Heavy Schistosomiasis Associated With Poor Short-Term Memory and Slower Reaction Times in Tanzania Schoolchildren

Cross-sectional studies of the relationship between helminth infection and cognitive function can be informative in ways that treatment studies cannot. However, interpretation of results of many previous studies has been complicated by the failure to control for many potentially confounding variables.We gave Tanzanian schoolchildren aged 9±14 a battery of 11 cognitive and three educational tests and\ud assessed their level of helminth infection. We also took measurements of an extensive range of potentially confounding or mediating factors such as socioeconomic and educational factors, anthropometric and other biomedical measures. A total of 272 children were moderately or heavily\ud infected with Schistosoma haematobium, hookworm or both helminth species and 117 were uninfected with either species. Multiple regression analyses, controlling for all confounding and mediating variables, revealed that children with a heavy S. haematobium infection had signi®cantly lower scores than uninfected children on two tests of verbal short-term memory and two reaction time tasks. In one of\ud these tests the effect was greatest for children with poor nutritional status. There was no association between infection and educational achievement, nor between moderate infection with either species of helminth and performance on the cognitive tests. We conclude that children with heavy worm burdens and poor nutritional status are most likely to suffer cognitive impairment, and the domains of verbal\ud short-term memory and speed of information processing are those most likely to be affected

AIDS CASE SURVEILLANCE IN ETHIOPIA: JUNE 30, 1994

INTRODUCTIONThis report is published by the Epidemiology and AIDS Control Department of MOH on a monthly basis. And distributed free of charge for over 400 government and non-government institutions. The major objectives of the Publication are to:* Notify the current status of AIDS epidemc in the country , and provide. information for decision making and future planning .** Provide feedback to health institutions and colaborating agencies in the country. From January 1986 to June 30, 1994, a total of 13, 644 AIDS cases have been reported by hospitals in the country .Surveillance andresearch activities carried out in Ethiopia among different population groups have also indicated the extent of the HIV / AIDS epidemic and its progression

Detecting a signal in the noise : Monitoring the global spread of novel psychoactive substances using media and other open source information

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made. Date of Acceptance: 16/02/2015To determine the feasibility and utility of using media reports and other open-source information collected by the Global Public Health Intelligence Network (GPHIN), an event-based surveillance system operated by the Public Health Agency of Canada, to rapidly detect clusters of adverse drug events associated with ‘novel psychoactive substances’ (NPS) at the international levelPeer reviewedFinal Published versio

CDC influenza surveillance report no. 61, December 19, 1961

"Scattered outbreaks of Influenza A2 (Asian) and Influenza B have been observed during 1961 in a number of countries throughout the world. Confirmed outbreaks of Asian influenza were reported from every continent except Antarctica. Influenza B was less ubiquitous, touching only Europe, North America and Asia with recognized outbreaks. Within the continental United States, Asian influenza made its mark early in 1961. At that time, outbreaks were reported from New York City, Stamford and New Haven, Connecticut. It was not prevalent elsewhere. No confirmed outbreaks of Asian influenza have been reported during the present season. In contrast, Influenza B is known to be etiologic in outbreaks in four States at the present time. These are Arizona, Florida, California and Colorado. Southern, Saskatchewan is also involved in an epidemic of Influenza B. Respiratory disease outbreaks are occurring with increasing frequency in the United States with the advent of the winter season. Several States are reporting outbreaks that would appear to be significantly more widespread than usual. These States are Oregon, Missouri, and Illinois. Epidemiologic, clinical, and laboratory studies are under way.Influenza vaccine production has been stepped up to meet the demands. The projected supply will be three times greater than that available last year. The recommendation of the Surgeon General to immunize the high risk groups remains most pertinent. Subcutaneous inoculation is the route of choice." - p. 3I. Summary of information -- II. Epidemic reports: (A.) Asian in\ufb02uenza; (B.) In\ufb02uenza B outbreaks-through October 1961 -- III. In\ufb02uenza vaccine: (A.) Production; (B.) Utilization; (C.) Route of inoculation -- IV. Minor antigenic change -- V. Weekly pneumonia and influenza deathsDecember 19, 1961.This report was prepared in the Surveillance Section, Communicable Disease Center by Theodore C. Eickhoff, M. D., Chief, Influenza Surveillance Unit, with the Assistance of the Statistics Section, Robert E. Serfling, Ph.D., Chief."For administrative use." - cover"Information contained in this report is a summary of data reported to CDC by State Health Departments, Epidemic Intelligence Service Officers, collaborating influenza diagnostic laboratories, and other pertinent sources. Much if it is preliminary in nature and is primarily in nature and is primarily intended for those involved in influenza control activities. It is understood that the contents of these report will not be released to the press, except by the Office of the Surgeon General, Public Health Service, U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare. State Health Officers, of course, will judge the advisability of releasing any information from their own state." - cove