Riku Erkkola

Background: Wheezing illnesses, especially those triggered by rhinovirus infection, cause a major disease burden, and they often precede asthma. Environmental exposures are known to affect recurrence of wheezing. We investigated the relations of population density, greenness (forested areas), and socioeconomic factors of the living surroundings to the burden of asthma in children with prior bronchiolitis. Methods: Three hundred and ninety‐four children, aged 0–24 months, with doctor‐diagnosed bronchiolitis were enrolled in the MARC‐30 Finland study. We assessed the children's early‐life exposures to greenness and socioeconomic factors using time‐series of Corine Land Cover data and Statistics Finland's grid data. We compared the living surroundings data to the prescription drug purchases and special asthma reimbursement benefits until the age 8 years; asthma data were from the Social Insurance Institution of Finland. Results: Children living in sparsely populated areas had lighter asthma disease burden than children living in densely populated ones, with burden measured in median bronchodilator (50DDD [defined daily dose] vs. 104DDD, p = 0.02) and inhaled corticosteroid (0DDD vs. 123DDD, p = 0.04) purchases. In the subgroup of children with rhinovirus‐induced bronchiolitis, children living in more forested areas developed asthma 10 months later than those with less forested areas ( p = 0.04). Neighborhood socioeconomic characteristics were not associated with differences in asthma burden. Conclusions: Sparsely populated areas and forested environments seem to have a beneficial association with children's respiratory health. These findings warrant further studies on the protective health effects of greenness and the type of biodiversity around homes.

Background: Rhinovirus is the most common virus causing respiratory tract illnesses in children. Rhinoviruses are classified into species A, B and C. We examined the associations between different rhinovirus species and respiratory illness severity. Methods: This is a retrospective observational cohort study on confirmed rhinovirus infections in 134 children 3–23 months of age, who were enrolled in 2 prospective studies on bronchiolitis and acute otitis media, respectively, conducted simultaneously in Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland, between September 2007 and December 2008. Results: Rhinovirus C is the most prevalent species in our study, and it was associated with severe wheezing and febrile illness. We also noted that history of atopic eczema was associated with wheezing. Conclusions: Our understanding of rhinovirus C as the most pathogenic rhinovirus species was fortified. Existing research supports the idea that atopic characteristics are associated with the severity of the rhinovirus C-induced illness.

Objective: An epidemiological survey was carried out in Finland to establish the performance of the levonorgestrel intrauterine system (LNG-IUS) in a large population of women regularly using the system for contraception.Study design: All women who had LNG-IUS inserted between 1990 and 1993 were sent a questionnaire with questions about general health status, reproductive and contraceptive history and gynecological problems and a set of questions about their experience on the LNG-IUS.Results: The women who had a LNG-IUS inserted between April 1990 and December 1993 were asked to participate in an epidemiological survey. At the insertion visit, the women were asked to fill in a questionnaire, to consent to further use of the information by signing their initials and to return the questionnaire to the manufacturer. The number of returned forms was 23,885. The names and addresses of these women were acquired from the National Register and a questionnaire with 75 questions was sent to them. Of the questionnai...