitis and monitoring of the effectiveness of 'Haemophilus influenzae' type b vaccine.
Streptococcus pneumoniae