(Press-News.org) "Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection causes infant fulminant hepatitis (IFH), and chronic HBV infection may progress to chronic liver disease (CLD) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Taiwan launched a nationwide HBV immunization program for newborns in July 1984, which has successfully lowered the prevalence of chronic HBV carriers, incidence of HCC, and mortality of IFH in vaccinated birth cohorts. The mortality of CLD before and after HBV immunization has never been examined," write Chun-Ju Chiang, Ph.D., of National Taiwan University, Taipei, and colleagues.
As reported in a Research Letter, the authors assessed the 30-year outcomes of the immunization program. From July 1984 to June 1986, the immunization program covered only newborns with high-risk mothers who were seropositive for HBV surface antigen. Coverage was extended to all newborns in July 1986, preschool children in July 1987, and primary school children in 1988-1990. Recombinant HBV vaccines replaced plasma-derived vaccines in 1992. The immunization coverage rates for birth cohorts from 1984 to 2010 was 88.8 percent to 96.9 percent. The mortality of IFH, CLD, and HCC and the incidence of HCC were compared among birth cohorts born before and after the launch of the program.
The researchers found that from 1977-1980 to 2001-2004, the age- and sex-adjusted rate ratios for individuals 5 to 29 years of age decreased by more than 90 percent for CLD and HCC mortality and by more than 80 percent for HCC incidence, which were higher than the previously reported reduction (70 percent) in HCC incidence for youth 6 to 19 years of age.
The mortality of IFH in vaccinated birth cohorts decreased by more than 90 percent from 1977-1980 to 2009-2011, which was greater than the previously reported reduction (approximately 70 percent) from 1975-1984 to 1985-1998. "This long-term, high-coverage immunization program was associated with lower IFH mortality through increasing individual and herd immunity of vaccinated cohorts."
###
(doi:10.l001/jama.2013.276701; Available pre-embargo to the media at http://media.jamanetwork.com)
Hepatitis B immunization program in Taiwan associated with reduction in chronic liver disease deaths
2013-09-04
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Sleep boosts production of brain support cells
2013-09-04
Washington, DC — Sleep increases the reproduction of the cells that go on to form the insulating material on nerve cell projections in the brain and spinal cord known as myelin, according to an animal study published in the September 4 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience. The findings could one day lead scientists to new insights about sleep's role in brain repair and growth.
Scientists have known for years that many genes are turned on during sleep and off during periods of wakefulness. However, it was unclear how sleep affects specific cells types, such as oligodendrocytes, ...
Whole genome sequencing provides researchers with a better understanding of bovine TB outbreaks
2013-09-04
The use of whole bacterial genome sequencing will allow scientists to inexpensively track how bovine tuberculosis (TB) is transmitted from farm to farm, according to research presented this week at the Society of General Microbiology Autumn Conference.
Bovine TB is primarily a disease of cattle, caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium bovis. The disease is hugely expensive, costing the Government over £91 million in England in 2010/11.
Researchers from the University of Glasgow, working in collaboration with the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute and the Department ...
Multi-drug pills help people stick to heart disease prevention regimens
2013-09-04
People are much more likely to take preventive medicines if they're combined in one pill, an international study has found. The findings are published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Taking aspirin, cholesterol-lowering and blood pressure-lowering drugs long-term more than halves heart attack and stroke recurrence. However, only about 50 per cent of people with cardiovascular disease in high-income countries take all recommended preventive medications. In low- and middle-income countries, only five to 20 per cent do. This leaves tens of millions ...
Stressful life events significantly raise the risk of falls in older men
2013-09-04
A study of around 5,000 older men has shown that stressful life events such as death of a loved one, or serious financial problems, significantly raised the risk of falls in the year following the incident. The research is published online today in the journal Age and Ageing.
Dr Howard A. Fink of the VA Medical Center in Minneapolis and colleagues conducted a study of 5,994 community-dwelling men over the age of 65 who were enrolled in the Osteoporotic Fractures in Men (MrOS) study in six locations across the United States. 5,125 participated in a second study visit ...
Brain wiring quiets the voice inside your head
2013-09-04
DURHAM, N.C. -- During a normal conversation, your brain is constantly adjusting the volume to soften the sound of your own voice and boost the voices of others in the room.
This ability to distinguish between the sounds generated from your own movements and those coming from the outside world is important not only for catching up on water cooler gossip, but also for learning how to speak or play a musical instrument.
Now, researchers have developed the first diagram of the brain circuitry that enables this complex interplay between the motor system and the auditory ...
Promiscuity and sperm selection improves genetic quality in birds
2013-09-04
New research from the University of East Anglia has shown that females can maximise the genetic quality of their offspring by being promiscuous.
Researchers studied red junglefowl (the wild ancestor of the domestic chicken) in a collaborative project with the University of Oxford, Stockholm University and Linköping University.
Findings published today in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B reveal that mating with different males helps females produce offspring that are more resistant to diseases.
This is down to 'cryptic female choice' -- where an internal ...
Frontiers news briefs: Sept. 4
2013-09-04
Frontiers in Physiology
Not a bat choice: echolocation works better than eyesight, even under adequate light
A new study in Frontiers in Physiology shows for the first time that bats catch insects by sonar as it is far more efficient than using vision, even during twilight.
Bats have eyes and may not have evolved their ultrasonic sonar from the earliest time of their existence on earth. Approximately 1000 species of bats use sonar to detect prey, despite showing considerable variation in the preferred size of their prey and their mode of hunting. But why? Many bats ...
Penn develops computer model that will help design flexible touchscreens
2013-09-04
Electronic devices with touchscreens are ubiquitous, and one key piece of technology makes them possible: transparent conductors. However, the cost and the physical limitations of the material these conductors are usually made of are hampering progress toward flexible touchscreen devices.
Fortunately, a research collaboration between the University of Pennsylvania and Duke University has shown a new a way to design transparent conductors using metal nanowires that could enable less expensive — and flexible — touchscreens.
The research was conducted by graduate student ...
NASA satellite sees Tropical Storm Toraji's concentrated center approaching Japan
2013-09-04
A visible image of Tropical Storm Toraji was captured on Sept. 3 at 02:10 UTC/Sept. 2 at 10:10 p.m. is it continued moving north past eastern China and approached southern Japan. The image was taken by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument that flies aboard NASA's Terra satellite. The image showed strong thunderstorms wrapped around the center of the tropical storm. Bands of thunderstorms wrapping into the center from the north extended over Kyushu. Kyushu is the third largest island of Japan and is farthest southwest of Japan's four main ...
From birth to death in 4 days: Kiko now a remnant low
2013-09-04
A lot of things happen over a holiday weekend, and while people in the United States were celebrating Labor Day weekend, the Eastern Pacific Ocean's Tropical Storm Kiko came and went. Satellite data captured Tropical Storm Kiko's birth on Sept. 1 and saw its remnants weakening on Sept. 3. As Kiko dissipates, another low pressure system is forming near the southwestern coast of Mexico.
NOAA's GOES-West satellite captured the life of Kiko from the time it became Tropical Depression 11 on Aug. 31. The depression formed about 500 miles/805 km west-southwest of the southern ...