Acute Infections and Environmental Exposure to Organochlorines in Inuit Infants from Nunavik

The Inuit population of Nunavik (Canada) is exposed to immunotoxic organochlorines (OCs) mainly through the consumption of fish and marine mammal fat. We investigated the effect of perinatal exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE) on the incidence of acute infections in Inuit infants. We reviewed the medical charts of a cohort of 199 Inuit infants during the first 12 months of life and evaluated the incidence rates of upper and lower respiratory tract infections (URTI and LRTIs, respectively), otitis media, and gastrointestinal (GI) infections. Maternal plasma during delivery and infant plasma at 7 months of age were sampled and assayed for PCBs and DDE. Compared to rates for infants in the first quartile of exposure to PCBs (least exposed), adjusted rate ratios for infants in higher quartiles ranged between 1.09 and 1.32 for URTIs, 0.99 and 1.39 for otitis, 1.52 and 1.89 for GI infections, and 1.16 and 1.68 for LRTIs during the first 6 months of follow-up. For all infections combined, the rate ratios ranged from 1.17 to 1.27. The effect size was similar for DDE exposure but was lower for the full 12-month follow-up. Globally, most rate ratios were > 1.0, but few were statistically significant (p < 0.05). No association was found when postnatal exposure was considered. These results show a possible association between prenatal exposure to OCs and acute infections early in life in this Inuit population

A longitudinal study ofthe Salmonella status on Ontario swine farms within the time period 2001-2006

In order to describe the fann-level of Salmonella status, I 13 Ontario swine fanns were tested annually for Salmonella I to 5 times within the time period 2001-2006. During 422 visits, 6844 fecal samples were collected and cultured for Salmonella. Salmonella was recovered from 437 (6.4%) of the fecal samples and 69 (61%) of the fanns had at least one positive sample over the entire period of the study. Salmonella was not recovered on II fanns of the 54 fanns visited five times, nor from 7 of the 17 fanns visited four times. On 7 fanns Salmonella was not recovered over the frrst 4 visits but were cultured on the fifth visit. The isolates belonged to 30 different serovars and serogroup B and C I were the most common serogroups

Engaging with Comparative Risk Appraisals: Public Views on Policy Priorities for Environmental Risk Governance

Communicating the rationale for allocating resources to manage policy priorities and their risks is challenging. Here, we demonstrate that environmental risks have diverse attributes and locales in their effects that may drive disproportionate responses among citizens. When 2,065 survey participants deployed summary information and their own understanding to assess 12 policy-level environmental risks singularly, their assessment differed from a prior expert assessment. However, participants provided rankings similar to those of experts when these same 12 risks were considered as a group, allowing comparison between the different risks. Following this, when individuals were shown the prior expert assessment of this portfolio, they expressed a moderate level of confidence with the combined expert analysis. These are important findings for the comprehension of policy risks that may be subject to augmentation by climate change, their representation alongside other threats within national risk assessments, and interpretations of agency for public risk management by citizens and others

Comparison of bacterial culture, PCR and a mix-ELISA for the detection of Salmonella status in nursery and grow-to-finish pigs in Western Canada using a Bayesian approach

Bayesian and traditional statistical methods were used to estimate accuracy of bacterial culture, broth-enriched real-time-PCR for feces and a mix-ELISA (Svanovir®) for serum to detect Salmonella in nursery and grow-finish pigs on 10 fanns in western Canada. In nursery pigs, one pooled pen fecal sample and one blood sample were taken from each of 30 randomly selected pens. In grow-finish pigs, samples were similarly collected; an individual fecal sample was also taken from each pig bled. Only 8/247 ELISA-positive nursery pigs were detected; 80/247 pens were culture positive. Since there was no agreement between pen culture and ELISA results in the nursery pigs, further evaluation of test accuracy was not possible at this level. Among grow-to-finish pigs, agreement between culture and ELISA was fair (K=0.26-0.38). Agreement between culture and the RT-PCR was nearly perfect ( K=0.92-0.97)

Antidepressants use during pregnancy and child psychomotor, cognitive and language development at 2 years of age—Results from the 3D Cohort Study

Introduction: Approximately 5.5% of pregnant women take antidepressants. Studies on prenatal exposure to antidepressants reported no association with child cognition, and inconsistent results with motor function and language development. A limitation has been the failure to adjust for prenatal maternal distress.Objectives: Assess the associations between prenatal exposure to antidepressants and child development at age two, while adjusting for maternal depressive symptoms and stress during pregnancy. Explore indirect effects through birth complications and consider sex-specific associations.Methods: This is an ancillary study of the 3D (Design Develop, Discover) Study initiated during pregnancy. Data on antidepressants were collected through medication logs spanning the entire pregnancy. Depressive symptoms and stress were assessed during pregnancy by self-reported questionnaires, motor and cognitive development with the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development (BSID-III), and language development with the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventories at age 2. Multiple linear regressions were used to assess the associations between exposure and developmental outcomes. Mediation models were used to assess indirect effects. Interaction terms were introduced to assess sex-specific associations.Results: 1,489 mother-child dyads were included, of whom 61 (4.1%) reported prenatal antidepressant use. Prenatal exposure was negatively associated with motor development (B = −0.91, 95% CI -1.73, −0.09 for fine motor, B = −0.89, 95% CI -1.81, 0.02 for gross motor), but not with cognitive (B = −0.53, 95% CI -1.82, 0.72) and language (B = 4.13, 95% CI -3.72, 11.89) development. Adjusting for maternal prenatal distress only slightly modified these associations. No indirect effect or differential effect according to child sex were found.Conclusion: This study supports evidence of a negative association between prenatal exposure to antidepressants and motor development at age two, after adjusting for maternal distress, but the effect size remains very small, with about only one BSID-III point lower in average

Developing a model for health determinants research within local government : lessons from a large, urban local authority [awaiting peer review]

Background: Socio-economic, cultural and environmental conditions strongly affect health across the life course. Local government plays a key role in influencing these wider determinants of health and levels of inequality within their communities. However, they lack the research infrastructure and culture that would enable them to develop an evidence-based approach to tackling the complex drivers of those conditions. Methods: We undertook a scoping project to explore the potential for, and what would be needed to develop a local authority research system for the City of Bradford, UK. This included identifying the current research landscape and any barriers and enablers to research activity within the local authority using qualitative individual and focus group interviews, a rapid review of existing local research system models, scoping of the use of evidence in decision making and training opportunities and existing support for local government research. Results: We identified four key themes important to developing and sustaining a research system: leadership, resource and capacity, culture, partnerships. Some use of research in decision making was evident but research training opportunities within the local authority were limited. Health research funders are slowly adapting to the local government environment, but this remains limited and more work is needed to shift the centre of gravity towards public health, local government and the community more generally. Conclusions: We propose a model for a local authority research system that can guide the development of an exemplar whole system research framework that includes research infrastructure, data sharing, research training and skills, and co-production with local partners, to choose, use, generate, and deliver research in local government

Cryopyrin-Associated Periodic Syndrome: An Update on Diagnosis and Treatment Response

Cryopyrin-associated periodic syndrome (CAPS) is a rare hereditary inflammatory disorder encompassing a continuum of three phenotypes: familial cold autoinflammatory syndrome, Muckle-Wells syndrome, and neonatal-onset multisystem inflammatory disease. Distinguishing features include cutaneous, neurological, ophthalmologic, and rheumatologic manifestations. CAPS results from a gain-of-function mutation of the NLRP3 gene coding for cryopyrin, which forms intracellular protein complexes known as inflammasomes. Defects of the inflammasomes lead to overproduction of interleukin-1, resulting in inflammatory symptoms seen in CAPS. Diagnosis is often delayed and requires a thorough review of clinical symptoms. Remarkable advances in our understanding of the genetics and the molecular pathway that is responsible for the clinical phenotype of CAPS has led to the development of effective treatments. It also has become clear that the NLRP3 inflammasome plays a critical role in innate immune defense and therefore has wider implications for other inflammatory disease states