Protective effect of antibiotics on mortality risk from acute respiratory infections in Mexican children.

A case-control study of mortality from acute respiratory infections (ARI) among children under five years of age was conducted in Naucalpan, an urban-suburban area of Mexico City, and in rural localities of Tlaxcala, Mexico. The study found that ARI deaths tended to occur in the poorest neighborhoods; 78% of the deceased study subjects were infants under six months old; and 68% of the deaths occurred at home. Comparison of the data for cases (fatalities) and control children who had severe ARI but recovered showed that failure to receive antibiotics was associated with death (odds ratio 28.

[AIDS and social strata in Mexico: the importance of bisexuality].

The prevalence of AIDS in Mexico and the frequency of sexually transmitted risks was analyzed in relation to the socioeconomic strata of the patients. The study was based on the obligatory notifications of AIDS received by the Ministry of Health between 1982 and september of 1988. The findings show that AIDS is accumulating more rapidly among the low socioeconomic strata, where the bisexual and heterosexual risk factors are also more frequent.