On May 12, 2009, at 2:20 PM, a random sample of 982,708 telephones from an 18 million nationwide network of mostly prepaid cell phones (1) received a text message invitation to a Ministry of Health survey. Influenza-like illness (ILI) in April, date of fever onset, severity, number of household members with ILI, age, influenza vaccination, household size, and number of children in each househol...

To assess the attack and incidence rates for influenza virus infections, during October 2006-October 2007 we prospectively studied 1,190 adult short-term travelers from the Netherlands to tropical and subtropical countries. Participants donated blood samples before and after travel and kept a travel diary. The samples were serologically tested for the epidemic strains during the study period. T...

BACKGROUND GPs play a major role in influenza epidemics, and most patients with influenza-like-illness (ILI) are treated in general practice or by primary care doctors on duty in out-of-hours services (OOH). Little is known about the surge capacity in primary care services during an influenza pandemic, and how the relationship between them changes. AIM To investigate how general practice and ...

Look AHEAD (Action for Health in Diabetes) is a randomized trial determining whether intensive lifestyle intervention (ILI) aimed at long-term weight loss and increased physical fitness reduces cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in overweight and obese individuals with type 2 diabetes compared to control (diabetes support and education, DSE). We investigated the correlates of N-terminal pro...

A number of studies have reported that type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is associated with alterations in resting-state activity and connectivity in the brain. There is also evidence that interventions involving physical activity and weight loss may affect brain functional connectivity. In this study, we examined the effects of nearly 10 years of an intensive lifestyle intervention (ILI), design...

RATIONALE Medical masks are commonly used by sick individuals with influenza-like illness (ILI) to prevent spread of infections to others, but clinical efficacy data are absent. OBJECTIVE Determine whether medical mask use by sick individuals with ILI protects well contacts from related respiratory infections. SETTING 6 major hospitals in 2 districts of Beijing, China. DESIGN Cluster rand...

This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of influenza vaccinations among the elderly in Bangkok in reducing influenza-like illness (ILI) and influenza-related complications. Using a non-randomized, controlled, prospective methodology, healthy, active people aged 60 years or more, living in the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) area, were studied. The two study cohorts comprised 5...

Understanding the characteristics of available influenza or influenza-like illness (ILI) surveillance systems is important for seasonal influenza surveillance and pandemic preparedness. We compared five influenza or ILI data sources in Victoria: notifications of laboratory-confirmed influenza to the Victorian Department of Human Services; hospital emergency presentations and hospital admissions...

Like in most other countries, influenza surveillance in The Netherlands is based upon influenza-like illness (ILI) consultations reported by sentinel general practitioners (GP). In addition, an internet-based monitoring of ILI in the general population started in 2003/2004 (Great Influenza Survey (GIS)). We compared GIS results over 5 influenza seasons with results from the GP system. Weekly IL...

Belalcazar et al exploited a genetic variant (L446P) in the glucokinase regulatory (GCKR) gene, known to have inverse cardiometabolic effects, to investigate whether the effect of the 446L allele can be attenuated by an intensive lifestyle intervention (ILI) in the Look Action for Health in Diabetes (AHEAD) trial. Participants of Look AHEAD exhibited high adherence to the ILI, which demonstrate...