Does population mixing measure infectious exposure in children at the community level?

Taylor, John; Law, Graham; Boyle, Paul J.; Feng, Zhiqiang; Gilthorpe, Mark S.; Parslow, Roger C; Rudge, Gavin; Feltbower, Richard

doi:10.1007/s10654-008-9272-0

Cited by 10 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…The coefficient values of income, education, and population density are −0.6951 ( p -value < 0.01), −0.0160 ( p -value > 0.05), and 0.1093 ( p -value > 0.05), respectively, revealing that a 10-unit increase in income results in a 0.6951% decrease in neonatal deaths because of acute respiratory infection in selected Asian countries. These results are in line with the previous studies available in literature [12,35,36,37,38].…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 93%

Nexus between Air Pollution and Neonatal Deaths: A Case of Asian Countries

Anwar

Ayub

Khan

et al. 2019

IJERPH

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The rapid economic growth in Asian countries has witnessed a persistent increase in air pollution complementing adverse health challenges for children in these countries. Quantification of health effects attributable to air pollution (PM2.5) is important in policy implications to tackle air pollution and associated health problems. This study aims to explore the nexus between air pollution and neonates’ deaths embedded in acute respiratory infection. We collected panel data from the 12 most vulnerable Asian countries over the period of 2000–2017 and analyzed through the fixed-effect model. Empirical results show a positive relation between air pollution, temperature, and neonates’ deaths in the studied Asian countries. The results have attested negative impacts of income and education while positive effect of population density on neonates’ deaths due to acute respiratory infection. Diagnostic and prognostic measures have checked the pace of the respiratory diseases caused by PM2.5 and resultant deaths in Asian countries; yet alarming factors, like mounting industrial air pollution and rapid expansion of industrial zones in urban areas, need to be addressed in policy implications for long term sustainable solutions.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 93%

Nexus between Air Pollution and Neonatal Deaths: A Case of Asian Countries

Anwar

Ayub

Khan

et al. 2019

IJERPH

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“…To our knowledge, no other study has investigated neighbourhood child density as a potential proxy for exposure to infections. An ecologic study from the UK found increased higher hospital admission rates for infections among children 0 to 14 years of age who lived in wards with high population density [ 9 ]. A number of studies have explored the transmission of infections in relation to patterns of social contact.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While it is known that children attending day-care centres [ 6 , 7 ] or children with older siblings [ 8 ] tend to have more infections, evidence of associations between population density and children’s exposure to infections is limited. To our knowledge, only one previous ecologic study from the UK has investigated this and found an increase in hospital admissions for infection in children living in areas with high population density [ 9 ]. While day-care attendance can only be assessed through active participation of parents (interview or questionnaires), population density and birth order are more readily available from routine data.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neighbourhood child population density as a proxy measure for exposure to respiratory infections in the first year of life: A validation study

et al. 2018

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BackgroundAssessing exposure to infections in early childhood is of interest in many epidemiological investigations. Because exposure to infections is difficult to measure directly, epidemiological studies have used surrogate measures available from routine data such as birth order and population density. However, the association between population density and exposure to infections is unclear. We assessed whether neighbourhood child population density is associated with respiratory infections in infants.MethodsWith the Basel-Bern lung infant development study (BILD), a prospective Swiss cohort study of healthy neonates, respiratory symptoms and infections were assessed by weekly telephone interviews with the mother throughout the first year of life. Using population census data, we calculated neighbourhood child density as the number of children < 16 years of age living within a 250 m radius around the residence of each child. We used negative binomial regression models to assess associations between neighbourhood child density and the number of weeks with respiratory infections and adjusted for potential confounders including the number of older siblings, day-care attendance and duration of breastfeeding. We investigated possible interactions between neighbourhood child population density and older siblings assuming that older siblings mix with other children in the neighbourhood.ResultsThe analyses included 487 infants. We found no evidence of an association between quintiles of neighbourhood child density and number of respiratory symptoms (p = 0.59, incidence rate ratios comparing highest to lowest quintile: 1.15, 95%-confidence interval: 0.90–1.47). There was no evidence of interaction with older siblings (p = 0.44). Results were similar in crude and in fully adjusted models.ConclusionsOur study suggests that in Switzerland neighbourhood child density is a poor proxy for exposure to infections in infancy.

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“…Higher levels of population mixing associated with a reduced risk of CNS tumours may have occurred through a protective effect for exposure to infection, since population mixing has been shown to be a reasonable proxy for infectious exposure [36]. One possible mechanism may involve immune system priming in early life by exposure to a wide range and high volume of infection, and may be important in terms of protection against later development of CNS tumours among TYAs.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As previously stated, use of population mixing has been shown to be a reliable proxy measure for infection in ecological study designs [36]. …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Population mixing for leukaemia, lymphoma and CNS tumours in teenagers and young adults in England, 1996–2005

et al. 2014

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BackgroundLittle aetiological epidemiological research has been undertaken for major cancers occurring in teenagers and young adults (TYA). Population mixing, as a possible proxy for infectious exposure, has been well researched for childhood malignancies. We aimed to investigate effects of population mixing in this older age group using an English national cancer dataset.MethodsCases of leukaemia, lymphoma and central nervous system (CNS) tumours amongst 15–24 year olds in England (diagnosed 1996–2005) were included in the study. Data were obtained by ward of diagnosis and linked to 1991 census variables including population mixing (Shannon index); data on person-weighted population density and deprivation (Townsend score) were also used and considered as explanatory variables. Associations between TYA cancer incidence and census variables were investigated using negative binomial regression, and results presented as incidence rate ratios (IRR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI).ResultsA total of 6251 cases of leukaemia (21%), lymphoma (49%) and CNS tumours (30%) were analysed. Higher levels of population mixing were associated with a significant decrease in the incidence of CNS tumours (IRR = 0.83, 95% CI = 0.75-0.91), accounted for by astrocytomas and ‘other CNS tumours’; however, there was no association with leukaemia or lymphoma. Incidence of CNS tumours and lymphoma was 3% lower in more deprived areas (IRR = 0.97, 95% CI = 0.96-0.99 and IRR = 0.97, 95% CI =0.96-0.98 respectively). Population density was not associated with the incidence of leukaemia, lymphoma or CNS tumours.ConclusionsOur results suggest a possible role for environmental risk factors with population correlates in the aetiology of CNS tumours amongst TYAs. Unlike studies of childhood cancer, associations between population mixing and the incidence of leukaemia and lymphoma were not observed.

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Does population mixing measure infectious exposure in children at the community level?

Cited by 10 publications

References 28 publications

Nexus between Air Pollution and Neonatal Deaths: A Case of Asian Countries

Nexus between Air Pollution and Neonatal Deaths: A Case of Asian Countries

Neighbourhood child population density as a proxy measure for exposure to respiratory infections in the first year of life: A validation study

Population mixing for leukaemia, lymphoma and CNS tumours in teenagers and young adults in England, 1996–2005

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