Paternal race/ethnicity and very low birth weight.

BACKGROUND: The purpose was to examine the association between paternal race/ethnicity and very low birth weight stratified by maternal race/ethnicity. METHODS: Birth data for Tarrant County, Texas 2006-2010 were analyzed. Very low birth weight was dichotomized as yes (<1,500 g) and no (≥1,500 g). Paternal race/ethnicity was categorized as Caucasian, African American, Hispanic, other, and missing. Missing observations (14.7%) were included and served as a proxy for fathers absent during pregnancy. Potential confounders included maternal age, education, and marital status, plurality, previous preterm birth, sexually transmitted disease during pregnancy, smoking during pregnancy, and Kotelchuck Index of prenatal care. Logistic regressions were stratified by maternal race/ethnicity. Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were calculated. RESULTS: Of 145,054 births, 60,156 (41.5%) were Caucasian, 22,306 (15.4%) African American, 54,553 (37.6%) Hispanic, and 8,039 (5.5%) other mothers. There were 2,154 (1.5%) very low birth weights total, with 3.1% for African American mothers and 1.2% for all other race/ethnicities. Among Caucasian mothers, African American paternal race was associated with increased odds of very low birth weight (OR = 1.52; 95% CI:1.08-2.14). Among Hispanic mothers, African American paternal race (OR = 1.66; 95% CI:1.01-2.74) and missing paternal race/ethnicity (OR = 1.65; 95% CI:1.15-2.36) were associated with increased odds of very low birth weight. CONCLUSIONS: Paternal race/ethnicity is an important predictor of very low birth weight among Caucasian and Hispanic mothers. Future research should consider paternal race/ethnicity and further explore the association between paternal characteristics and very low birth weight.

Outbreak of cryptosporidiosis associated with a man-made chlorinated lake--Tarrant County, Texas, 2008.

In July 2008, clusters of laboratory-confirmed cryptosporidiosis cases and reports of gastrointestinal illness in persons who visited a lake were reported to Tarrant County Public Health. In response, epidemiologic, laboratory, and environmental health investigations were initiated. A matched case-control study determined that swallowing the lake water was associated with illness (adjusted odds ratio = 16.3; 95% confidence interval: 2.5-infinity). The environmental health investigation narrowed down the potential sources of contamination. Laboratory testing detected Cryptosporidium hominis in case-patient stool specimens and Cryptosporidium species in lake water. It was only through the joint effort that epidemiologic, laboratory, and environmental health investigators could determine that >1 human diarrheal fecal incidents in the lake likely led to contamination of the water. This same collaborative effort will be needed to develop and maintain an effective national Model Aquatic Health Code.

Most highly exposed seronegative men lack HIV-1-specific, IFN-gamma-secreting T cells.

Naturally acquired cellular immunity in individuals who have been exposed to HIV-1 but have remained uninfected may hold clues for the design of an effective HIV vaccine. To determine the presence and nature of such an HIV-1-specific immune response, we evaluated the quantity and fine specificity of HIV-1-reactive IFN-gamma-secreting T cells in a group of highly exposed seronegative men having sex with men. All 46 ES reported frequent unprotected anal sex with known HIV-1-infected partners at enrollment, and high risk activities continued in at least one-half of the volunteers for up to >6 years of observation. Despite the high frequency of unprotected anal intercourse and potential HIV-1 exposure, the vast majority of individuals demonstrated no or very low numbers of HIV-1-specific, IFN-gamma-secreting T cells. Even when HIV-1 epitopes were presented by peptide-pulsed autologous dendritic cells in 15 of the highest risk volunteers, HIV-1-specific T cells remained infrequent, and the proportion of responders was not significantly different from that in a lower risk seronegative control cohort. Only PBMC from two individuals who have remained uninfected to date exhibited distinctly positive responses. However, these responses rarely persisted over time, single epitope specificities were identified in only one volunteer, and HIV-1-specific memory T cell clones did not expand in vitro. HIV-1-specific, IFN-gamma-secreting T cells are thus unlikely to substantially contribute to resistance against infection in most exposed seronegative men having sex with men.