Modelling asthma epidemics on the relationship between air pollution and asthma emergency visits in Barcelona, Spain.

We have investigated different methods of controlling for asthma epidemics in the time series regression of the relationship between air pollution and asthma emergency visits in Barcelona, Spain. The relationship between air pollution and asthma emergency room visits was modelled using autoregressive Poisson models. We examined the effect of using no control by epidemics, and modelling asthma epidemics with a single dummy variable, six dummy variables, and a dummy variable for each epidemic day.

Generational increase of self-reported first attack of asthma in fifteen industrialized countries. European Community Respiratory Health Study (ECRHS).

The prevalence of asthma has increased worldwide. However, there is only local evidence for changes in incidence. Data from the European Community Respiratory Heath Survey (ECRHS) can be analysed to reconstruct trends in incidence from 1946-1991 in cohorts born between 1946-1971 in 35 areas corresponding to 15 countries.

Risk of asthma in the general Spanish population attributable to specific immunoresponse. Spanish Group of the European Community Respiratory Health Survey.

Background: Individuals with asthma are more atopic than the general population, but few reports have quantified this association, i.e. the proportion of asthma in the community due to specific immunoresponse.

A GEE moving average analysis of the relationship between air pollution and mortality for asthma in Barcelona, Spain.

Several studies have assessed the association between air pollution and hospital admissions or emergency room visits for asthma. Because of both the presence of missing data and the small number of observations, the relationship between air pollution and mortality for respiratory causes has been rarely analysed, and when it has, the results are very inconclusive or even inconsistent. The objective of this study is to assess the relation between levels of air pollutants (black smoke, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and ozone), meteorological variables (24th average temperature and relative humidity) and daily mortality for asthma (ICD-9 493, 2 to 45 years old) in Barcelona, Spain, during the period 1986-1989.

[The short-term effects of air pollution on mortality. The results of the EMECAM project in the city of Barcelona, 1991-1995. Estudio Multicéntrico Español sobre la Relación entre la Contaminación Atmosférica y la Mortalidad].

Background: Most of the studies which demonstrate the existence of a short-term relationship between air pollution and morbidity and the Mortality analyze the impact of "classic" pollutants which are by-products of combustion. However, the changes in the sources of these emissions, shifting basically toward road traffic, has made a change in air pollution, heightening the importance of the photochemical components, such as ozone (O3) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2). Barcelona is a city located in a mild climate zone, and its air pollution comes mainly from vehicle emissions.

[Time series methods in epidemiological studies on air pollution].

The time series methods in the epidemiological studies on air pollution are reviewed, illustrated by means of an autoregressive Poisson regression which was employed in the APHEA and EMECAM Projects. A listing is provided of the variations in the daily number of deaths of people over age 70 (all causes, CIE-9:001-799) in Barcelona, 1991-1995, with the average variations in the daily smog pollution levels. A Poisson regression is used insofar as the dependent random variable presumably follows such a probability distribution.

Sinonasal cancer, occupation, and tobacco smoking in European women and men.

Background: In this analysis of European case-control studies on sinonasal cancer, we examined the risk for occupation and smoking, by gender and histological type.

Methods: The pooled data included 104 female and 451 male cases, and 241 female and 1,464 male controls. Lifetime smoking and occupational history were recoded following uniform criteria, and job-exposure matrices were applied for wood and leather dust.

Occupational asthma in Europe and other industrialised areas: a population-based study. European Community Respiratory Health Survey Study Group.

Background: There are no large population-based studies on occupational asthma, and few estimates of the proportion of asthma attributed to occupation, even though asthma is the most common occupational respiratory disorder in industrialised countries.

Methods: We assessed data on 15,637 people aged 20-44, randomly selected from the general population of 26 areas in 12 industrialised countries. Asthma was assessed by methacholine challenge test and by questionnaire data on respiratory symptoms and use of medication.

Effect of the method of administration, mail or telephone, on the validity and reliability of a respiratory health questionnaire. The Spanish Centers of the European Asthma Study.

The European Community Respiratory Health Survey (ECRHS), a multinational survey, assesses and compares the prevalence of asthma among subjects, aged 20 to 44, in several European areas. In Spain, some participating centers have used mail and telephone as methods of questionnaire administration. The objective of the present study was to determine whether the validity and reliability of the questionnaire differed by method of administration.

Sex differences in mortality of people who visited emergency rooms for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

We assess the sex differences in mortality in a population-based cohort of those Barcelona residents older than 14 yr of age who received emergency room services (ERS) for either chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or asthma, during the period from 1985 to 1989. Vital status was followed to the end of 1995. A total of 15,517 individuals, 9,918 males and 5,599 females were included in the study.

Genes and regulatory sites of the "host-takeover module" in the terminal redundancy of Bacillus subtilis bacteriophage SPO1.

Early in infection of Bacillus subtilis by bacteriophage SPO1, the synthesis of most host-specific macromolecules is replaced by the corresponding phage-specific biosyntheses. It is believed that this subversion of the host biosynthetic machinery is accomplished primarily by a cluster of early genes in the SPO1 terminal redundancy. Here we analyze the nucleotide sequence of this 11.

Respiratory symptoms, lung function and use of health services among unemployed young adults in Spain. Spanish Group of the European Community Respiratory Health Survey.

The association of respiratory symptoms, lung function and use of health services with employment status was examined in Spain, a country with a high rate of unemployment. A population sample comprising 179 unemployed and 1,868 employed subjects aged 20-44 yrs in 1993, was randomly selected from a base population of about 170,000 people in five urban and rural areas of Spain. Subjects completed a questionnaire on respiratory symptoms, sociodemographic and lifestyle factors, occupational exposure and use of health services, and performed a forced spirometry, a methacholine challenge test and blood tests.

Short-term effects of air pollution on hospital admissions of respiratory diseases in Europe: a quantitative summary of APHEA study results. Air Pollution and Health: a European Approach.

The Air Pollution and Health: a European Approach (APHEA) project is a coordinated study of the short-term effects of air pollution on mortality and hospital admissions. Five West European cities (i.e.

Pulmonary ventilatory defects and occupational exposures in a population-based study in Spain. Spanish Group of the European Community Respiratory Health Survey.

We assessed the association between occupational exposures and symptoms of chronic bronchitis and pulmonary ventilatory defects in a general population-based study of five areas in Spain. This study forms part of the European Community Respiratory Health Study (ECRHS). Subjects (n = 1,735; age range, 20-44 yr; 52.

Risk factors for asthma in young adults. Spanish Group of the European Community Respiratory Health Survey.

We assessed the association of asthma prevalence in young adults with susceptibility factors and environmental exposures, taking into account the age at asthma onset. A random sample of the general population, aged 20-44 yrs, in five areas of Spain (Albacete, Barcelona, Galdakao, Huelva, and Oviedo) was selected in the frame of the European Community Respiratory Health Survey (ECRHS). Overall, 2,646 subjects (response rate = 60.

Short-term effects of ambient oxidant exposure on mortality: a combined analysis within the APHEA project. Air Pollution and Health: a European Approach.

The Air Pollution and Health: a European Approach (APHEA) project is a coordinated study of the short-term effects of air pollution on mortality and hospital admissions using data from 15 European cities, with a wide range of geographic, sociodemographic, climatic, and air quality patterns. The objective of this paper is to summarize the results of the short-term effects of ambient oxidants on daily deaths from all causes (excluding accidents). Within the APHEA project, six cities spanning Central and Western Europe provided data on daily deaths and NO2 and/or O3 levels.

Smoking and bronchial responsiveness in nonatopic and atopic young adults. Spanish Group of the European Study of Asthma.

Background: Smoking may influence the response of the lungs to other inhaled substances. A study was undertaken to assess the effect of the interaction between smoking and the immunoresponse to common aeroallergens (atopy) on bronchial responsiveness.

Methods: A random sample was selected from the general population census of five areas of Spain (Albacete, Barcelona, Galdakao, Huelva, and Oviedo).

Atopy and nonspecific bronchial responsiveness. A population-based assessment. Spanish Group of the European Community Respiratory Health Survey.

The relative importance of specific immunoresponse in explaining nonspecific bronchial responsiveness (BR) has scarcely been examined. We provide quantitative estimates of the proportion of BR attributable to specific atopy to different common aeroallergens. We used data from a cross-sectional study on a random sample of the general population 20 to 44 yr of age from five Spanish areas.

A simplified procedure for studies of intestinal immunity in rabbits.

As interest in the development of oral vaccines continues to rise, alternative animal models for studies of mucosal immunity are needed. The present study examines a simplified procedure for delivering antigen to rabbit Peyer's patches via an indwelling cannula. The cannula was placed 3-4 cm proximal to the Peyer's patch, and was used to deliver four weekly doses of the potent mucosal immunogen, cholera toxin (CT).