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- A Stuijt
- Retired South African medical journalist, ex-Sunday Times of Johannesburg.
Food-allergies in black male children puzzle to scientists
23:00 | 
Posted by
A Stuijt |
■ Adriana Stuijt -
March 19 2009 - Black male children are particularly at risk for food allergy - specifically to peanuts,shrimps, milk and eggs. Researchers presented this finding at the 2009 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology this week.
The study - headed by dr Andrew H Liu of the National Jewish Medical and Research Center in the United States -- involved 8,203 participants, ranging in age from 1 to 85, from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2005-2006. This is the first representative U.S. survey to investigate sensitization to various foods.
However, while these researchers established that black male children suffered more from these life-threatening, incurable food allergies, especially to peanuts and shrimp, one of the country's acknowledged top experts in the field, Dr Liu, does not yet know why this is so.
Life-threatening and no cure.
"Thus far, there still is 'little understanding to the rise of food allergies,' he notes on his website.
"These have evolved from an unusual condition to a public health problem in the U.S. over the past two decades. There is little understanding to this rise except that current national guidelines to prevent food allergies do not appear to be working well. "
"Furthermore, there is currently no treatment for this life-threatening and life-modifying condition."
Hygiene hypothesis
However, his research lab also is actively investigating the so-named 'hygiene hypothesis', which purports that Nature may "immunize" against the development of allergic diseases and asthma through naturally occurring infections and microbial exposures of the respiratory and GI tracts (and possibly the skin) in early life.
His research team wants to know exactly how Nature separates the benefit of microbial exposures from the harm of infections. His latest research among more than 8,000 allergy-sufferers found that black male children suffered the most from peanut and shrimp allergies - but he does not yet know why.
"By better understanding Nature's ways, we hope to discover important clues for early interventions that can safely improve allergy and asthma outcomes," he notes.
Dr. Liu is also leading the current working group on this latest and most comprehensive U.S. national survey in food allergy, asthma, and other allergic conditions thus far undertaken. "We are poised to further develop this clinical and translational program to advancements in clinical care for this growing, common problem," he notes on his website. see
In an earlier five-year study (published in 2000) of 83 very young children he had been monitoring for their clinical peanut hypersensitivity, he did note that some children can lose clinical hypersensitity to peanuts eventually. see
In this earlier survey, he had studied eighty-three children with clinical peanut hypersensitivity which had been diagnosed before their fourth birthdays, and contacted them yearly to track adverse peanut reactions. Serum peanut-specific IgE levels were determined in 51 of these 83 subjects.
Life-threatening symptoms:
Fifty-eight percent (31/53) of these subjects he had followed up for 5 years, still retained adverse reactions from accidental peanut exposure.
"Regardless of the nature of their initial reaction, the majority with subsequent reactions (52%, 31/60) experienced potentially life-threatening symptoms."
- The group with isolated skin symptoms (11/51, 22%) had lower serum peanut-specific IgE levels than the group with respiratory and/or gastrointestinal symptoms (40/51, 78%) (median: 1.25 kUA/L vs 11.65 kUA/L, P = .004, Wilcoxon rank sums test). Despite this, there was no threshold level below which only skin symptoms appeared to occur.
- Four selected subjects had negative double-blind placebo-controlled food challenge responses to peanuts during follow-up.
He concluded that 'the majority of children with clinical peanut hypersensitivity followed up for 5 years will have adverse reactions from accidental peanut exposure. Symptoms experienced during subsequent adverse peanut reactions may not be consistent with symptoms reported during initial reactions."
He said proper education regarding peanut avoidance and treatment of adverse reactions is necessary in all cases of clinical peanut hypersensitivity.
He also added however that some young children who are allergic to peanuts can lose this clinical hypersensitivity. (J Pediatr 2000;137:749-55) see
Taking this sample, Dr Liu and his colleagues investigated the prevalence and demographic risk factors for food allergic sensitization and levels of sensitization more likely associated with clinical food allergy.
Analysis showed that the estimated prevalence for clinical food allergy was 2.55%, with peanut and shrimp being the most common allergens.
And blacks - especially black male children -- were found to have higher levels of sensitization associated with clinical food allergy. In addition, the prevalence of food sensitization was 16.8%, again with peanut and shrimp being the most common, and was significantly higher in male, non-Hispanic black male children and persons of lower income.
A link to all the abstracts presented at the Annual Meeting is available on the AAAAI Web site see
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Kameeldrift crime victims get visit from Helen Zille
March 20 2009 - Helen Zille visits Kameeleelsdrift police station
Where: Plot 171, Moloto Rd, Kameeldrift, Pretoria, Gauteng
When: 20 March 2009
Time: 19h30
Kameeldrift is one of the hardest-hit violent crime areas in Pretoria for the past three years. Yet it took Helen Zille, leader of the Democratic Alliance, until the national election campaign before she decided to finally ‘meet and interact” with on duty officers and members of the Community Policing Forum at the Kameeldrift Police Station.see -- Better late than never, Helen!
2009-02-13 "Wish you'd bleed to death you f..king Boer' 
Feb 13 2009 Daniel Maluleke of Beeld newspaper writes that one of seven uniformed attackers told 64-year-old Afrikaner resident of Groenkloof that 'we wish you would bleed to death, you f..ng Boer'. Conrad Coertze, 64, a single man who lives in George Storrar drive, was attacked just after 7am by at least seven armed men in police uniforms.He was ambushed at the security gate of his smallholding to unlock it for the expected arrival of the gardener and housekeeper.Coertze told the uniformed men: "I didn't do anything wrong. Why are you trying to catch me". "One pushed a handgun underneath my chin, the other pushed his gun against my left ear,' Coertze said. They forced him into the homestead, hogtied him with wire, repeated kicking and beating him. They constantly asked him where his gun-safe was. He couldn't reply though because he had been gagged with a rag.'Then one carved open my right leg with a knife, and kicked me in the groin and on the left knee. Then he said 'we wish you would bleed to death, you f...ng Boer'.The gardener was also assaulted - and then his mother, housekeeper Anna Matsimbi, also arrived at the house and immediately rushed off to find help, walking two blocks to ask neighbours to contact the police. Mr Coertze has sustained head injuries and is at Pretoria hospital. The pensioned-off businessman had become totally destitute now: he's lost everything he 's amassed over the years. It's not known whether the uniformed men were cops. It's a toss-up. Sometimes they are, other times they aren't.Police uniforms are easy to buy in SA clothing shops.http://www.news24.com/Beeld/Suid-Afrika/0,,3-975_2469734,00.html
2009-02-13 Reinier Boshoff, Kameeldrift smallholdings, killed – Robber wanted to rape her after murdering her husband.. (story listed under Farm attacks 2009) http://www.news24.com/Beeld/Suid-Afrika/0,,3-975_2469746,00.html
2009-02-13 Shop worker Corne Neethling 25, in revenge hammer-attack - nothing robbed
F
eb 13 2009 Virginia Keppler of Beeld newspaper reports that Mrs Corné Neethling (25), who works at a toy shop in Villieria, Pretoria, was injured in a hammer-attack by a man who pretended to be a customer.
Neethling, who works at Kiddies Corner in 18th Avenue, was behind the cash register at 14:21 when the man -- who had also been in the shop a day earlier -- repeatedly bashing her with the hammer.
The video scenes show the attack. She lost her conscienceness at once.Another employee of the shop immediately locked the security gate and alerted the neighbourhood watch, which captured the man.
She required 17 stitches to her head.
The man didn't take anything - he shoved over the cash register and then left the shop again.
Manager of neighbouring shop Midas Willie Els said they only suspected that something was wrong when Mrs Neethling came to after about two minutes and pushed the emergency button.
When they viewed the video they had an excellent description of the man and the local security association set to to hunt him down.They made a citizen's arrest within minutes, and the police were on the scene very rapidly to arrest him. Els said they recognised the man from his previous day's visit, when he was asked to leave the shop because he was obnoxious."We suspect he came back to revenge himself.' Police captain Jan Legoabe of the Moot police station near Brits, which patrols this region, said the 36-year-old suspect is expected to appear in court Monday."he is uncooperative and police don't know his identity nor origin. The suspect said he would make a statement in court'.
http://www.news24.com/Beeld/Suid-Afrika/0,,3-975_2469732,00.html
Cops must pay damages for false arrest, assault of Pretoria North Afrikaner family
13 February 2009 - The Safety and Security Minister and five police officers were on Friday ordered to pay R380,000 in damages for manhandling a Pretoria family after a rugby game. Pretoria High Court Judge Bill Prinsloo ruled the police liable to pay damages to Pretoria North businessman David Pieterse, his wife Susan and sons David and Jason for insulting, assaulting, unlawfully arresting and detaining as well as maliciously prosecuting them. The incident was sparked when an unknown man punched Jason during an argument after a rugby game at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria in 2005. Jason lost consciousness. His brother David got hold of the attacker and handed him to a policeman, who subsequently let the assailant go. When he questioned the policeman’s conduct, several other policemen joined in and started swearing at him and assaulting him before throwing him in a police van.When his father tried to intervene, he too was assaulted and arrested. Police also insulted his mother Susan, threatened to arrest her, and a policewoman kicked her on the leg. Father and son were further abused at the police office and were forced to spend a night in a filthy, smelly cell. The Afrikaners feared for their lives, as police threatened to take them to Soshanguve and Atteridgeville to be “sorted out”. They were charged with assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest, and appeared in court several times before being acquitted. David sen. burst into tears in court when he testified how police had descended on him “like wild animals” and started assaulting him for no reason and how helpless he felt when he could not protect his son. Prinsloo rejected claims by the police that the family had been aggressive, that David jun. tried to escape and that David sen. had assaulted members of the police, including a policewoman, and tried to forcibly free is son. The judge said the police witnesses had been 'vague, inconsequent and their versions absurd, ridiculous and unlikely.'
- A freelance photographer’s photos of the incident clearly showed David sen. surrounded by a large group of policemen who were all much bigger than him. It was highly unlikely that he would have been the aggressor, the court pointed out.
Prinsloo concluded that the police had neglected their duties and had arrested and prosecuted father and son to disguise their own misconduct. If they had done their job, Jason would probably have been able to sue his attacker for the injuries he sustained, the judge added.He awarded David sen. R135,000 damages, David jun. R135,000 000, Mrs Pieterse R50,000 and Jason R60,000. The police must also pay their legal costs. - Sapa http://www.sowetan.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=939074
Accused gang-rapists laugh loudly at victim's testimony
■ Adriana Stuijt http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/269462
South Africa has the highest rape rates in the world, yet only 7.6% of the rapists are ever tried. Here’s one such trial..
April 19 2009 – KHAYELITSHA, CAPE TOWN. A young Cape Town rape victim - forced to testify in open court about being allegedly gang-raped, amongst others by the accused son of the Western Cape head of police, had to endure loud laughter from three accused men and their supporters in the courtroom.
The unnamed 18-year-old girl described in Khayelitsha regional court how, at the age of 17, she was allegedly raped by Lwazi Mzito (19), (a son of influential police commander Mzwandile Petros) and the other two accused, Jabu Duluxolo (27) of Langa and Lubabalo Fongoqa (19) of Khayelitsha township near Cape Town, South Africa.
South Africa - rape capitol of the world
South Africa has the highest level of child-rapes in the world. See Every 26 seconds, a female is raped in South Africa. see And the South African police are increasingly 'feral and dangerous', often turning criminal themselves. see It's thus also very rare to see rapists arrested and convicted in South Africa. Only if the victims themselves stand up and fight for their rights, do the police arrest the rapists. see Gang-rapes in townships are particularly vicious, with gangs of youths 'jackrolling' through the streets looking for young rape victims. see
- Also, rape has become so routine during crimes such as robberies and car-hijackings, that it's becoming unusual when murdered female victims were not raped. See
All three of the accused men have denied that they had ever participated in the alleged rape by six men on April 5 and 6 last year, when at the age of 17, this girl said she was 'abducted under false pretences' by Mzito, according to her testimony. She was then held captive for an entire night in two township shacks, where she was raped by six different men including Mzito. The other three suspects are still being sought.
Shortly before the young girl 's scheduled testimony, state prosecutor Alfred Isaacs had asked that she be heard behind closed doors.
Would not let her testify in closed court
However regional magistrate Robert Matshikwe ruled that this 'wasn't necessary', noting that she could testify via closed-circuit camera. Mzito's legal councel adv. Sakkie Maartens also didn't like this idea - demanding that the girl be heard in open court.
- She then was forced to face the three accused men -- and throughout her testimony, had to endure loud gales of laughter which frequently burst forth from the accused men and their family and friends in the public gallery. It wasn't reported whether magistrate Matshikwe ordered silence in the court during the girl's testimony.
Journalist Rozanne Els of Beeld newspaper, who reported about the girl's ordeal this week, writes that she was 'shaking visibly' during her testimony, which she had to interrupt frequently because of loud laughter.
She nevertheless persevered, Els said -- testifying how she and a group of girlfriends were approached in her Khayelitsha street on 5 April last year by a man known as 'Fifty Cent", who insisted rather firmly 'that she had to go home with him'. She said Ene Ntulo, the son of the Western Cape's head of police, then stepped in and offered to 'hide her in his house to prevent her from being gang-raped'.
Spat on her, said he was HIV+
She believed him - yet when they arrived at his squatter's hut however, he raped her , and afterwards spat on her and told her he was 'HIV-positive', the girl testified.
Then he woke up a friend who was asleep in the hut and ordered him to rape her too, and Fifty Cent then showed up and took her to a larger hut, where she was raped by another three men - in front of these men's girlfriends, the girl testified.
"I didn't scream, but I wept,' she said. The case continues. SEE
Breaking news – help needed
March 19 2009 - Anyone who has any new information on the following two breaking news stories, please email Adriana at a.j.stuijt@knid.nl at once… pictures and verifiable information is needed on the following:
Doctor shot, injured at Honeydew Agricultural Holdings, Randburg
Mar 18 2009 Beeld reports -- n Inwoner van 'n veiligheidskompleks in 'n landgoed in Honeydew in die weste van Johannesburg, is Dinsdagaand deur rowers in die kop geskiet.
Die man is in 'n kritieke toestand per helikopter na die Milpark-hospitaal gebring, het mnr. Nick Dollman van Netcare 911 gesê. Inwoners van die kompleks het gesê hulle het gehoor hoe skote afgevuur word en dat 'n bende gewapende mans kort daarna met besittings van die inwoner, volgens hulle 'n dokter, weggehardloop het. Die saak word ondersoek. - Netcare 911
http://jv.news24.com/Beeld/Suid-Afrika/0,,3-975_2487519,00.html
We have the following new information – but are still looking for pictures of the murdered farmer, Willouw de Klerk Cilliers, of Brandvlei NC:
2009-03-18 Willouw de Klerk Cilliers, Loudine van Blerk, killed in farm attack, Brandvlei NC
Pictured on the right in a happier moment, is Mrs Loudine van Blerk with her two daughters, Salome and Elgonda while visiting them in the UK in 2004. Mrs Van Blerk was murdered in a farm attack in Brandvlei, Northern Cape on March 18 2009, together with her partner Willouw de Klerk Cilliers. according to police captain Cherelle Ehlers. Picture by a family friend, Marius Koen.
As soon as the three men attacked, they had shot dead Mrs Van Blerk and tied up the housekeeper. Mr Cilliers was kidnapped and tied up by the attackers, who broke into their homestead in Brandvlei on Tuesday, March 18 2009. The farmer was helpless and being held as a hostage in the farm attackers’ stolen car when it crashed – killing the farmer, said Ehlers.
The attack’s circumstances are still vague: the couple was ambushed when they got home at around 5pm – but the housekeeper had already been inside the homestead. After shooting dead Mrs van Blerk, the farmer and the housekeeper were bundled into the farmer's Toyota Corolla, but while speeding away the robbers rolled the car on the way to nearby Williston.
While two of the robbers kept watch over the farmer and the housekeeper, the third robber went back to the farm and stole the farmer's Toyota Hilux bakkie. He drove it back to his accomplices and their captives and when everyone was dumped back onto to the bakkie they set off again.
However, they crashed the bakkie too, and Cilliers died on the scene. Police arrived on the scene after receiving a report of an accident and attended to the housekeeper and arranged for two of the robbers to be taken to hospital, then went to the farm and found Van Blerk lying dead in the ransacked home.
While inspecting the premises, they came across the third robber and arrested him. Several firearms were found in both vehicles, a nearby farm dam and the farm house. – Sapa http://www.sapa.org.za/public/browse.cfm
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=nw20090318112516482C725117
A long-time family friend, Mr Marius Koen, said that Mrs Van Blerk also has a son, Werner and two grandchildren. “Loudine was a widow who lived in Malmesbury for years before moving to Parow–North. Her husband was a detective who died in a car accident. She met Willouw in 2005 and then moved to the farm. Willouw has two sons, Jaco and Nicolaas. This is a real tragedy and she and Willouw will be missed.”