DIFFERING ASTHMA PREVALENCE IN CHINA

Diet and environmental factors may explain discrepancies in asthma prevalence between children living in different regions of China. In a study of over 10 000 children from the cities of Hong Kong, Beijing, and Guangzhou, those from Hong Kong had a significantly higher prevalence of wheeze than those on the mainland. As the children all share the same genetic background, diet and environmental factors were examined and it was found that risk factors for wheeze included cooking with gas, foam pillows, and damp housing, while cotton quilts and consumption of fruit and raw vegetables were protective factors against wheeze. (

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MENINGOCOCCAL DISEASE AND DEPRIVATION

An association between area deprivation and meningococcal disease (MD) incidence and mortality has been discovered in England. After analysis of the population of children aged under 5 years old with MD as quintiles of area deprivation scores over two time periods (1991–1994 and 1995–1999) it was found that incidence rates increased from 27.4 to 45.4 per 1000 people but mortality remained stable. Incidence rates in the most …