European journal of epidemiology
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Comparative Study
Epidemiology of respiratory syncytial virus bronchiolitis in hospitalized infants in Greece.
New therapies have been introduced for the prophylaxis and treatment of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection in recent years. The aim of the study was to determine the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of infants hospitalized with bronchiolitis in our area. All patients under 1 year of age admitted with acute bronchiolitis during four consecutive RSV seasons from February 1, 1997 to June 30, 2000 were enrolled in the study. ⋯ RSV infection has a significant impact on infant morbidity in our settings which is more serious among those born prematurely. Documentation of RSV infection may be a marker of more severe illness in infants hospitalized with bronchiolitis. Antibiotic use has to be restricted since the occurrence of a serious bacteraemic illness on admission is a very rare event.
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Deaths due to alcohol consumption are an important component of all-cause mortality, particularly premature mortality. However, there are considerable regional variations, the reasons for which are unclear. ⋯ Possible explanations for the variation in alcohol-attributable deaths between countries include different underlying heart disease rates, different patterns of alcohol consumption and beverage preferences, and different use of mortality classification. Differences in the reported alcohol consumption levels explain little of the variation in alcohol-attributable deaths. Estimating alcohol-attributable mortality by age and sex across countries may be a useful indicator for developing alcohol strategies and exploring ways of preventing premature mortality.
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In some countries, including Sweden, no risk is considered to exist with the use of meclozine for nausea and vomiting in pregnancy (NVP), but in other countries warnings against use during pregnancy are given. Rat tests indicate a teratogenic risk and published epidemiological studies are of restricted size. Delivery outcome was studied in 16,536 women who reported the use of meclozine in early pregnancy and was compared with all 540,660 women who gave birth. ⋯ If anything, delivery outcome is better than expected when the mother used meclozine. These beneficial effects are probably secondary to NVP. Meclozine can apparently be used without risk at this condition.
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Editorial Comment Historical Article
Ferrara 1855: cholera without epidemiology.