HIV infection following motor vehicle trauma in Central Africa

Article Abstract:

Each year approximately 8 million Americans visit developing areas of the world, and they are often justifiably concerned with health matters in these countries, for example malaria and traveler's diarrhea. In one case, a 32- year-old single white heterosexual male got AIDS following an automobile accident in Rwanda during a trip to Africa. He had donated blood in August of 1987, testing negatively for the antibodies against the AIDS virus. He left the U.S. in September and was injured on December 23, while he was riding in a minibus outside Butare. The minibus went over an embankment and he received multiple lacerations and four broken extremities. In the course of the accident, five bleeding passengers landed on top of him. He remembers that he was covered with blood from at least two individuals. He was seen in the emergency room but refused suturing. His wounds were washed and he was given a tetanus shot using a sterile needle that he provided from his own first-aid kit. He remained in a boarding house in Nairobi until January 4 when he required attention for his unhealing lacerations. He developed a fever and was briefly hospitalized. While in Africa he had no sexual contacts, received no transfusions and received all injections from new sterile disposable needles and infusion sets. His known sexual contacts have been tested for AIDS and were found to be free of the disease. This is the first reported case of HIV infection acquired by a car accident. The exposure through lacerated skin to the blood of individuals highly susceptible to HIV infections indicates the importance of HIV prevention during travel as well as of motor vehicle safety.

HIV (Viruses), HIV, Disease transmission, Africa, Central Africa

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Pedestrian fatalities - New Mexico, 1958-1987

Article Abstract:

About 15 percent of all traffic-related fatalities in the United States involve pedestrian accidents. Children, the elderly, and minority populations are disproportionately represented in these figures. In New Mexico, where half the population are minority persons (predominantly Hispanics and American Indians), pedestrian fatality rates are high. In an analysis of pedestrian fatalities among New Mexico's American Indians, Hispanics, and nonHispanic whites between 1958 and 1987, it was reported that fatality rates were higher for American Indians than for the other two groups. Rates were also higher for males than for females. Approximately 88 percent of the deaths were motor vehicle traffic-related; 8.0 percent were motor vehicle nontraffic-related; 4.6 percent were train-related, and 0.3 percent were related to other vehicles, such as horse-drawn wagons. During the period between 1983 and 1987 (the period for which age data are available), fatality rates were highest for American Indian men between 35 and 44 years. No data were available to determine whether alcohol played a role in these accidents; however, in the general population of the United States (in 1989), over 30 percent of fatal pedestrian accidents involved pedestrians who were legally intoxicated (blood alcohol above 0.1 percent). These findings underscore the need for public health education and health prevention strategies, especially for minority populations. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Accidents, New Mexico, Driving while intoxicated, Drinking and traffic accidents, Pedestrians

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Motor-Vehicle Safety: A 20th Century Public Health Achievement

Article Abstract:

Additional efforts are needed to reduce death and injury from motor vehicle accidents. Although more and more people are driving and the number of miles driven has increased since the 1920s, the death rate from car accidents has dropped 90%, from 18 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT) in 1925 to 1.7 per 100 million VMT in 1997. The creation of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in 1966 and the manufacture of safer cars and highways is directly responsible for this decline. However, motor-vehicle crashes still caused 31% of all injury-related deaths in the US in 1996.

United States, Motor vehicle drivers, Automobile drivers

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