PLoS medicine
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Editorial Comment
Defining Abnormal Fetal Growth and Perinatal Risk: Population or Customized Standards?
In January's Guest Editorial, Sarah Stock and Jenny Myers discuss approaches to fetal and neonatal growth assessment.
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Matthew Herder suggests it may be time to re-examine the purpose of the U. S. Orphan Drug Act.
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The World Health Organization (WHO) stated in March 2016 that there was scientific consensus that the mosquito-borne Zika virus was a cause of the neurological disorder Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) and of microcephaly and other congenital brain abnormalities based on rapid evidence assessments. Decisions about causality require systematic assessment to guide public health actions. The objectives of this study were to update and reassess the evidence for causality through a rapid and systematic review about links between Zika virus infection and (a) congenital brain abnormalities, including microcephaly, in the foetuses and offspring of pregnant women and (b) GBS in any population, and to describe the process and outcomes of an expert assessment of the evidence about causality. ⋯ Rapid and systematic reviews with frequent updating and open dissemination are now needed both for appraisal of the evidence about Zika virus infection and for the next public health threats that will emerge. This systematic review found sufficient evidence to say that Zika virus is a cause of congenital abnormalities and is a trigger of GBS.
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High body mass index (BMI) is an important contributor to the global burden of ill-health and health inequality. Lower socioeconomic position (SEP) in both childhood and adulthood is associated with higher adult BMI, but how these associations have changed across time is poorly understood. We used longitudinal data to examine how childhood and adult SEP relates to BMI across adulthood in three national British birth cohorts. ⋯ Given these persisting inequalities and their public health implications, new and effective policies to reduce inequalities in adult BMI that tackle inequality with respect to both childhood and adult SEP are urgently required.
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Alison Galvani and colleagues describe a community-based protocol to improve cooperation with Ebola testing as well as contact tracing, quarantining, and treatment.