On top of the unfinished agenda of infectious diseases in low- and middle-income countries, development, industrialization, urbanization, investment, and aging are drivers of an epidemic of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). Malnutrition and infection in early life increase the risk of chronic NCDs in later life, and in adult life, combinations of major NCDs and infections, such as diabetes and t...

Coxiella burnetii and Atypical Respiratory Infectious Burden in Stroke To the Editor: We have previously reported the seroprevalence of 3 common atypical respiratory pathogens, Chlamydia pneumoniae, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, and Legionella pneumophila, in casecontrol studies involving an elderly cohort of stroke/transient ischemic attack (TIA) and medical patients.1 We concluded that the risk of s...

BACKGROUND A recent study concluded that between 1980 and 1992, deaths from infectious diseases increased 58%. This article explores trends in infectious diseases as a cause of hospitalization. METHODS We analyzed data from the National Hospitalization Discharge Survey for 1980 through 1994 using a previously developed approach to evaluate infectious diseases in data coded according to the In...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Recent findings suggest a causative role of infections in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. The extent of atherosclerosis and the prognosis of patients with atherosclerosis seem to be increased by the number of infections to which an individual has been exposed. In a prospective study, we evaluated the effect of 8 pathogens and the aggregate pathogen burden on the prog...

A few years ago, I was at an event where the CEO of a coal company was giving the keynote extolling the virtues of ‘‘green coal’’. The crux of his argument was that restrictions on carbon emissions from fossil fuels to generate electricity would in fact be quite detrimental, particularly to the world’s poorest people. He backed this up by showing positive correlations between the per capita ele...

OBJECTIVES To present evidence to support a higher priority for injury prevention in initiatives, research, and budget allocations. METHODS Recent data (2000) for deaths from injury, infectious disease, heart disease, and cancer from 11 countries in the Region of the Americas were analyzed. Analyses focused on: first, Potentially Productive Years of Life Lost (PPYLL, discounted) from deaths o...

BACKGROUND Mental and substance use disorders are common and often persistent, with many emerging in early life. Compared to adult mental and substance use disorders, the global burden attributable to these disorders in children and youth has received relatively little attention. METHOD Data from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010 was used to investigate the burden of mental and substanc...