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RESEARCH
HEALTH
A study of shigellosis, its epidemiology and typing is now being carried out by the Medical and Health Department Institute of Pathology in collaboration with the Department of Microbiology, University of Hong Kong. The virus unit is investigating the problem of neonatal jaundice and the role of viruses in its aetiology. The histological typing of salivary gland tumours, carried out in col- laboration with the World Health Organisation, has been completed and further work is now directed on the histochemistry and precise mode of origin of these tumours. This is a joint study with the University Surgical Department. Typing and incidence of a typical mycobacteria are now being investigated.
S
A study of the epidemiology of nasopharyngeal carcinoma in Hong Kong continues. Interim results of the study have been reported to two international symposiums. As part of this research, the second phase, which is to study by sero-epidemiological methods the natural history of Epstein-Barr virus infection is continuing. This multi- national study is financed by the International Agency of Research on Cancer based in Lyon, France. The laboratory part of the work is being carried out by the Medical and Health Department Institute of Radiology, and the field survey and blood specimens collection are supervised by the Health Service of the University of Hong Kong. Another multi-national study, also involving the department's Institute of Radiology, deals with the oestrogen profiles of Asian and North American women who have been found to have signifi- cantly different risks of cancer of the breast. The preliminary part of the study has just been completed.
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