Pakistan Information & News

Background:
This study documented elevated rates of emergency room (ER) visits for acute upper and lower respiratory infections and asthma-related conditions in the children of Quito, Ecuador associated with the eruption of Guagua Pichincha in April of 2000.
Methods:
We abstracted 5169 (43% females) ER records with primary respiratory conditions treated from January 1 - December 27, 2000 and examined the change in pediatric ER visits for respiratory conditions before, during, and after exposure events of April, 2000. We applied a Poisson regression model adapted to time series of cases for three non-overlapping disease categories: acute upper respiratory infection (AURI), acute lower respiratory infection (ALRI), and asthma-related conditions in boys and girls for three age groups: 0-4, 5-9, and 10-15 years.
Results:
At the main pediatric medical facility, the Baca Ortiz Pediatric Hospital, the rate of emergency room (ER) visits due to respiratory conditions substantially increased in the three weeks after eruption (RR= 2.22, 95%CI=[1.95, 2.52] and RR=1.72 95%CI=[1.49, 1.97] for lower and upper respiratory tract infections respectively. The largest impact of eruptions on respiratory distress was observed in children younger than 5 years (RR= 2.21, 95%CI=[1.79, 2.73] and RR=2.16 95%CI=[1.67, 2.76] in boys and girls respectively). The rate of asthma and asthma-related diagnosis doubled during the period of volcano fumarolic activity (RR=1.97, 95%CI=[1.19, 3.24]). Overall, 28 days of volcanic activity and ash releases resulted in 345 (95%CI=[241, 460]) additional ER visits due to respiratory conditions.
Conclusions:
The study has demonstrated strong relationship between ash exposure and respiratory effects in children.

Read more at Elena N. Naumova, Hugo Yepes, Jeffrey K. Griffiths, Fernando Sempertegui, Gauri Khurana, Jyotsna S. Jagai, Edgar Jativa and Bertha Estrella

Popularity: 1% [?]

According to WHO, Pharmacovigilance activities are done to monitor detection, assessment, understanding and prevention of any obnoxious adverse reactions to drugs at therapeutic concentration on animal and human beings. However, there is also a growing focus among scientists and environmentalists about the impact of drugs on environment and surroundings. The existing term ‘Ecopharmacology’ is too broad and not even defined in a clear manner. The term ‘Pharmacoenvironmentology’ seeks to deal with the environmental impact of drugs given to humans and animals at therapeutic doses.
Popularity: 1% [?]

Read more at Syed Ziaur Rahman, Rahat Ali Khan, Varun Gupta and Misbah Uddin

Popularity: 1% [?]

Background:
Southwestern Ontario (SWO) in Canada has been known as a ‘hot spot’ in terms of environmental exposure and potential effects. We chose to study 3 major cities in SWO in this paper. We compared age-standardized hospital admission ratios of Sarnia and Windsor to London, and to generate hypotheses about potential pollutant-induced health effects in the ‘Chemical Valley’, Sarnia.
Methods:
The number of daily hospital admissions was obtained from all hospitals in London, Windsor and Sarnia from January 1, 1996 to December 31, 2000. We used indirect age adjustment method to obtain standardized admissions ratios for males and females and we chose London as the reference population. This process of adjustment was to apply the age-specific admission rates of London to the population of Sarnia and Windsor in order to yield expected admissions. The observed number of admissions was then compared to the expected admissions in terms of a ratio. These standardized admissions ratios and their corresponding confidence intervals were calculated for Sarnia and Windsor.
Results:
Our findings showed that Sarnia and Windsor had significantly higher age-adjusted hospital admissions rates compared to London. This finding was true for all admissions, and especially pronounced for cardiovascular and respiratory admissions. For example, in 1996, the observed number of admissions in Sarnia was 3.11 (CI: 2.80, 3.44) times for females and 2.83 (CI: 2.54, 3.14) times for males as would be expected by using London’s admission rates.
Conclusion:
Since hospital admissions rates were significantly higher in ‘Chemical Valley’ as compared to both London and Windsor, we hypothesize that these higher rates are pollution related. A critical look at the way ambient air quality and other pollutants are monitored in this area is warranted. Further epidemiological research is needed to verify our preliminary indications of harmful effects in people living in ‘Chemical Valley’.
Popularity: 1% [?]

Read more at Karen Y Fung, Isaac N Luginaah and Kevin M Gorey

Popularity: 1% [?]

Background:
It is not clear whether environmental exposure to dioxin affects the general population. The aim of this research is to evaluate sarcoma risk in relation to the environmental pollution caused by dioxin emitted by waste incinerators and industrial sources of airborne dioxin. The study population lives in a part of the Province of Venice (Italy), where a population-based cancer registry (Veneto Tumour Registry - RTV) has been active since 1987.
Methods:
Two hundred and five cases of visceral and extravisceral sarcoma, confirmed by microscopic examination, diagnosed from 01.01.1990 to 31.12.1996, were extracted from the RTV database. Diagnoses were revised using the actual pathology reports and clinical records. For each sarcoma case, three controls of the same age and sex were randomly selected from the population files of the Local Health Units (LHUs). The residential history of each subject, whether case or control, was reconstructed, address by address, from 1960 to the date of diagnosis. All waste incinerators and industrial sources of airborne dioxin in the Province of Venice were taken into account, as was one very large municipal waste incinerator outside the area but close to its boundaries. The Industrial Source Complex Model in Long Term mode, version 3 (ISCLT3), was used to assess the level of atmospheric dispersion. A specific value for exposure was calculated for each point (geo-referenced address) and for each calendar year; the exposure value for each subject is expressed as the average of specific time-weighted values. The analysis takes into account 172 cases and 405 controls, aged more than 14 years.
Results:
The risk of developing a sarcoma is 3.3 times higher (95% Confidence Interval - 95% CI: 1.24 - 8.76) among subjects, both sexes, with the longest exposure period and the highest exposure level; a significant excess of risk was also observed in women (Odds Ratio OR = 2.41, 95% CI: 1.04 - 5.59) and for cancers of the connective and other soft tissue (International Classification of Diseases, ninth Revision - ICD-IX 171), both sexes (OR = 3.27, 95% CI: 1.35 - 7.93).
Conclusions:
Our study supports the association between modelled dioxin exposure and sarcoma risk.
Popularity: 3% [?]

Read more at Paola Zambon, Paolo Ricci, Emanuela Bovo, Alessandro Casula, Massimo Gattolin, Anna Rita Fiore, Francesco Chiosi and Stefano Guzzinati

Popularity: 1% [?]

Background:
As ecologic studies are often inexpensive to conduct, consideration of the magnitude and direction of ecologic biases may be useful in both study design and sensitivity analysis of results. This paper examines three types of ecologic bias: confounding by group, effect measure modification by group, and non-differential exposure misclassification.
Methods:
Bias of the risk difference on the individual and ecologic levels are compared using two-by-two tables, simple equations, and risk diagrams. Risk diagrams provide a convenient way to simultaneously display information from both levels.
Results:
Confounding by group and effect measure modification by group act in the same direction on the individual and group levels, but have larger impact on the latter. The reduction in exposure variance caused by aggregation magnifies the individual level bias due to ignoring groups. For some studies, the magnification factor can be calculated from the ecologic data alone. Small magnification factors indicate little bias [...]

Original post by Thomas F Webster and a wordpress plugin by Elliott

Popularity: 1% [?]

Background:
Southwestern Ontario (SWO) in Canada has been known as a ‘hot spot’ in terms of environmental exposure and potential effects. We chose to study 3 major cities in SWO in this paper. We compared age-standardized hospital admission ratios of Sarnia and Windsor to London, and to generate hypotheses about potential pollutant-induced health effects in the ‘Chemical Valley’, Sarnia.
Methods:
The number of daily hospital admissions was obtained from all hospitals in London, Windsor and Sarnia from January 1, 1996 to December 31, 2000. We used indirect age adjustment method to obtain standardized admissions ratios for males and females and we chose London as the reference population. This process of adjustment was to apply the age-specific admission rates of London to the population of Sarnia and Windsor in order to yield expected admissions. The observed number of admissions was then compared to the expected admissions in terms of a ratio. These standardized [...]

Original post by Karen Y. Fung, Isaac N. Luginaah and Kevin M. Gorey and software by Elliott

Popularity: 1% [?]

Background:
Southwestern Ontario (SWO) in Canada has been known as a ‘hot spot’ in terms of environmental exposure and potential effects. We chose to study 3 major cities in SWO in this paper. We compared age-standardized hospital admission ratios of Sarnia and Windsor to London, and to generate hypotheses about potential pollutant-induced health effects in the ‘Chemical Valley’, Sarnia.
Methods:
The number of daily hospital admissions was obtained from all hospitals in London, Windsor and Sarnia from January 1, 1996 to December 31, 2000. We used indirect age adjustment method to obtain standardized admissions ratios for males and females and we chose London as the reference population. This process of adjustment was to apply the age-specific admission rates of London to the population of Sarnia and Windsor in order to yield expected admissions. The observed number of admissions was then compared to the expected admissions in terms of a ratio. These standardized [...]

Original post by Karen Y. Fung, Isaac N. Luginaah and Kevin M. Gorey and powered by Img Fly

Popularity: 1% [?]

Background:
Southwestern Ontario (SWO) in Canada has been known as a ‘hot spot’ in terms of environmental exposure and potential effects. We chose to study 3 major cities in SWO in this paper. We compared age-standardized hospital admission ratios of Sarnia and Windsor to London, and to generate hypotheses about potential pollutant-induced health effects in the ‘Chemical Valley’, Sarnia.
Methods:
The number of daily hospital admissions was obtained from all hospitals in London, Windsor and Sarnia from January 1, 1996 to December 31, 2000. We used indirect age adjustment method to obtain standardized admissions ratios for males and females and we chose London as the reference population. This process of adjustment was to apply the age-specific admission rates of London to the population of Sarnia and Windsor in order to yield expected admissions. The observed number of admissions was then compared to the expected admissions in terms of a ratio. These standardized [...]

Original post by Karen Y. Fung, Isaac N. Luginaah and Kevin M. Gorey and a wordpress plugin by Elliott

Popularity: 1% [?]