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VIDEO REVIEW
Current Paediatrics (2001) 11, 399d400 ^ 2001 Harcourt Publishers Ltd doi:10.1054/cupe.2001.0210, available online at http://www.idealibrary.com on
VIDEO REVIEW Meningitis Video for Young People Andrew and Gillian Clarke, 2000 Video made by Somerset Film and Video in memory of Susie Clarke Price @5.00, obtainable from Bath Unit for Research in Paediatrics, Department of Community Child Health, Bath NHS House, Bath BA1 3QE, UK Deaths from meningococcal disease continue to occur despite increasing public awareness and the recent immunization programme. This 6-min video accompanied by sinister background music has been designed for teenagers and college students. It has been produced in response to a request from the parents of a 19-yearold girl who died from meningococcal disease. In addition, the video case displays well-balanced written information about meningococcal disease. The video follows a day in the life of Becky who is a young person working in a coffee shop. Becky becomes unwell with a headache and feeling hot and cold. Her workmate Danny is concerned and recalls seeing the signs and symptoms of meningitis in an advertisement campaign. This is portrayed in an arty, abstract fashion, presumably trying to reflect the diagnostic difficulties meningitis and septicemia can present. Danny asks if Becky has a rash but this is difficult to see because of Becky’s dark skin colour. A demonstration of the glass tumbler test is given. Becky is taken to hospital where the mention of possible meningitis ensures speedy assessment, treatment and promised recovery.
The signs and symptoms of meningococcal disease are equated to those of a hangover, and this should engage the target audience. The technical distinction between meningitis and meningococcal septicaemia is not made in the video, but would not change the overall message. The video gives an extremely negative view of the attitude of hospital receptionists. It does not reflect the fact that most people who may have meningitis in fact have a viral illness. However, it is better to err on the side of caution. This clear, appropriately pitched video should empower young people to act if they are concerned about a friend. Alice Downes, Paediatric Specialist, Registrar, c/o Community Child Health, Donald Court House 13 Walker Terrace Gateshead, NE8 1EB, UK
Current Paediatrics (2001) 11, 309 the only one of its kind, enables ^ 2001 Harcourt Publishers Ltd recordings of children on doi:10.1054/cupe.2001.0202, available online at http://www.idealibrary.com video on
CD ROM REVIEW
Paediatric Cardiac Auscultation C. A. Altman, M. R. Nihill and J. T. Bricker Lippincott Williams & Wilkins ISBN 0781 723825 Price @93.00 For the trainee, finding patients with congenital heart disease on whom to practise auscultation can be a struggle. How many undergraduate students come across a VSD for the first time in their final exams, I wonder? Computerdmediated learning lends itself to addressing this problem, and although there is no substitute for the first-hand examination of children, this is the next best thing. This CD ROM, which claims to be
the user to observe a screen (with the stethoscope head on the chest) and hear simultaneous recordings of their auscultatory findings. Simultaneous phonocardiogram and ECG traces are shown on the screen to enable the user not only to time heart sounds and murmurs, but to see the phonocardiographic ‘shape’ of the murmur, for instance the diamond-shaped murmur of aortic stenosis. Animation sequences, annotated diagrams and text are used to explain the physiology of congenital heart lesions, and to take the user through the clinical examination. Some of the recordings enable listening at slow speeds; others allow the same murmur to be heard from two different locations, in different postures and during the Valsalva manouvre. There is also a section on when a child should be referred to a cardiologist.
VIDEO REVIEW Meningitis Video for Young People Andrew and Gillian Clarke, 2000 Video made by Somerset Film and Video in memory of Susie Clarke Price @5.00, obtainable from Bath Unit for Research in Paediatrics, Department of Community Child Health, Bath NHS House, Bath BA1 3QE, UK Deaths from meningococcal disease continue to occur despite increasing public awareness and the recent immunization programme. This 6-min video accompanied by sinister background music has been designed for teenagers and college students. It has been produced in response to a request from the parents of a 19-yearold girl who died from meningococcal disease. In addition, the video case displays well-balanced written information about meningococcal disease. The video follows a day in the life of Becky who is a young person working in a coffee shop. Becky becomes unwell with a headache and feeling hot and cold. Her workmate Danny is concerned and recalls seeing the signs and symptoms of meningitis in an advertisement campaign. This is portrayed in an arty, abstract fashion, presumably trying to reflect the diagnostic difficulties meningitis and septicemia can present. Danny asks if Becky has a rash but this is difficult to see because of Becky’s dark skin colour. A demonstration of the glass tumbler test is given. Becky is taken to hospital where the mention of possible meningitis ensures speedy assessment, treatment and promised recovery.
The signs and symptoms of meningococcal disease are equated to those of a hangover, and this should engage the target audience. The technical distinction between meningitis and meningococcal septicaemia is not made in the video, but would not change the overall message. The video gives an extremely negative view of the attitude of hospital receptionists. It does not reflect the fact that most people who may have meningitis in fact have a viral illness. However, it is better to err on the side of caution. This clear, appropriately pitched video should empower young people to act if they are concerned about a friend. Alice Downes, Paediatric Specialist, Registrar, c/o Community Child Health, Donald Court House 13 Walker Terrace Gateshead, NE8 1EB, UK
Current Paediatrics (2001) 11, 309 the only one of its kind, enables ^ 2001 Harcourt Publishers Ltd recordings of children on doi:10.1054/cupe.2001.0202, available online at http://www.idealibrary.com video on
CD ROM REVIEW
Paediatric Cardiac Auscultation C. A. Altman, M. R. Nihill and J. T. Bricker Lippincott Williams & Wilkins ISBN 0781 723825 Price @93.00 For the trainee, finding patients with congenital heart disease on whom to practise auscultation can be a struggle. How many undergraduate students come across a VSD for the first time in their final exams, I wonder? Computerdmediated learning lends itself to addressing this problem, and although there is no substitute for the first-hand examination of children, this is the next best thing. This CD ROM, which claims to be
the user to observe a screen (with the stethoscope head on the chest) and hear simultaneous recordings of their auscultatory findings. Simultaneous phonocardiogram and ECG traces are shown on the screen to enable the user not only to time heart sounds and murmurs, but to see the phonocardiographic ‘shape’ of the murmur, for instance the diamond-shaped murmur of aortic stenosis. Animation sequences, annotated diagrams and text are used to explain the physiology of congenital heart lesions, and to take the user through the clinical examination. Some of the recordings enable listening at slow speeds; others allow the same murmur to be heard from two different locations, in different postures and during the Valsalva manouvre. There is also a section on when a child should be referred to a cardiologist.