Quarterly bulletin of the Department of Public Health of the city of Philadelphia.

No issues published for 1939.1916-June 1928 numbered v. 1-13, no. 5; July/Aug.-Dec. 1928, v. 14, no. 6-9; Dec. 1928 (special) v. 14, no. 11.Mode of access: Internet.Vols. for 1916-1920 issued by Dept. of Public Health and Charities

Mortality of American Troops in the Iraq War

We estimate the death rate of United States troops deployed to Iraq from the beginning of the US invasion through 30 September 2006. Eighty percent of the deaths in Iraq were combat-related. The death rate in Iraq is lower than that of the civilian population of the United States but substantially higher than that of young adults. It is much lower than the death rate of US troops in Vietnam, in part because a much smaller fraction die among those wounded in Iraq. We also estimate relative mortality levels for US troops according to numerous demographic variables through 30 November 2006. The risk of death in Iraq per deployment is shown to be highest for Marines; Naval and Air Force personnel in Iraq have lower death rates than the civilian population of comparable age. Other categories with above-average mortality in Iraq are enlisted troops, males, younger persons, and Hispanics. Copyright 2007 The Population Council, Inc..

Efficient allocation of resources to prevent HIV infection among injection drug users: the Prevention Point Philadelphia (PPP) needle exchange program

The objective of this study is to determine the allocation of resources within a multi-site needle exchange program (NEP) that achieves the largest possible reduction in new HIV infections at minimum cost. We present a model that relates the number of injection drug user (IDU) clients and the number of syringes exchanged per client to both the costs of the NEP and the expected reduction in HIV infections per unit time. We show that cost-effective allocation within a multi-site NEP requires that sites be located where the density of IDUs is highest, and that the number of syringes exchanged per client be equal across sites. We apply these optimal allocation rules to a specific multi-site needle exchange program, Prevention Point Philadelphia (PPP). This NEP, we find, needs to add 2 or 3 new sites in neighborhoods with the highest density of IDU AIDS cases, and to increase its total IDU client base by about 28%, from approximately 6400 to 8200 IDU clients. The case-study NEP also needs to increase its hours of operation at two existing sites, where the number of needles distributed per client is currently sub-optimal, by 50%. At the optimal allocation, the estimated cost per case of HIV averted would be $2800 (range$2300-$4200). Such a favorable cost-effectiveness ratio derives primarily from PPP's low marginal costs per distributed needle. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.