Carlos Boschini

Intravenous administration of equine-derived whole IgG antivenom does not induce early adverse reactions in non-envenomed horses and cows.

Administration of antivenoms to treat snakebite envenomings has the potential risk of inducing early adverse reactions. The mechanisms involved in these reactions are unclear. In this study, polyspecific antivenom consisting of whole IgG purified from equine plasma by caprylic acid precipitation was administered intravenously to non-envenomed horses (n = 47) and cows (n = 20) at a dose of 0.4 mL/kg. It has been reported that, in humans, this formulation (administered at a dose of 0.4 mL/kg) induces mild noticeable early adverse reactions, such as fever, vomiting, diarrhea, urticaria, generalized rash, tachypnea or tachycardia, in about 15-20% of the patients. Unexpectedly, none of the animals receiving antivenom in our study showed any evidence of early adverse reaction. Moreover, no late adverse reactions, i.e. serum sickness, were observed during 40 days after antivenom administration. Unlike studies performed in envenomed humans, our present results were obtained in a group of non-envenomed individuals. It is concluded that, in addition to the physicochemical characteristics of the formulation, other unknown factors must determine the occurrence of adverse reactions in snakebite envenomed humans treated with equine-derived antivenoms.

RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THE GOODENOUGH-HARRIS DRAW-A-PERSON TEST AND A BODY-IMAGE TEST IN COSTA RICAN CHILDREN '

Although researchers have used drawings of the human figure to evaluate body-image in adults and children, test measures of the concepts involved have not been precisely constructed, so the purpose of this study was to estimate the body-image concept relations measured on the Goodenough-Harris Draw-a-Person Test and on the Prueba para Diagnóstico de Imagen Corporal—Universidad Nacional for 90 kindergarten, first and second graders. Factor analyses (sex by grade, 2 × 3; and sex by age, 2 × 7) showed that sex was not a significant factor on either measure, but grade and age were. A Pearson correlation for the total scores on both tests was a moderate, significant value of .45. Correlations of the total with subtest scores varied from .30 to .50. Values were strongest for first grade children from 6 to 6 1/2 yr. of age (.59 to .78), at the beginning of the developmental period in which children gradually gain an awareness of the parts of the body, their functions and left-right concepts.

Reliability of the Prueba De Coordinación Corporal Para Niños (Body Coordination Test for Children)

Reliability coefficients of .94 for stability and .95 for internal reliability were obtained by the same rater for a Spanish version of the Body Coordination Test for Children (Köperkoordinationstest für Kinder, KTK) given to 90 children. Interrater agreement of .99 when scoring performances simultaneously and .90 over an 8-day interval were obtained with 120 subjects. Sex, grade, group of children, and treatment were significant sources of variation.