Little is known about the prevalence of mucosal antibodies induced by infection with human coronaviruses (HCoV), including HCoV-229E and -OC43 and recently described strains (HCoV-NL63 and -HKU1). By enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, we measured anti-HCoV IgG antibodies in serum and IgA antibodies in nasal wash specimens collected at seven U.S. sites from 105 adults aged 50 years and older (mean age, 67 ؎ 9 years) with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Coronaviruses comprise a genus of the family Coronaviridae and are enveloped, single-stranded, positive-sense RNA viruses (30). Four human coronavirus (HCoV) strains have been described, which are associated with a spectrum of disease, from mild, febrile upper respiratory tract illnesses to severe illnesses, including croup, bronchiolitis, and pneumonia, and have a wide geographic distribution (1, 2, 6, 7, 9-14, 16, 20, 25, 26, 31, 32, 35, 39-46). HCoV infection has been a contributor to severe illnesses requiring emergency care and hospitalization of patients with chronic medical conditions (7,9,12,15,16,21,22).The earliest-described HCoV strains, HCoV-229E and HCoV-OC43, which are group I and group II coronaviruses, respectively, have now been joined by the more recently described group I and II strains HCoV-NL63 and HCoV-HKU1 (13,30,42,45,46), which were discovered in the search for other pathogenic coronaviruses after the identification of the coronavirus that causes severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) (29). HCoV-NL63 may have infected human populations for a long time, since it diverged phylogenetically from HCoV-229E about 1,000 years ago (33), and seroprevalence would likely be high as a result. Cross-sectional and longitudinal seroepidemiological studies have found large proportions of children and healthy adults to have detectable serum antibodies to the four HCoV strains, and seroconversion occurs often in childhood; seroprevalence increases with age, and reinfections may occur (5,8,23,28,(36)(37)(38). More information is needed about the seroprevalence of these viruses, the durability of the humoral immune response, correlates of immunity, and mucosal antibody responses to HCoV infection. The present study questioned whether the prevalence of antibodies to the four HCoV strains would be different in nasal secretions than in serum of older adult veterans with underlying chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who participated in Department of Veterans Affairs Cooperative Study 448 (18). MATERIALS AND METHODSSubjects. A convenience sample of 105 patients who met spirometric criteria for COPD and were enrolled in a larger influenza virus vaccine efficacy trial of patients Ն50 years of age (18) were chosen for analysis in this substudy of the prevalence of antibodies to HCoV, because residual serum and nasal wash specimens collected at the same time for each subject were available for analysis. The 105 subjects were enrolled at seven geographically diverse study sites in the United States, located in the following states: Alabama, Florida,...

The frequencies of HCoV and LDI illnesses were similar. HCoV illness was less severe than LDI illness, was accompanied by multiple respiratory and systemic symptoms, and was associated with hospitalization.

A nested case-control study was conducted to investigate whether an excess of pancreatic cancer, identified in a cohort mortality study with follow-up from 1946 through 1988, was associated with potential workplace exposures at a New Jersey plastics manufacturing and research and development facility. The study population included 28 male pancreatic cancer cases and 140 randomly selected controls, matched on year of birth and at risk (alive) at the time of the case death. Using plant work history records, department assignments for the two groups were compared according to duration and time since first assignment. Workers assigned to a work area that processed vinyl resins and polyethylene (PE) were shown to be at increased risk. Men assigned more than 16 years to this department had a significantly increased risk ratio of 7.15 (95% confidence intervals [CI]: 1.28-40.1). No excess was seen with shorter duration assignments. Seven of the nine cases began working in this area in the 1940s. Average latency was 32 years, and all but three cases worked 20 years or more in this unit. Over the study period, significant exposure-related process changes occurred, in addition to the use of numerous chemical additives. Although vinyl and PE processing operations could not be analyzed separately, the pancreatic cancer excess is more likely to be related to vinyl processing. Identification of a causative agent or combination of agents would require investigations with more detailed exposure information.

Men assigned to units producing ethylene oxide by the chlorohydrin or direct oxidation processes and to other departments using ethylene oxide in two chemical plants were followed up for mortality from 1940 to 1988 (n = 1896). Based on findings from a previous study of these workers to the end of 1978, which identified confounding exposures, workers assigned to one unit with low ethylene oxide exposure potential were excluded (n = 278). Average duration of exposure was over five years and average follow up was 27 years, with all subjects at least 10 years from first exposure. The data did not support associations of ethylene oxide with all cancer types combined, leukaemia, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, or brain, pancreatic, or stomach cancers. There were also no duration-response trends. The standardised mortality ratio (SMR) for total cancer was 86 (95% confidence interval 71-104) and did not increase for those hired the earliest and with long duration assignments. The results of this 10 year update and those of other recent studies of ethylene oxide workers do not confirm findings from animal studies and are not consistent with the earliest results reported among ethylene oxide workers. (British J'ournal ofIndustrial Medicine 1993;50:704-709) Ethylene oxide is a reactive epoxide expressing genotoxic activity both in in vivo and in vitro Health, Safety and Environment, P-2, Union Carbide Corporation, 39 Old Ridgebury Road,

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