Ehrlichiosis is a disease that should be considered in any case of chills, fever and malaise, with or without a history of tick bites.
House dust allergy is a common medical ailment. It has been well established that mites of the genus Dermatophagoides (house dust mites) are an important source of allergens and that mite counts greater than 300 per gram of dust are associated with symptoms of asthma. A survey of 22 houses in Williamsburg, Virginia, during the month of August revealed that all had mite populations exceeding this number. This may explain in part the high incidence of allergy in the Williamsburg area.
In a consecutive series of 4,697 patients undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery, these risk factors were found to be significant for increased postoperative mortality: age greater than 70, female sex, unstable angina, prior myocardial infarction, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and ejection fraction less than .40. A comparison by year (1980-1988) revealed a steadily increasing incidence of these risk factors. Future analysis of coronary artery bypass mortality should include risk-factor stratification.
