National Family Health Surveys (NFHS), the Indian counterpart of Demographic and Health Surveys, are the most recognized surveys in India and provide reliable measures of RCH indicators. But NFHS-3 figures on full immunization coverage rate for the state of Andhra Pradesh (AP) is very low compared with seven other major surveys on immunization carried out around the same time period.

The objective is to analyse factors responsible for low full-immunization coverage rate reported by NFHS-3 in AP. Data from three waves of NFHS and other surveys on immunization were used for analysis.

Although full immunization coverage rate did not increase, other related indicators have shown an improvement between the second and third waves of NFHS. The full immunization coverage rate was significantly higher among card seen category as compared with card not seen category.

Low full immunization coverage rate in AP as reported by NFHS-3, in all likelihood cannot be totally attributed to poor performance of the immunization programme. Probable reasons are issues related to methodological and logistic processes in NFHS, which include collection of data from a wider age group, differences in data collection methods, commitment levels and skill sets of investigator, fatigue factor and low percentage of cards seen by investigator.

Active smoking is a recognized risk factor for stroke. We determined the evidence for an association with secondhand smoke exposure.

A systematic review was undertaken according to PRISMA guidelines. Random effects meta-analysis provided a pooled estimate of risk, and heterogeneity quantified using I² values. Potential publication and study bias were assessed using a funnel plot and Egger's test. Meta-regression analyses were used to investigate sources of heterogeneity.

The 20 eligible studies provided 35 estimates of risk derived from 885 307 participants, of whom 5894 (0.7%) suffered a stroke. The pooled estimate of risk was 1.25 (95% CI: 1.12–1.38) with no evidence of significant publication or small-study bias. There was moderate heterogeneity (I² = 54.2%, P < 0.001) but no study characteristics were statistically significant in the meta-regression analysis. There was a non-linear dose relationship. The relative risk increased from 1.16 (95% CI: 1.06–1.27) for exposure to 5 cigarettes/day to 1.56 (95% CI: 1.25–1.96) for exposure to 40 cigarettes/day.

There is evidence of a strong, consistent and dose-dependent association between exposure to secondhand smoke and risk of stroke, suggestive of a causal relationship, with disproportionately high risk at low levels of exposure suggesting no safe lower limit of exposure.

This is an ecological study that examines the relationship between antiviral drug collection during the 2009/2010 A/H1N1 influenza pandemic, and area-level ethnicity, socioeconomic deprivation and distance from an antiviral collection point (ACP).

Age-standardized antiviral collection rates (ACR) were calculated for each super output area (geographic areas representing a population of ~1500) in Sandwell, UK for all residents who received an antiviral drug for influenza-like illness between 23 July 2009 and 7 February 2010. Multivariable regression was used to examine the relationship between ACR and ethnicity (percentage population non-white), socioeconomic deprivation (index of multiple deprivation, IMD) and distance from an ACP.

Socioeconomic deprivation, ethnicity and distance from an ACP were independently associated with a reduction in ACR. Each one-point increase in the IMD score was associated with a drop in the ACR of 15.7 prescriptions per 100 000 population (P= 0.013).

Socioeconomic deprivation, ethnicity and distance from an ACP may have influenced health-seeking behaviour during the 2009/2010 influenza pandemic. This suggests possible inequalities in access to antivirals during the most recent influenza pandemic. Qualitative research is needed to examine the reasons for this. Individual-level data on ethnicity should be routinely collected in the event of a future pandemic.

Media reports of suicide may provoke further ‘copy-cat’ suicides. Trends in reporting quality and impact of reporting on suicides from a particular ‘hot-spot’ have not been investigated previously.

Inquest files and death certificates were used to identify suicides from Clifton Suspension Bridge, Bristol, UK, 1974–2007. Copies of local newspaper and television reports within 3 days of death or inquest were obtained. Parametric survival models were used to examine the impact of media reports on subsequent suicides.

Over 34 years, there were 206 suicides and 427 media reports of suicide from the bridge. The number of reports per suicide has declined markedly from 2.8 per suicide in the 1970s to 0.7 per suicide in the 2000s (P<0.001). While some aspects of reporting improved, others deteriorated or remained poorly reported. There has been an increase in sensational reporting (use of images was 5% in the 1970s and 16% in the 2000s) and in information about the suicide method. There was no evidence that media reports provoked further suicides.

Media reporting of suicide from Clifton Suspension Bridge declined over the study period; however, most aspects of the quality of reporting remained poor. There was no evidence of media reports provoking further suicides.