Prevalence and contribution of respiratory viruses in the community to rates of emergency department visits and hospitalizations with respiratory tract infections, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma

BACKGROUND: The individual and combined contribution of viral prevalence in the community to Emergency Department (ED) visits and hospitalizations with respiratory tract infections (RTIs), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma is unclear. METHODS: A retrospective analysis on daily viral positive tests and daily ED visits and hospitalizations between 01/01/2003 to 31/12/2013 in Ontario, Canada. Viral data was collected from the Centre for Immunization and Respiratory Infectious Diseases (CIRID). The Canadian Institute for Health Information reports daily ED visits and hospitalizations for RTIs, COPD and asthma as a primary diagnosis. RESULTS: There were 4,365,578 ED visits with RTIs of which 321,719 (7.4%) were admitted to hospital; 817,141 ED visits for COPD of which 260,665 (31.9%) were admitted and 649,666 ED visits with asthma of which 68,626 (10.6%) were admitted. The percentage of positive tests to influenza A and B, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), parainfluenza and adenovirus prevalence explained 57.4% of ED visits and 63.8% of hospitalizations for RTI, 41.4% of ED visits and 39.2% of hospitalizations with COPD but only 1.5% of ED visits and 2.7% of hospitalizations for asthma. The further addition of human metapneumovirus, rhinovirus and coronavirus over the final 3 years accounted for 66.7% of ED visits and 74.4% of hospitalizations for RTI, 52.5% of visits and 48.2% of hospitalizations for COPD, and only 13.3% of visits and 10.4% of hospitalizations for asthma. CONCLUSIONS: Community respiratory viral epidemics are major drivers of ED visits and hospitalizations with RTIs and COPD but only a modest contributor to asthma

Sex Differences in Factors Associated with Childhood- and Adolescent-Onset Wheeze

Rationale: Factors predicting the development of wheeze may differ between sexes and between childhood and adolescence. Methods: A New Zealand birth cohort of 1,037 children was followed to age 26. For this analysis, those reporting recurrent wheezing at two or more assessments were classified as “wheezers.” We examined risk factors for development of wheeze before age 10 (childhood) and subsequently (adolescent-onset) for males and for females separately using Cox regression modeling. Results: Males more often developed childhood wheeze (p = 0.002) and females adolescent-onset wheeze (p < 0.001). Maternal atopy (asthma or hay fever) was a risk factor for childhood wheeze in both sexes (hazard ratio [HR], 1.48, p < 0.05 for males; HR, 2.37, p < 0.001 for females). Paternal atopy also influenced childhood wheeze, significantly for males (HR, 1.72; p = 0.01), and similarly but not significantly for females (HR, 1.70; p = 0.08). For adolescent-onset wheeze, neither maternal (HR, 1.41; p = 0.19) nor paternal history (HR, 0.73; p = 0.42) was a risk factor in males, but maternal history (HR, 2.08; p < 0.01) was a significant risk factor for females. When both age ranges were combined, providing greater power for analysis, paternal history was a stronger risk factor for wheeze in females (HR, 1.62; p = 0.02) than in males (HR, 1.35; p = 0.12). Conclusion: The influence of parental atopy on the development for wheeze differs between males and females and between childhood- and adolescent-onset wheeze

Systemic inflammation and lung function in young adults

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The Christmas Season as a Risk Factor for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Exacerbations

BACKGROUND: Epidemics of hospitalization for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) occur annually during the Christmas holidays, and COPD exacerbations commonly coincide with respiratory viral infections

Accelerated decline in lung function in cigarette smokers is associated with TP53/MDM2 polymorphisms

In vitro studies have shown that p53 mediates a protective response against DNA damage by causing either cell-cycle arrest and DNA repair, or apoptosis. These responses have not yet been demonstrated in humans. A common source of DNA damage in humans is cigarette smoke, which should activate p53 repair mechanisms. The level of p53 is regulated by HDM2, which targets p53 for degradation. The G-allele of a polymorphism in intron 1 of HDM2 (rs2279744:G/T) results in higher HDM2 levels, and should be associated with a reduced p53 response and hence more DNA damage and corresponding tissue destruction. Similarly, the alleles of a polymorphism (rs1042522) in TP53 that encode arginine (G-allele) or proline (C-allele) at codon 72 cause increased pro-apoptotic (G-allele) or cell-cycle arrest activities (C-allele), respectively, and may moderate p53's ability to prevent DNA damage. To test these hypotheses we examined lung function in relation to cumulative history of smoking in a population-based cohort. The G-alleles in HDM2 and TP53 were found to be associated with accelerated smoking-related decline in lung function. These data support the hypothesis that p53 protects from DNA damage in humans and provides a potential explanation for variation in lung function impairment amongst smokers

Relative Income Position And Performance: An Empirical Panel Analysis

Many studies have established that people care a great deal about their relative economic position and not solely, as standard economic theory assumes, about their absolute economic position. However, behavioral evidence is rare. This paper provides an empirical analysis on how individuals’ relative income position affectsntheir performance. Using a unique data set for 1114 soccer players over a period ofneight seasons (2833 observations), our analysis suggests that the larger the income differences within a team, the worse the performance of the soccer players is. Thenmore the players are integrated in a particular social environment (their team), thenmore evident this negative effect is