The Effect of Smallpox and Bacillus Calmette-Guérin Vaccination on the Risk of Human Immunodeficiency Virus-1 Infection in Guinea-Bissau and Denmark.

Background: The live smallpox and Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccinations have been associated with better adult survival in both Guinea-Bissau and Denmark. In Guinea-Bissau, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 became an important cause of death after smallpox vaccination was phased out globally in 1980. We hypothesised that smallpox and BCG vaccinations were associated with a lower prevalence of HIV-1 infection, and we tested this hypothesis in both Guinea-Bissau and Denmark.

Framing the willingness-to-pay question: impact on response patterns and mean willingness to pay.

In this study, respondents were randomly allocated to three variants of the payment card format and an open-ended format in order to test for convergent validity. The aim was to test whether preferences (as measured by willingness to pay additional tax) would be affected by framing the willingness-to-pay question differently. Results demonstrated that valuations were highly sensitive to whether respondents were asked to express their maximum willingness to pay per month or per year.

[Leisure time physical exercise during pregnancy and the risk of miscarriage: a study within the Danish National Birth Cohort--secondary publication].

We investigated the association between exercise during pregnancy and risk of miscarriage among more than 90,000 pregnant women. Information on exposures was obtained by means of computer-assisted telephone interviews. A relation was found between the amount of exercise and the risk of miscarriage with the risk of miscarriage rising stepwise by the amount of exercise performed.

Vaccinia scars associated with improved survival among adults in rural Guinea-Bissau.

Background: In urban Guinea-Bissau, adults with a vaccinia scar had better survival but also a higher prevalence of HIV-2 infection. We therefore investigated the association between vaccinia scar and survival and HIV infection in a rural area of Guinea-Bissau.

Methodology/principal Findings: In connection with a study of HIV in rural Guinea-Bissau, we assessed vaccinia and BCG scars in 193 HIV-1 or HIV-2 infected and 174 uninfected participants.