Conference Report: Rehabilitation and Orthopaedic Engineering

Papers were invited on the above theme for a Meeting which took place at the Belfast City Hospital on Friday, 27 March 1987. The aim was to provide an opportunity for presentation and discussion of work in rehabilitation and orthopaedic engineering from units throughout the British Isles. The Abstracts below reflect the success of the Meeting and the dedication of the scientific contributors to their topic. The Meeting was jointly organised by The Ulster Biomedical Engineering Society (TUBES) and the Northern Ireland Rehabilitation Engineering Centre and sponsored by Cardiac Services Limited, Belfast.

Low incidence of campylobacter enteritis in Northern Ireland

SUMMARYIn a prospective survey carried out over 9 months in 1984 in the Department of Bacteriology, Belfast City Hospital, Campylobacter jejuni was isolated from 24 out of 1200 faecal specimens (2%) from patients with acute diarrhoea. This isolation rate is much lower than that from other parts of mainland Britain which report an isolation rate of between 8 and 15%. It is difficult to explain this large discrepancy but the limited availability of unpasteurized milk and the generally worse summer here (fewer barbecues, picnics) may be some reasons to explain this low incidence in N. Ireland.