Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) blood stream infection (BSI) is a major healthcare burden in some but not all healthcare settings, and it is associated with 10%-20% mortality. The introduction of mandatory reporting in England of MRSA BSI in 2001 was followed in 2004 by the setting of target reductions for all National Health Service hospitals. The original national target of...

Insurance fraud, which adds an estimated $85 billion per year to the total insurance bill in the United States, is an extremely serious problem for consumers, regulators, and insurance companies. This paper analyzes the effects of state legislation and market conditions on automobile insurance fraud from 1988 to 1999, a period exhibiting a substantial increase in the enactment of antifraud legi...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the quality of data from the Brazilian information system for mandatory reporting diseases, for the detection of cases notified as suspected dengue fever and hospitalized in the public and private hospitals associated to the Public Health System. METHODS The study was carried out in Belo Horizonte, Southeastern Brazil, during the years of 1996 to June 2002. The criterion...

BACKGROUND Despite growing public concern about child maltreatment, the scope and severity of this significant public health issue remains poorly understood. This article examines the nature and severity of the physical harm associated with reports of child maltreatment documented in the Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect (CIS). METHODS The CIS collected information ...

OBJECTIVE To describe the incidence and patterns of sports and recreation related injuries resulting in inpatient hospitalization in Wisconsin. Although much sports and recreation related injury research has focused on the emergency department setting, little is known about the scope or characteristics of more severe sports injuries resulting in hospitalization. SETTING The Wisconsin Bureau o...