Men engaged in breaking or reinstating road surfaces are exposed to vibration from mechanical tools. In view of the lack of epidemiological information on vibration white finger in such a population, a survey was carried out to identify the prevalence of symptoms of white finger in a sample of men using these tools in the gas industry and to compare the prevalence with that found in a control g...

We propose a fully cooperative coinfection model in which singly infected individuals are more likely to acquire a second disease than susceptible ones and doubly infected individuals are also assumed to be more contagious than singly infected ones. The dynamics of such a fully cooperative coinfection model is investigated through the well-mixed approach. In particular, discontinuous outbreak t...

BACKGROUND The objectives of this study were to estimate the prevalence of thalassemia and to analyze the need for public health services for migrant populations in different cities in Guangdong Province, China. METHODS A cross-sectional survey was conducted in 21 cities of Guangdong Province. Twenty-three types of a- and β-globin gene mutations were detected in a total of 14,230 pregnant wom...

PURPOSE To determine whether trachoma is a public health problem requiring intervention in Cambodia. METHODS Based on historical evidence and reports, 14 evaluation units (EUs) in Cambodia, judged to be most likely to harbor trachoma, were selected. The Global Trachoma Mapping Project methodology was used to carry out rigorous surveys to determine the prevalence of trachomatous inflammation-f...

A survey of naso-pharyngeal myiasis affecting red deer (Cervus elaphus) in southern Spain was conducted. The parasites involved were the larvae of Pharyngomyia picta and Cephenemyia auribarbis (Diptera:Oestridae), which coexist sympatrically within this host. Males and older animals had higher prevalences and intensities of fly larvae. Differences in behaviour and habitat use by male and female...

In 2012, a novel case series method dubbed the “case-chaos” design was proposed as an alternative to casecontrol studies, whereby controls are artificially created by permutating the exposure information of the cases. Our aim in the current work was to further evaluate the case-chaosmethod. Using a theoretical example of 2 risk factors, we demonstrated that the case-chaos design yields risk est...

To know prevalence of rotavirus diarrhea subgroups and serotypes, a prospective study was conducted in rural, periurban and urban communities at Chandigarh. Weekly surveillance for diarrheal episodes was carried out in 110 families each from rural, periurban and urban localities constituting 584 children < 5 years of age from October, 1988 to February, 1991. Stool samples of 218 diarrheal episo...

BACKGROUND Diagnostic tests are generally used in situations with similar pre-test probability of disease to where they were developed. When these tests are applied in situations with very different pre-test probabilities of disease, it is informative to model the likely implications of known characteristics of test performance in the new situation. This is the case for automated Mycobacterium ...

We offered voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) for HIV and syphilis to women attending three public sexually transmitted infection (STI) clinics in Bangkok, Thailand from May 2004 to June 2006. The testing was performed at either one of three STI clinics in Bangkok or at mobile VCT in the same area as the outreach activity. Six-hundred eighty-four women were tested. The HIV prevalences among...

A worldwide increase in the prevalence of allergic disease has occurred over the last few decades. The United Kingdom has one of the highest prevalences of asthma and allergy in the world with 1 in 4 persons being affected. The cost to individual with asthma and to the society in general is considerable. To curb this rising trend we need to find ways of preventing their development. Nearly 80% ...