Epidemiology
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Ross River virus disease is spread by mosquitoes, and an average of 5000 people are infected each year in Australia. It is one of the few infectious diseases for which climate-based early warning systems could be developed. The aim of this study was to test whether supplementing routinely collected climate data with mosquito surveillance data could increase the accuracy of disease prediction models. ⋯ We found that climate data are inexpensive and easy to collect and allow the prediction of Ross River virus disease epidemics within the time necessary to improve the effectiveness of public health responses. Mosquito surveillance data provide a more expensive early warning but add substantial predictive value.
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Biography Historical Article
A conversation with John Pemberton. Interview by David Gunnell.
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Maternal cigarette smoking has been causally associated with an increased risk for stillbirth. Preliminary reports suggest an increased risk for stillbirth with smokeless tobacco use during pregnancy. ⋯ Smokeless tobacco use during pregnancy increases stillbirth risk, with a risk at least as great as that associated with maternal cigarette smoking.
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Preliminary data suggest that common genetic variation in immune response genes can contribute to the risk for spontaneous preterm birth and possibly small-for-gestational age (SGA). ⋯ Our results suggest that common genetic variants in proinflammatory cytokine genes could influence the risk for spontaneous preterm birth. Selected TNF/LTA haplotypes were associated with spontaneous preterm birth in both African-American and white subjects. Our data do not support an inflammatory etiology for SGA.
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Restricted fetal growth has been associated with increased blood pressure, insulin resistance, and cardiovascular disease in later life. These associations may be due to processes during fetal development with long-term consequences for metabolic and cardiovascular function (the fetal origins hypothesis). However, it has also been hypothesized that common genetic factors could underlie both restricted fetal development and disease risk (the fetal insulin hypothesis). ⋯ Associations between offspring birth characteristics and parents' mortality could, at least in part, reflect genetic factors that influence both birth weight and cardiovascular disease risk.