Canadian community sees significant decline in proportion of male births
http://www.ohcow.on.ca/enews/vol1iss3/births.html
After the community expressed concerns about an apparent decrease in male births, researchers analyzed live birth records from 1984 to 2003. They discovered that from 1984 to 1993, the community's sex ratio was stable and within expected parameters. But starting in 1994, the percentage of male births began to decline sharply, and the significant drop-off continued through 2003.
Sex ratio-the proportions of male and female births within a population-is a key indicator of the reproductive health of a population. Worldwide, between 50.4% and 51.9% of births are males, and this percentage is typically very stable. For Canada it is generally reported that 51.2% of births are male. In the 10-year period from 1994 to 2003, the proportion of male births in the Aamjiwnaang community steadily declined, accounting for only 41.2% of births. In the five years from 1999 to 2003, the decline was even more pronounced, totaling only 34.8% of births.
"Although normal variation in sex ratio can be expected in any population, especially with a small sample size, the extent of the sex ratio deviation appears to be outside the range of normal," the study authors write.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/08/31/1093938924785.html
Silent epidemic threatens fertility By Ruth Pollard, Health Reporter
September 1, 2004
The sexually transmitted infection chlamydia is the most reported notifiable disease in Australia, renewing debate about the need for mass screenings to avert what some experts describe as a silent epidemic of infertility.
More than 30,000 people were diagnosed with chlamydia last year, more than double the rate of four years earlier, according to the annual surveillance report released yesterday by the National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research.
Fearing this high rate could seriously lower fertility rates and endanger the health of newborns, sexual health specialists, including Basil Donovan of the Sydney University School of Public Health, are advocating the mass screening of young women
http://www.aaos.org/news/aaosnow/may08/research1_f2.pdf
Prevalence of MRSA
The number of hospital admissions for MRSA has exploded in the past decade. By 2005, admissions were triple the number in 2000 and 10-fold higher than in 1995 (see Fig. 2). In 2005 in the United States alone, 368,600 hospital admissions for MRSA—including 94,000 invasive infections—resulted in 18,650 deaths. The number of MRSA fatalities in 2005 surpassed the number of fatalities from hurricane Katrina and AIDS combined and is substantially higher than fatalities at the peak of the U. S. polio epidemic.
The statistics for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) speak for themselves. From 1999 through 2005, infections outside the lungs or blood tripled.
Locations where the five Cs are common include schools, dormitories, military barracks, households, correctional facilities, and daycare centers. Comparisons between CA-MRSA and HA-MRSA are shown in Table 1.
In 2004, in their first report since 40 years on road traffic injury prevention, the World Health Organization stated in reaction to the current enormous rates of incidence:
What is worse, without increased efforts and new initiatives, the total number of road traffic deaths and injuries is forecast to rise by some 65% between 2000 and 2010, and in low-income and middle-income countries deaths are expected to rise by as much as 80% (WHO, 2004a, p.3).