The cost-effectiveness of screening the U.S. blood supply for West Nile virus.

Background: The spread of West Nile virus across North America and evidence of transmission by transfusion prompted the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to encourage the development of methods to screen the blood supply.

Community blood supply model: development of a new model to assess the safety, sufficiency, and cost of the blood supply.

Background: Through a combination of predonation donor screening and donated unit testing, the blood supply is safer than ever. However, as a result of increasingly stringent screening measures, one of the greatest threats may be an insufficient supply. The balance between safety and adequacy of the blood supply has not received enough attention.

Active and passive cigarette smoking and risk of intracranial meningioma.

Motivated by prior studies, we examined associations between cigarette smoking and risk of intracranial meningioma in a population-based case-control study, including 200 cases and 2 controls matched to each case on age and sex. Subjects were asked to recall their history of active and passive cigarette smoking occurring 10 or more years before the date of meningioma surgery. Ever active smoking was associated with an increased risk of meningioma in men (OR = 2.

Global epidemiology of hepatitis B virus.

The burden of hepatitis B virus (HBV) disease and efforts to control infection will determine the future size of the population requiring treatment of HBV infection. To quantify the current prevalence of HBV infection and to reexamine the epidemiology of HBV infection, a structured review was conducted that focused on available primary literature for over 30 countries worldwide. The prevalence of chronic HBV infection continues to be highly variable, ranging over 10% in some Asian and Western Pacific countries to under 0.

Triggers for switching from minipool testing by nucleic acid technology to individual-donation nucleic acid testing for West Nile virus: analysis of 2003 data to inform 2004 decision making.

Background: Concern about West Nile virus (WNV) transfusion-transmitted infections missed by minipool (MP) nucleic acid testing (NAT) has prompted consideration of the use of individual-donation (ID) NAT. Strategies were investigated for the application of limited ID-NAT capacity in 2004.

Study Design And Methods: Patterns of WNV MP-NAT-reactive donations tested by the Blood Systems Laboratory each week for 79 blood centers from June 29 to November 23, 2003 (196 MP-NAT repeat-reactive [RR] donations among 801,697 units), were analyzed.

Quantifying losses to the donated blood supply due to donor deferral and miscollection.

Background: Donors are deferred for multiple reasons. Losses related to disease marker rates are well established. Donor and donation losses for other reasons, however, have not been extensively quantified.

Economic analyses of blood safety and transfusion medicine interventions: a systematic review.

Economic evaluations are increasingly common in blood safety and transfusion medicine. We sought to summarize and review economic evaluations of donated blood interventions conducted in the United States. By using computer database searches, we identified 19 studies that reported both cost and health benefit results, and relative to each other, we rated the quality of their design and reporting.

Dental X-rays and the risk of intracranial meningioma: a population-based case-control study.

Background: Ionizing radiation is a likely cause of intracranial meningioma. The authors determined whether the risk of intracranial meningioma was associated with past dental X-rays-specifically, posterior bitewings, full-mouth series, and lateral cephalometric and panoramic radiographs.

Methods: The authors conducted a population-based case-control study of residents of King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties in western Washington State.

The association between breast carcinoma and meningioma in women.

Background: Published case reports of a possible association between meningioma and breast carcinoma are not uncommon in the literature. Four published analytic studies have addressed this suggested association specifically. Three of these studies reported significant associations, with relative risk estimates mostly between 1.

Employment-based health benefits: analysis of the April 1993 Current Population Survey.

The April 1993 CPS differs from the March 1993 CPS in a number of respects. The April 1993 CPS supplement surveys only workers, whereas the March CPS examines the noncash benefits received by all Americans. The April CPS asks workers about health coverage in the week in which the questions were fielded, whereas the March CPS asks about coverage in the preceding year.