Mortality and morbidity : the Matlab experience

Presents examples of how mortality and morbidity can be studied within a "small area". The possibility of grafting small studies at relatively little cost into a longitudinal system is described

Mortalité et morbidité : l'expérience de Matlab

Version anglaise disponible dans la Bibliothèque numérique du CRDI sous le titre: Mortality and morbidity : the Matlab experienc

Wildlife Trade and Human Health in Lao PDR: An Assessment of the Zoonotic Disease Risk in Markets.

Although the majority of emerging infectious diseases can be linked to wildlife sources, most pathogen spillover events to people could likely be avoided if transmission was better understood and practices adjusted to mitigate risk. Wildlife trade can facilitate zoonotic disease transmission and represents a threat to human health and economies in Asia, highlighted by the 2003 SARS coronavirus outbreak, where a Chinese wildlife market facilitated pathogen transmission. Additionally, wildlife trade poses a serious threat to biodiversity. Therefore, the combined impacts of Asian wildlife trade, sometimes termed bush meat trade, on public health and biodiversity need assessing. From 2010 to 2013, observational data were collected in Lao PDR from markets selling wildlife, including information on volume, form, species and price of wildlife; market biosafety and visitor origin. The potential for traded wildlife to host zoonotic diseases that pose a serious threat to human health was then evaluated at seven markets identified as having high volumes of trade. At the seven markets, during 21 observational surveys, 1,937 alive or fresh dead mammals (approximately 1,009 kg) were observed for sale, including mammals from 12 taxonomic families previously documented to be capable of hosting 36 zoonotic pathogens. In these seven markets, the combination of high wildlife volumes, high risk taxa for zoonoses and poor biosafety increases the potential for pathogen presence and transmission. To examine the potential conservation impact of trade in markets, we assessed the status of 33,752 animals observed during 375 visits to 93 markets, under the Lao PDR Wildlife and Aquatic Law. We observed 6,452 animals listed by Lao PDR as near extinct or threatened with extinction. The combined risks of wildlife trade in Lao PDR to human health and biodiversity highlight the need for a multi-sector approach to effectively protect public health, economic interests and biodiversity

Knowledge and vaccination: The response to the 1990 National Urban Immunization Campaign in the Philippines

This dissertation examines the role of caretaker\u27s knowledge about vaccination in explaining their children\u27s vaccination status in the context of a national media campaign promoting measles vaccination. I also investigated the source of that knowledge--whether it can be attributed to contact with public health services or to the National Urban Vaccination Campaign that was run between March and September 1990. The source of information was two cross-sectional surveys carried out in urban areas of the Philippines before and after the national campaign. The analysis (a) examined the effect of exposure to the national media campaign and to health services on knowledge about vaccination, then (b) investigated the effect of knowledge on vaccination. For the first type of analysis, the basic analysis strategy was to examine the change in the coefficient of the variable indicating timing (before or after the campaign) in a series of twenty-six logistic regressions predicting different items of knowledge when variables reflecting either exposure to the campaign or to health services were included in the regression. For the second analysis, I examined the effect on the timing variable of including the knowledge variables and variables reflecting exposure to the campaign and to health services in a series of logistic regressions predicting a child\u27s vaccination status. Both vaccination coverage and some types of knowledge about vaccination, particularly knowledge about measles vaccination and about the age a child should start and finish getting vaccinations, increased substantially between 1989 and 1990. Exposure to the campaign accounted for about 25-50% of the 1989-1990 increases in individual items of knowledge, while exposure to health services accounted for 2-7% of the 1989-1990 increases. Among the items of knowledge considered, the maximum amount of the 1989-1990 increase in measles vaccination that any individual item could account for was 15%. Exposure to the campaign accounted for an additional 40-50%

Knowledge and vaccination: The response to the 1990 National Urban Immunization Campaign in the Philippines

This dissertation examines the role of caretaker\u27s knowledge about vaccination in explaining their children\u27s vaccination status in the context of a national media campaign promoting measles vaccination. I also investigated the source of that knowledge--whether it can be attributed to contact with public health services or to the National Urban Vaccination Campaign that was run between March and September 1990. The source of information was two cross-sectional surveys carried out in urban areas of the Philippines before and after the national campaign. The analysis (a) examined the effect of exposure to the national media campaign and to health services on knowledge about vaccination, then (b) investigated the effect of knowledge on vaccination. For the first type of analysis, the basic analysis strategy was to examine the change in the coefficient of the variable indicating timing (before or after the campaign) in a series of twenty-six logistic regressions predicting different items of knowledge when variables reflecting either exposure to the campaign or to health services were included in the regression. For the second analysis, I examined the effect on the timing variable of including the knowledge variables and variables reflecting exposure to the campaign and to health services in a series of logistic regressions predicting a child\u27s vaccination status. Both vaccination coverage and some types of knowledge about vaccination, particularly knowledge about measles vaccination and about the age a child should start and finish getting vaccinations, increased substantially between 1989 and 1990. Exposure to the campaign accounted for about 25-50% of the 1989-1990 increases in individual items of knowledge, while exposure to health services accounted for 2-7% of the 1989-1990 increases. Among the items of knowledge considered, the maximum amount of the 1989-1990 increase in measles vaccination that any individual item could account for was 15%. Exposure to the campaign accounted for an additional 40-50%

Hunting, Food Preparation, and Consumption of Rodents in Lao PDR

<div><p>A cross-sectional study was conducted in 29 villages of Khamkeuth District in Bolikhamxay Province in the Lao PDR during March to May 2013. The study aimed to determine the characteristics associated with rodent consumption and related behaviors among different ethnic groups, ages, and genders. Five-hundred-eighty-four (584) males and females from 18-50 years of age participated in this study. Half of them were Hmong (292, 50%) while 152 respondents were Lao-Tai (26%) or other ethnic groups (140, 24%). Most of the respondents (79.5%) had farming as their main occupation. Prevalences of the studied outcomes were high: 39.9 for hunting or capturing rodents in the previous year, 77.7% for preparing rodents as food, and 86.3% for rodent consumption. Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that likelihood of these types of rodent contact was more consistently associated with behavioral factors (gathering things from the forest and elsewhere, cultivation-related activities, and taking measures to prevent rodent-borne disease) than with socio-demographic, environmental, or cultural factors. The strongest associations were observed for gathering things; these associations were consistently positive and statistically significant. Although this study did not directly assess rodent-borne zoonosis risk, we believe that study findings raise concern that such risk may be substantial in the study area and other similar areas. Further epidemiological studies on the association between rodent-borne disease infection and rodent hunting, preparation for food, and consumption are recommended. Moreover, further studies are needed on the association between these potential exposure factors (i.e., rodent hunting, preparation for food, and consumption) and rodent-borne infections, especially among ethnic groups like the Hmong in Lao PDR and those in neighboring countries with similar socio-demographic, environmental, behavioral and cultural contexts.</p></div

First multiple logistic regression model for reporting preparing rodents in the past year.

<p>* As compared to ethnic group = other.</p><p>First multiple logistic regression model for reporting preparing rodents in the past year.</p

First multiple logistic regression model for reporting eaten rodents in the past year.

<p>* As compared to ethnic group = other.</p><p>First multiple logistic regression model for reporting eaten rodents in the past year.</p