Smoking may increase the risk of hospitalization due to influenza.

Background: Smoking may facilitate influenza virus infections and their severity. The objective was to investigate the risk of hospitalization due to influenza in Spanish smokers and ex-smokers.

Methods: We carried out a multicentre, case-control study in 2011.

Moderate influenza vaccine effectiveness against hospitalisation with A(H3N2) and A(H1N1) influenza in 2013-14: Results from the InNHOVE network.

We conducted a multicentre test negative case control study to estimate the 2013-14 influenza vaccine effectiveness (IVE) against hospitalised laboratory confirmed influenza in 12 hospitals in France, Italy and Spain. We included all ≥18 years hospitalised patients targeted by local influenza vaccination campaign reporting an influenza-like illness within 7 days before admission. We defined as cases patients RT-PCR positive for influenza and as controls those negative for all influenza virus.

Factors associated with pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccination of the elderly in Spain: A cross-sectional study.

Vaccination of the elderly is an important factor in limiting the impact of pneumonia in the community. The aim of this study was to investigate the factors associated with pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccination in patients aged ≥ 65 years hospitalized for causes unrelated to pneumonia, acute respiratory disease, or influenza-like illness in Spain. We made a cross-sectional study during 2013-2014.

A cationic tetrapyrrole inhibits toxic activities of the cellular prion protein.

Prion diseases are rare neurodegenerative conditions associated with the conformational conversion of the cellular prion protein (PrP(C)) into PrP(Sc), a self-replicating isoform (prion) that accumulates in the central nervous system of affected individuals. The structure of PrP(Sc) is poorly defined, and likely to be heterogeneous, as suggested by the existence of different prion strains. The latter represents a relevant problem for therapy in prion diseases, as some potent anti-prion compounds have shown strain-specificity.

Effectiveness of subunit influenza vaccination in the 2014-2015 season and residual effect of split vaccination in previous seasons.

Background: In Navarra, Spain, subunit vaccine was first used in the 2014-2015 season, whereas trivalent split-virion influenza vaccines had been used in previous seasons. We estimate the effectiveness of the subunit vaccine in the current season and split vaccine in the two previous seasons against laboratory-confirmed influenza in the 2014-2015 season.

Methods: Patients with influenza-like illness hospitalized or attended by sentinel general practitioners were swabbed for influenza testing.

Factors Associated with Influenza Vaccination of Hospitalized Elderly Patients in Spain.

Vaccination of the elderly is an important factor in limiting the impact of influenza in the community. The aim of this study was to investigate the factors associated with influenza vaccination coverage in hospitalized patients aged ≥ 65 years hospitalized due to causes unrelated to influenza in Spain. We carried out a cross-sectional study.

Comparison of body mass index (BMI) with the CUN-BAE body adiposity estimator in the prediction of hypertension and type 2 diabetes.

Background: Obesity is a world-wide epidemic whose prevalence is underestimated by BMI measurements, but CUN-BAE (Clínica Universidad de Navarra - Body Adiposity Estimator) estimates the percentage of body fat (BF) while incorporating information on sex and age, thus giving a better match. Our aim is to compare the BMI and CUN-BAE in determining the population attributable fraction (AFp) for obesity as a cause of chronic diseases.

Methods: We calculated the Pearson correlation coefficient between BMI and CUN-BAE, the Kappa index and the internal validity of the BMI.

High Body Mass Index as a Risk Factor for Hospitalization Due to Influenza: A Case-Control Study.

Introduction: Obesity has emerged as a significant independent predictor of severity in pandemic influenzaA (H1N1)pdm09. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between body mass index (BMI) and the risk of hospitalization due to influenza.

Methods: Hospitalized patients (n=755) with laboratory-confirmed influenza were individually matched by age, admission/visit date, and province with an outpatient (n=783) with laboratory-confirmed influenza and an outpatient control (n=950).

[Invasive meningococcal disease in Navarra in the era of a meningococcal C vaccine].

Introduction: Systematic childhood vaccination against meningococcus C has had a considerable impact on meningococcal invasive disease (MID). The aim of this study is to perform an analysis on the epidemiology, the clinical features, and the factors associated with a worse prognosis of MID, in the era of a meningococcal C vaccine.

Material And Methods: The study included confirmed cases of MID in children less than 15 years of age in Navarra, Spain, between 2008 and 2014.

[Meningococcal C conjugate vaccine: Impact of a vaccination program and long-term effectiveness in Navarra, Spain, 2000-2014].

Background: Since 2000, when the meningococcal serogroupC conjugate vaccine (MenCC) was introduced in the childhood immunization schedule in Spain, several changes in the schedule and catch-up campaigns have been performed. We aim to estimate the impact and effectiveness of this vaccine in Navarra up to 2014.

Methods: The impact of the vaccination program was analysed by comparing incidence, mortality and lethality rates of disease before (1995-1999) and after (2004-2014) the introduction of the MenCC.

Assisted reproductive technology in Europe, 2011: results generated from European registers by ESHRE.

Study Question: The 15th European IVF-monitoring (EIM) report presents the results of treatments involving assisted reproductive technology (ART) initiated in Europe during 2011: are there any changes in the trends compared with previous years?

Summary Answer: Despite some fluctuations in the number of countries reporting data, while the overall number of ART cycles has continued to increase year by year, the pregnancy rates in 2011 decreased slightly to those reported in 2010, and the number of transfers with multiple embryos (3+) and the multiple delivery rates declined.

What Is Known Already: Since 1997, ART data in Europe have been collected and reported in 14 manuscripts, published in Human Reproduction.

Study Design, Size, Duration: Retrospective data collection of European ART data by the EIM Consortium for the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE); cycles started between 1 January and 31 December 2011 are collected on a yearly basis.

Effect of influenza vaccination on the prognosis of hospitalized influenza patients.

Objectives: This study aimed to assess whether influenza vaccination reduces the risk of severe and fatal outcomes in influenza inpatients aged ≥65 years.

Methods: During the 2013-2014 influenza season persons aged ≥65 years hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed influenza were selected in 19 Spanish hospitals. A severe influenza case was defined as admission to the intensive care unit, death in hospital or within 30 days after admission.

Cause of death in hospitalized patients with laboratory-confirmed influenza.

Background: We analyzed the underlying cause of death recorded in hospitalized patients with laboratory-confirmed influenza.

Methods: The present study included all patients with a laboratory-confirmed diagnosis of influenza during the influenza seasons 2009-2010 to 2013-2014 who were attended to in hospital and died. Their underlying cause of death according to the International Classification of Diseases 10th Revision was obtained from the Navarre Mortality Registry.

Characteristics of Hospitalized Cases of Pertussis in Catalonia and Navarra, Two Regions in the North of Spain.

Pertussis causes a large number of cases and hospitalizations in Catalonia and Navarra. We made a study of household cases of pertussis during 2012 and 2013 in order to identify risk factors for hospitalization in pertussis cases. Each primary case reported triggered the study of their contacts.

Characterization of mesenchymal stem cells in sheep naturally infected with scrapie.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can be infected with prions and have been proposed as in vitro cell-based models for prion replication. In addition, autologous MSCs are of interest for cell therapy in neurodegenerative diseases. To the best of our knowledge, the effect of prion diseases on the characteristics of these cells has never been investigated.

No Major Host Genetic Risk Factor Contributed to A(H1N1)2009 Influenza Severity.

While most patients affected by the influenza A(H1N1) pandemic experienced mild symptoms, a small fraction required hospitalization, often without concomitant factors that could explain such a severe course. We hypothesize that host genetic factors could contribute to aggravate the disease. To test this hypothesis, we compared the allele frequencies of 547,296 genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) between 49 severe and 107 mild confirmed influenza A cases, as well as against a general population sample of 549 individuals.

Social class based on occupation is associated with hospitalization for A(H1N1)pdm09 infection. Comparison between hospitalized and ambulatory cases.

This study aimed to analyse the existence of an association between social class (categorized by type of occupation) and the occurrence of A(H1N1)pmd09 infection and hospitalization for two seasons (2009-2010 and 2010-2011). This multicentre study compared ambulatory A(H1N1)pmd09 confirmed cases with ambulatory controls to measure risk of infection, and with hospitalized A(H1N1)pmd09 confirmed cases to asses hospitalization risk. Study variables were: age, marital status, tobacco and alcohol use, pregnancy, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic respiratory failure, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic liver disease, body mass index >40, systemic corticosteroid treatment and influenza vaccination status.

Transgenic Mouse Bioassay: Evidence That Rabbits Are Susceptible to a Variety of Prion Isolates.

Interspecies transmission of prions is a well-established phenomenon, both experimentally and under field conditions. Upon passage through new hosts, prion strains have proven their capacity to change their properties and this is a source of strain diversity which needs to be considered when assessing the potential risks associated with consumption of prion contaminated protein sources. Rabbits were considered for decades to be a prion resistant species until proven otherwise recently.

Enhanced Estimates of the Influenza Vaccination Effect in Preventing Mortality: A Prospective Cohort Study.

Mortality is a major end-point in the evaluation of influenza vaccine effectiveness. However, this effect is not well known, since most previous studies failed to show good control of biases. We aimed to estimate the effectiveness of influenza vaccination in preventing all-cause mortality in community-dwelling seniors.

Estimating influenza vaccine effectiveness in Spain using sentinel surveillance data.

We aimed to estimate influenza vaccine effectiveness (VE) against laboratory-confirmed influenza during three influenza seasons (2010/11 to 2012/2013) in Spain using surveillance data and to compare the results with data obtained by the cycEVA study, the Spanish component of the Influenza Monitoring Vaccine Effectiveness (I-MOVE) network. We used the test-negative case–control design, with data from the Spanish Influenza Sentinel Surveillance System (SISS) or from the cycEVA study. Cases were laboratory-confirmed influenza patients with the predominant influenza virus of each season, and controls were those testing negative for any influenza virus.

(131)I treatment in Differentiated Thyroid Cancer and End-Stage Renal Disease.

Purpose: Radioiodine (RAI) is a cornerstone in the treatment of Differentiated Thyroid Cancer (DTC). In patients on haemodialysis due to End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD), it must be used cautiously, considering the renal clearance of this radionuclide. Also, the safety of the procedure and subsequent long-term outcome is still not well defined.

Effectiveness of non-pharmaceutical measures in preventing pediatric influenza: a case-control study.

Background: Hygiene behavior plays a relevant role in infectious disease transmission. The aim of this study was to evaluate non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPI) in preventing pediatric influenza infections.

Methods: Laboratory confirmed influenza cases occurred during 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons matched by age and date of consultation.

Influenza vaccine effectiveness in preventing inpatient and outpatient cases in a season dominated by vaccine-matched influenza B virus.

Studies that have evaluated the influenza vaccine effectiveness (VE) to prevent laboratory-confirmed influenza B cases are uncommon, and few have analyzed the effect in preventing hospitalized cases. We have evaluated the influenza VE in preventing outpatient and hospitalized cases with laboratory-confirmed influenza in the 2012-2013 season, which was dominated by a vaccine-matched influenza B virus. In the population covered by the Navarra Health Service, all hospitalized patients with influenza-like illness (ILI) and all ILI patients attended by a sentinel network of general practitioners were swabbed for influenza testing, and all were included in a test-negative case-control analysis.