The clinical syndrome of pneumonia in adults in Port Moresby, the capital city of Papua New Guinea, has changed from the 1970s to the present. The severe lobar pneumonia commonly diagnosed in young adult men, characteristically from Goilala and living in settlements in Port Moresby, is no longer seen. Today pneumonia in adults is likely to be milder and bronchopneumonic in type. Possible explanations for the change include changes in immunity and in the bacteria found in the environment and carried in the nasopharynx of recent immigrants to the city. A change in treatment-seeking behaviour together with the wide availability of oral antibiotics is considered to be the most likely cause of the altered clinical syndrome that we have observed.
Combined Modality Therapy ; Humans ; Male ; Oxygen Inhalation Therapy ; Papua New Guinea/epidemiology ; Penicillins/therapeutic use ; Pneumonia/epidemiology ; Pneumonia/therapy ; Risk Factors ; Young Adult.

A previous questionnaire interview had revealed that betelnut chewing may aggravate asthma in 61% of asthma patients attending an outpatient clinic at Port Moresby General Hospital; the rest said it had no effect. The aim of the present study was to verify patients' subjective feelings through objective measurements. 7 asthma patients (Group C) who said betelnut aggravated their asthma, 8 asthma patients (Group B) who denied any effect and 8 nonasthmatic, healthy subjects (Group A) were given betelnut with accompanying ingredients and asked to chew as they would usually chew it. Their spirometric forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1) readings, heart rate and blood pressure were monitored before and after this challenge. Group A nonasthmatic subjects experienced only minor rises and falls in their FEV1 in response to betelnut chewing. 3 patients in Group B experienced overall rises (mean maximal % rise 25 +/- 19) while 5 patients had overall falls (mean maximal % fall 11 +/- 6). In Group C 1 patient had an overall rise in her FEV1 (maximal rise 10%) while 6 patients had falls (mean maximal % fall 22 +/- 7). In all groups the heart rate increased in response to betelnut. Betelnut chewing caused bronchoconstriction as demonstrated by decreases in FEV1 in a majority of the asthmatic patients studied; hence betelnut may act as a trigger factor for their asthma. In a few others increases in FEV1 were noted, while the rest experienced only minor changes.
Adult ; aged ; Areca - physiology ; Asthma - physiopathology ; Case-Control Studies ; Forced Expiratory Volume - drug effects

People living with HIV/AIDS have greater energy needs than uninfected persons. Extent of increase energy needs depends on progression and stage of HIV infection. Paucity of data on nutrient and energy intake of PLWHA in PNG necessitated the purpose of this study.

PIP: By mid-1995, a total of 308 HIV cases had been reported in Papua New Guinea. The majority (74%) of these cases were diagnosed in Port Moresby. This article describes the clinical characteristics of HIV infection in 67 adults who presented to Port Moresby General Hospital in 1990-95. The median age at presentation was 27 years in men and 28 years in women, with an equal distribution of cases by sex. The major presenting symptoms were wasting and weight loss exceeding 10% of body weight (94%), chronic diarrhea (47%), prolonged fever (77%), and oropharyngeal candidiasis (66%). Pulmonary tuberculosis was diagnosed on the basis of chest X-ray and history in 37 patients (56%), but only 3 had sputum positive for acid-fast bacilli. Anemia was present in 75%. 65 patients (97%) fulfilled the World Health Organization criteria for AIDS. The inpatient mortality rate in this series was 43%, and 13 of these 29 patients died within a month of their first presentation.
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome - diagnosis ; Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome - epidemiology ; HIV Infections - diagnosis ; HIV Infections - epidemiology ; Humans ; Papua New Guinea - epidemiology ; Risk Factors