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There has been a decline in the mortality rate among infants and children under five years of age in the last decade in many developing countries. This has led to a shift in focus to look beyond survival to the prevention or reduction of impairment and promotion of children's health. With the apparent rise in the prevalence of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in the Arab countries the development of an Arabic tool for early diagnosis and intervention was sought as part of an effort to better understand the prevalence of this disorder. The Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (M-CHAT) was chosen. The study was conducted in nine Arabic speaking countries. The final analysis included 228 children (122 screened positive for ASD). The sensitivity (0.86), the specificity (0.80) and positive predictive value (0.88) were very similar to Robins et al. study (2001). Maternal health problems during pregnancy and labour were found to be more significant for ASD mothers than their control. In addition, child health problems were more evident among ASD subjects as reported by their parents with significant differences from controls. The limitation of the study is that the sample size is not large enough to generalize the results to all countries of the region. The strength of the study is that it is the first known study where Arab countries undertook a collaborative mental health study using the same tool for screening for a specific disorder.

Solvent-detergent (S/D) viral inactivation was recently adapted to the treatment of single plasma donations and cryoprecipitate minipools. We present here a new process and a new bag system where the S/D reagents are removed by filtration and the final products subjected to bacterial (0.2 microm) filtration. Recovered and apheresis plasma for transfusion (FFP) and cryoprecipitate minipools (400 +/- 20 mL) were subjected to double-stage S/D viral inactivation, followed by one oil extraction and a filtration on a S/D and phthalate [di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP)] adsorption device and a 0.2 microm filter. The initial and the final products were compared for visual appearance, blood cell count and cell markers, proteins functional activity, von Willebrand factor (VWF) multimers and protein profile by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). Tri (n-butyl) phosphate (TnBP) was quantified by gas chromatography and Triton X-45 and DEHP by high-performance-liquid chromatography (HPLC). General safety tests were by 6.5 mL/kg intravenous injection in rats. The treated plasmas and cryoprecipitates were very clear and the protein content and functionality, VWF multimers and SDS-PAGE profiles were well preserved. TnBP and Triton X-45 were < 1 and <25 ppm, respectively, and DEHP (about 5 ppm) was less than it was in the starting materials. Blood cell counts and CD45, CD61 and glycophorin A markers were negative. There was no enhanced toxicity in rats. Thus, plasma and cryoprecipitate can be S/D-treated in this new CE-marked disposable integral processing system under conditions preserving protein function and integrity, removing blood cells, S/D agents and DEHP, and ensuring bacterial sterility. This process may offer one additional option to blood establishments for the production of virally inactivated plasma components.

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