A large outbreak of hepatitis E occurred in urban Bangladesh during 2008–2009, resulting in increased maternal and neonatal mortality in the affected community. Case-patients who took paracetamol during their illness were more likely to die than other case-patients.

Serostudies are needed to answer generalizable questions on disease risk. However, recruitment is usually biased by age or location. We present a nationally-representative study for dengue from 70 communities in Bangladesh. We collected data on risk factors, trapped mosquitoes and tested serum for IgG. Out of 5866 individuals, 24% had evidence of historic infection, ranging from 3% in the north to >80% in Dhaka. Being male (aOR:1.8, [95%CI:1.5–2.0]) and recent travel (aOR:1.3, [1.1–1.8]) were linked to seropositivity. We estimate that 40 million [34.3–47.2] people have been infected nationally, with 2.4 million ([1.3–4.5]) annual infections. Had we visited only 20 communities, seropositivity estimates would have ranged from 13% to 37%, highlighting the lack of representativeness generated by small numbers of communities. Our findings have implications for both the design of serosurveys and tackling dengue in Bangladesh.

Objectives: To estimate cumulative live birth rates (CLBRs) following repeated assisted reproductive technology (ART) ovarian stimulation cycles, including all fresh and frozen/thaw embryo transfers (complete cycles). Design, setting and participants: Prospective follow‐up of 56 652 women commencing ART in Australian and New Zealand during 2009–2012, and followed until 2014 or the first treatment‐dependent live birth. Main outcome measures: CLBRs and cycle‐specific live birth rates were calculated for up to eight cycles, stratified by the age of the women (< 30, 30–34, 35–39, 40–44, > 44 years). Conservative CLBRs assumed that women discontinuing treatment had no chance of achieving a live birth if had they continued treatment; optimal CLBRs assumed that they would have had the same chance as women who continued treatment. Results: The overall CLBR was 32.7% (95% CI, 32.2–33.1%) in the first cycle, rising by the eighth cycle to 54.3% (95% CI, 53.9–54.7%) (conservative) and 77.2% (95% CI, 76.5–77.9%) (optimal). The CLBR decreased with age and number of complete cycles. For women who commenced ART treatment before 30 years of age, the CLBR for the first complete cycle was 43.7% (95% CI, 42.6–44.7%), rising to 69.2% (95% CI, 68.2–70.1%) (conservative) and 92.8% (95% CI, 91.6–94.0) (optimal) for the seventh cycle. For women aged 40–44 years, the CLBR was 10.7% (95% CI, 10.1–11.3%) for the first complete cycle, rising to 21.0% (95% CI, 20.2–21.8%) (conservative) and 37.9% (95% CI, 35.9–39.9%) (optimal) for the eighth cycle. Conclusion: CLBRs based on complete cycles are meaningful estimates of ART success, reflecting contemporary clinical practice and encouraging safe practice. These estimates can be used when counselling patients and to inform public policy on ART treatment.

Abstract. Acute meningoencephalitis syndrome surveillance was initiated in three medical college hospitals in Bangladesh in October 2007 to identify Japanese encephalitis (JE) cases. We estimated the population-based incidence of JE in the three hospitals' catchment areas by adjusting the hospital-based crude incidence of JE by the proportion of catchment area meningoencephalitis cases who were admitted to surveillance hospitals. Instead of a traditional house-tohouse survey, which is expensive for a disease with low frequency, we attempted a novel approach to identify meningoencephalitis cases in the hospital catchment area through social networks among the community residents. The estimated JE incidence was 2.7/100,000 population in Rajshahi (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.8-4.9), 1.4 in Khulna (95% CI = 0.9-4.1), and 0.6 in Chittagong (95% CI = 0.4-0.9). Bangladesh should consider a pilot project to introduce JE vaccine in high-incidence areas.