Organic solvent extracts from airplane emission particulates are mutagenic for Salmonella typhimurium strain TA98. Using Salmonella tester strains deficient in enzymes required for the bioactivation of various nitroarenes, the mutagenicity present in these emissions was ascribed to the presence of nitrated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Based on the known aircraft particulate emission rates at U.S. airports, and using 1-nitropyrene (1-NP) and 1,8-dinitropyrene (1,8-DNP) as surrogates, it is calculated that at a minimum 7 kg 1-NP and 20 g, 1,8-DNP are emitted daily at a typical U.S. airport.

Air Pollutants↗

PubMedDate not supplied

An evaluation of pertussis vaccine.

Infant mortality from pertussis in the United States was 4.5 deaths/1,000 in 1900 but decreased to 0.003 deaths/1,000 by 1974. The attribution of this decrease in mortality to the widespread use of pertussis vaccine, which began in the 1940s, has been questioned because death rates from pertussis in infants steadily declined by 70% between 1900-1904 and 1935-1939. Thes doubts are compounded by the uncertain frequency and significance of untoward reactions to the vaccine. An attempt was made to clarify this issue by statistical analysis. Because most deaths from pertussis occur in the young, death rates were determined for consecutive five-year periods from 1900 through 1974 among children younger than one year of age (infants) and among those from one to four years of age. there was an accelerated decline in mortality beginning in 1940, especially among infants (P < 0.01 vs. mortality in 1930-1939). On the basis of the rate of decline before 1940, 4,000-8,000 deaths from pertussis would be expected to hve occurred in 1970-1974; however, only 52 such deaths occurred. It is unlikely that factors other than pertussis vaccine caused this decline in mortality. Therefore, the vaccine's benefit-risk ratio probably is high.

Central America↗

PubMedDate not supplied

DTP and SIDS.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Diphtheria Toxoid↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Risk of seizures and encephalopathy after immunization with the diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine.

We evaluated the risks of seizures and other neurological events following diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP) immunization for 38,171 Tennessee Medicaid children who received 107,154 DTP immunizations in their first 3 years of life. There were 2 children with encephalitis; both had disease onset more than 2 weeks following DTP immunization. There were 277 children who had febrile seizures, 42 with afebrile seizures, and 37 with seizures associated with other acute neurological illness (acute symptomatic). The risk of febrile seizures in the 0 to 3 days following DTP immunization (n = 6) was 1.5 (95% confidence interval, 0.6 to 3.3) times that of the control period 30 or more days following DTP immunization. There was no evidence that in the 0 to 3 days following DTP immunization the risk of afebrile seizures (n = 1) or acute symptomatic seizures (n = 0) was increased. No child who was previously normal without a prior history of seizures had a seizure in the 0 to 3 days following immunization that marked the onset of either epilepsy or other neurological or developmental abnormality.

Brain Diseases↗

PubMedDate not supplied

The university/public health link in reducing infant mortality in a high-risk population.

The Greater Cleveland Healthy Family/Healthy Start (HF/HS) Project Consortium was established to combine various resources in the Cleveland community in an effort to reduce the infant mortality rate by 50% over five years. As part of HF/HS, an Infant Mortality Review Program (IMRP) was instituted. This program has two important facets: an in-depth review of the circumstances of each death, and the development of scientifically-based, community-oriented interventions based on these reviews. To conduct the IMRP, a "hot line" connection with each hospital and the coroner's office was established to provide prompt notification of infant deaths and to enable timely data collection. A core review group determines actual cause of death and preventability, and identifies appropriate interventions. Recommendations issued by a technical oversight panel are disseminated to groups with the authority to institute changes in an effort to foster continuous quality improvement. Complete reviews of 243 of 319 deaths reported to date have resulted in 11 recommendations for presentation to community groups. The public health department's cooperation with other agencies has facilitated a process which ensures timely implementation. Cleveland's strongly committed consortium was able to link university and public health expertise to activate community groups and health care providers to implement recommended solutions. Demonstration of a measurable decline in the community's infant mortality rate (IMR) should provide concrete evidence of the value of such linkages. We suggest that a similar review mechanism be considered for other communities with high infant mortality rates.

Cause of Death↗