Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Effectiveness Of Germicidal Uv Radiation For Reducing Fungal Contamination Within Air Handling Units, E Levetin, R Shaughnessy, Christine A. Rogers, R Scheir

Christine A. Rogers

Levels of fungi growing on insulation within air-handling units (AHUs) in an office building and levels of airborne fungi within AHUs were measured before the use of germicidal UV light and again after 4 months of operation. The fungal levels following UV operation were significantly lower than the levels in control AHUs.

Does Bicycling Contribute To The Risk Of Erectile Dysfunction? Results From The Massachusetts Male Aging Study (Mmas), L Marceau, Kenneth Kleinman, I Goldstein, J Mckinlay

Public Health Department Faculty Publication Series

An association between bicycling and erectile dysfunction (ED) has been described previously, but there are limited data examining this association in a random population of men. Such data would incorporate bicyclists with varied types of riding and other factors. Data from the Massachusetts Male Aging Study (MMAS) were utilized to examine the association between bicycling and ED. Logistic regression was used to test for an association, controlling for age, energy expenditure, smoking, depression and chronic illness. Bicycling less than 3 h per week was not associated with ED and may be somewhat protective. Bicycling 3 h or more per week …

Using Automated Medical Records For Rapid Identification Of Illness Syndromes (Syndromic Surveillance): The Example Of Lower Respiratory Infection, Kenneth Kleinman, Ross Lazarus, Inna Dashevsky, Alfred Demaria, Richard Platt

Public Health Department Faculty Publication Series

Background

Gaps in disease surveillance capacity, particularly for emerging infections and bioterrorist attack, highlight a need for efficient, real time identification of diseases.

Methods

We studied automated records from 1996 through 1999 of approximately 250,000 health plan members in greater Boston.

Results

We identified 152,435 lower respiratory infection illness visits, comprising 106,670 episodes during 1,143,208 person-years. Three diagnoses, cough (ICD9CM 786.2), pneumonia not otherwise specified (ICD9CM 486) and acute bronchitis (ICD9CM 466.0) accounted for 91% of these visits, with expected age and sex distributions. Variation of weekly occurrences corresponded closely to national pneumonia and influenza mortality data. There was substantial …