Ultraviolet radiation as a predictor of sex hormone levels in postmenopausal women: A European multi-center study (ECRHS).

Background: Solar ultraviolet radiation (UVR) affects the body through pathways that exhibit positive as well as negative health effects such as immunoregulation and vitamin D production. Different vitamin D metabolites are associated with higher or lower concentrations of estrogens and may thus alter the female sex hormone balance.

Objective: To study whether exposure to UVR, as a modifiable lifestyle factor, is associated with levels of sex hormones (17β-estradiol, estrone, estrone 3-sulfate, testosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate), gonadotropins (follicle stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone) as well as sex hormone binding globulin in postmenopausal women, and thus investigate whether managing UVR exposure can influence the hormone balance, with potential benefits for the biological aging process.

Describing the status of reproductive ageing simply and precisely: A reproductive ageing score based on three questions and validated with hormone levels.

Objective: Most women live to experience menopause and will spend 4-8 years transitioning from fertile age to full menstrual stop. Biologically, reproductive ageing is a continuous process, but by convention, it is defined categorically as pre-, peri- and postmenopause; categories that are sometimes supported by measurements of sex hormones in blood samples. We aimed to develop and validate a new tool, a reproductive ageing score (RAS), that could give a simple and yet precise description of the status of reproductive ageing, without hormone measurements, to be used by health professionals and researchers.

Residential surrounding greenspace and age at menopause: A 20-year European study (ECRHS).

Background: Menopause is associated with a number of adverse health effects and its timing has been reported to be influenced by several lifestyle factors. Whether greenspace exposure is associated with age at menopause has not yet been investigated.

Objective: To investigate whether residential surrounding greenspace is associated with age at menopause and thus reproductive aging.

Effectiveness of dTpa vaccination during pregnancy in preventing whooping cough in infants under 3 months of age. Bizkaia, Basque Country, Spain.

In response to an increase in the incidence of whooping cough in recent years, the Basque Country established a vaccination programme for pregnant women in the last trimester of the pregnancy seeking to protect young infants, a population that is at high risk of developing severe whooping cough. In the present study, based on the screening method, we assessed the effectiveness of this measure to prevent whooping cough in infants under 3 months of age. We found a vaccine effectiveness of 89% and 95% CI 72-96%.

Diagnostic delay as main contributing factor to a large outbreak of tuberculosis in a university.

Objective: To describe the epidemiological characteristics of a large tuberculosis outbreak in the university environment and the main risk factors associated with it.

Method: A descriptive analysis of the data collected from sick individuals and their contacts was made. For the contact tracing, the guidelines established in the Tuberculosis Programme of the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country were followed.

Exogenous female sex steroids may reduce lung ageing after menopause: A 20-year follow-up study of a general population sample (ECRHS).

Objectives: Menopause involves hypoestrogenism, which is associated with numerous detrimental effects, including on respiratory health. Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is often used to improve symptoms of menopause. The effects of HRT on lung function decline, hence lung ageing, have not yet been investigated despite the recognized effects of HRT on other health outcomes.

Menopause Is Associated with Accelerated Lung Function Decline.

Rationale: Menopause is associated with changes in sex hormones, which affect immunity, inflammation, and osteoporosis and may impair lung function. Lung function decline has not previously been investigated in relation to menopause.

Objectives: To study whether lung function decline, assessed by FVC and FEV, is accelerated in women who undergo menopause.

[Outbreak of Salmonella Typhimurium infections associated with consumption of chorizo in Bizkaia].

A report is presented on an outbreak of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium infection that affected six people. The epidemiological and laboratory investigation associated the outbreak with the consumption of homemade chorizo purchased at a local street market. The vendor and producer were informed that the sale of meat products without sanitary authorization is prohibited, and the product was withdrawn from sale.

[Outbreak of viral parotiditis in a school in Bizkaia, Spain, in 2006].

Background: Outbreaks of parotiditis have recently been recorded in Spain and in other developed countries. The possible reasons currently under consideration are the low degree of immunization coverage among the populations involved and/or the low degree of effectiveness of the vaccine strains employed. This study describes one outbreak of parotiditis having occurred in Bizkaia and assesses, the effectiveness of the vaccine strains and the usefulness of the diagnostic tests currently used.