Aberrations in medically certified sick leave and primary healthcare consultations in Norway in 2023 compared to pre-COVID-19-pandemic trends.

Background: Since 2022, Norway has employed a vaccine-only COVID-19 strategy. Primary healthcare in Norway uses International Classification of Primary Care version 2 (ICPC-2) codes. This study aims to systematically compare medically certified sick leave and primary healthcare consultations in 2023 with the pre-pandemic 2010-2019 trends, and subsequently estimate the magnitude of these changes.

Estimating the risk of gastrointestinal illness associated with drinking tap water in Norway: a prospective cohort study.

Background: The delivery of safe drinking water has high public health relevance, as reflected in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG6). Several precautionary actions have reduced the burden associated with infectious diseases in high-income countries; however, pollution in source waters, inadequate disinfection, and premise plumbing, along with an increased awareness that intrusion in the drinking water distribution system, represents risk factors for gastrointestinal illness linked to consume of drinking water. Sporadic cases of waterborne infections are expected to be underreported since a sick person is less likely to seek healthcare for a self-limiting gastrointestinal infection.

Vaccine coverage among children born to immigrant parents in Norway, 2000-2020.

Background: The Norwegian Childhood Immunization Program maintains a high national coverage of 95-97% in the most recent years. Whether there are subgroups with lower uptake is less studied. This study examines pertussis and measles vaccination coverage among six immigrant groups in Norway.

Short-term safety of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines with respect to all-cause mortality in the older population in Norway.

Background: There have been concerns about COVID-19 vaccination safety among frail older individuals. We investigated the relationship between COVID-19 mRNA vaccination and mortality among individuals aged ≥ 70 years and whether mortality varies across four groups of health services used.

Methods: In this nationwide cohort study, we included 688,152 individuals aged ≥ 70 years at the start of the Norwegian vaccination campaign (December 27, 2020).

The importance of mineralogical composition for the cytotoxic and pro-inflammatory effects of mineral dust.

Background: Respirable mineral particles represent a potential health hazard in occupational settings and ambient air. Previous studies show that mineral particles may induce cytotoxicity and inflammatory reactions in vitro and in vivo and that the potency varies between samples of different composition. However, the reason for these differences is largely unknown and the impact of mineralogical composition on the biological effects of mineral dust remains to be determined.

How many of persistent coughers have pulmonary tuberculosis? Population-based cohort study in Ethiopia.

Objective: Many individuals with persistent cough and smear microscopy-negative sputum test for tuberculosis (TB) remain at risk of developing the disease. This study estimates the incidence of pulmonary TB (PTB) among initially smear-negative persistent coughers and its risk factors.

Design: A prospective population-based follow-up study.

The Risk of Invasive Pneumococcal Disease Differs between Risk Groups in Norway Following Widespread Use of the 13-Valent Pneumococcal Vaccine in Children.

The elderly and adults with medical risk conditions remain at high risk of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD), highlighting the importance of adequate preventive efforts. In an observational population-based study in Norway (pop ≥ 5 years, 2009-2017) covering six years post-PCV13 implementation, we explored the incidence and risk of IPD associated with age and comorbidities. We obtained the data on 5535 IPD cases from the Norwegian Surveillance System for Communicable Diseases and the population data from Statistics Norway.

Measles vaccine coverage among children born to Somali immigrants in Norway.

Background: Despite overall good vaccination coverage in many countries, vaccine hesitancy has hindered full coverage and exposed groups to the risk of outbreaks. Somali immigrant groups have been known to have low measles vaccination coverage, leading to outbreaks in their communities. Current research indicates a general lack of trust in the healthcare system, the use of alternative information sources and inadequate health literacy can be contributing factors.

Immigrant screening for latent tuberculosis infection: numbers needed to test and treat, a Norwegian population-based cohort study.

Objectives: To estimate the number needed to screen (NNS) and the number needed to treat (NNT) to prevent one tuberculosis (TB) case in the Norwegian immigrant latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) screening programme and to explore the effect of delay of LTBI treatment initiation.

Design: Population-based, prospective cohort study.

Participants: Immigrants to Norway.