The Omicron SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern (VOC lineage B.1.1.529), which became dominant in many countries during early 2022, includes several subvariants with strikingly different genetic characteristics. Several countries, including Denmark, have observed the two Omicron subvariants: BA.1 and BA.2. In Denmark the latter has rapidly replaced the former as the dominant subvariant. Based on nationwide Danish data, we estimate the transmission dynamics of BA.1 and BA.2 following the spread of Omicron VOC within Danish households in late December 2021 and early January 2022. Among 8,541 primary household cases, of which 2,122 were BA.2, we identified a total of 5,702 secondary infections among 17,945 potential secondary cases during a 1-7 day follow-up period. The secondary attack rate (SAR) was estimated as 29% and 39% in households infected with Omicron BA.1 and BA.2, respectively. We found BA.2 to be associated with an increased susceptibility of infection for unvaccinated individuals (Odds Ratio (OR) 2.19; 95%-CI 1.58-3.04), fully vaccinated individuals (OR 2.45; 95%-CI 1.77-3.40) and booster-vaccinated individuals (OR 2.99; 95%-CI 2.11-4.24), compared to BA.1. We also found an increased transmissibility from unvaccinated primary cases in BA.2 households when compared to BA.1 households, with an OR of 2.62 (95%-CI 1.96-3.52). The pattern of increased transmissibility in BA.2 households was not observed for fully vaccinated and booster-vaccinated primary cases, where the OR of transmission was below 1 for BA.2 compared to BA.1. We conclude that Omicron BA.2 is inherently substantially more transmissible than BA.1, and that it also possesses immune-evasive properties that further reduce the protective effect of vaccination against infection, but do not increase its transmissibility from vaccinated individuals with breakthrough infections.

The Omicron variant of concern (VOC) is a rapidly spreading variant of SARS-CoV-2 that is likely to overtake the previously dominant Delta VOC in many countries by the end of 2021. We estimated the transmission dynamics following the spread of Omicron VOC within Danish households during December 2021. We used data from Danish registers to estimate the household secondary attack rate (SAR). Among 11,937 households (2,225 with the Omicron VOC), we identified 6,397 secondary infections during a 1-7 day follow-up period. The SAR was 31\% and 21\% in households with the Omicron and Delta VOC, respectively. We found an increased transmission for unvaccinated individuals, and a reduced transmission for booster-vaccinated individuals, compared to fully vaccinated individuals. Comparing households infected with the Omicron to Delta VOC, we found an 1.17 (95\%-CI: 0.99-1.38) times higher SAR for unvaccinated, 2.61 times (95\%-CI: 2.34-2.90) higher for fully vaccinated and 3.66 (95\%-CI: 2.65-5.05) times higher for booster-vaccinated individuals, demonstrating strong evidence of immune evasiveness of the Omicron VOC. Our findings confirm that the rapid spread of the Omicron VOC primarily can be ascribed to the immune evasiveness rather than an inherent increase in the basic transmissibility.

Maternal educational level was the strongest predictor of preterm birth among five socioeconomic measures and the gradient did not differ significantly according to the degree of preterm birth. For parous women smoking explained some of the educational gradient but in general the selected risk factors only reduced the relative educational gradient in preterm birth marginally.

Context Lower cognitive ability is a risk factor for some forms of psychopathology, but much of the evidence for risk is based on individuals who required specialist care. It is unclear whether lower ability influences the risk of particular patterns of comorbidity. Objective To examine the relation between premorbid cognitive ability in early adulthood and the risk of major depression, generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), alcohol and other drug abuse or dependence, and comorbid forms of these conditions in midlife. Design Prospective cohort study in which cognitive ability was measured on enlistment into military service at a mean age of 20.4 years and psychiatric disorder was assessed by structured diagnostic interview at a mean age of 38.3 years. Setting The United States. Participants A total of 3258 male veterans, participants in the Vietnam Experience Study. Main Outcome Measures Major depression, GAD, PTSD, and alcohol or other drug abuse or dependence since enlistment and currently, diagnosed according to the DSM-III. Results Lower cognitive ability was associated with an increased risk of depression, GAD, alcohol abuse or dependence, and PTSD and with some patterns of comorbidity. For a 1-SD decrease in cognitive ability, unadjusted odds ratios (95% confidence interval) for having these disorders currently were 1.32 (1.12–1.56) for depression, 1.43 (1.27–1.64) for GAD, 1.20 (1.08–1.35) for alcohol abuse or dependence, 1.39 (1.18–1.67) for PTSD, 2.50 (1.41–4.55) for PTSD plus GAD, 2.17 (1.47–3.22) for PTSD plus GAD plus depression, and 2.77 (1.12–6.66) for all 4 disorders. Most associations remained statistically significant after adjustment for confounders. Conclusions Lower cognitive ability is a risk factor for several specific psychiatric disorders, including some forms of comorbidity. Understanding the mechanisms whereby ability is linked to individual patterns of psychopathology may inform intervention.

Objective: To examine the role of potential mediating factors in explaining the IQ-mortality relation. Design, setting and participants: A total of 4316 male former Vietnam-era US army personnel with IQ test results at entry into the service in late adolescence/early adulthood in the 1960/1970s (mean age at entry 20.4 years) participated in a telephone survey and medical examination in middle age (mean age 38.3 years) in 1985-6. They were then followed up for mortality experience for 15 years. Main results: In age-adjusted analyses, higher IQ scores were associated with reduced rates of total mortality (hazard ratio (HR) per SD increase in IQ 0.71; 95% CI 0.63 to 0.81). This relation did not appear to be heavily confounded by early socioeconomic position or ethnicity. The impact of adjusting for some potentially mediating risk indices measured in middle age on the IQ-mortality relation (marital status, alcohol consumption, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, pulse rate, blood glucose, body mass index, psychiatric and somatic illness at medical examination) was negligible (,10% attenuation in risk). Controlling for others (cigarette smoking, lung function) had a modest impact (10-17%). Education (0.79; 0.69 to 0.92), occupational prestige (0.77; 0.68 to 0.88) and income (0.86; 0.75 to 0.98) yielded the greatest attenuation in the IQ-mortality gradient (21-52%); after their collective adjustment, the IQ-mortality link was effectively eliminated (0.92; 0.79 to 1.07). Conclusions: In this cohort, socioeconomic position in middle age might lie on the pathway linking earlier IQ with later mortality risk but might also partly act as a surrogate for cognitive ability.Higher mental ability (denoted here as IQ) in childhood and early adulthood is inversely associated with all-cause mortality rates in populations followed for up to six decades.1 That is, high IQ test scores seem to confer protection against premature death. Importantly, the fact that IQ is measured in the first two decades of life in these studies, and is therefore likely to be pre-morbid, suggests that the IQ-mortality gradient is unlikely to be explained by reverse causality whereby comorbidity, rather than low cognitive function, is generating the relation.Despite several reports of this IQ-mortality association appearing in the past five years, 1 important questions remain. In particular, given that the IQ-mortality association does not seem to be explained by selection bias, statistical chance or confounding by early life factors, 1 particularly socioeconomic position, there has been debate regarding the mechanisms that might underpin this gradient. 2 3 One of the most persuasive is that the IQ-mortality gradient is mediated by established behavioural, biological, socioeconomic and psychological risk factors for premature mortality. A strong prima facie for this explanation can be found in a series of studies of populations followed into middle age showing that higher earlier IQ test scores are associated with a lower prevalence of obesity...

Research Methods and Procedures:Using data from four follow-ups of the University of North Carolina Alumni Heart Study, we examined the prospective associations between BMI and sedentary lifestyle in a cohort of 4595 middle-aged men and women who had responded to questionnaires at the ages of 41 (standard deviation 2.3), 44 (2.3), 46 (2.0), and 54 (2.0). Results: BMI was consistently related to increased risk of becoming sedentary in both men and women. The odds ratios of becoming sedentary as predicted by BMI were 1.04 (95% confidence limits, 1.00, 1.07) per 1 kg/m 2 from ages 41 to 44, 1.10 (1.07, 1.14) from ages 44 to 46, and 1.12 (1.08, 1.17) from ages 46 to 54. Controlling for concurrent changes in BMI marginally attenuated the effects. Sedentary lifestyle did not predict changes in BMI, except when concurrent changes in physical activity were taken into account (p Ͻ 0.001). The findings were not confounded by preceding changes in BMI or physical activity, age, smoking habits, or sex. Discussion: Our findings suggest that a high BMI is a determinant of a sedentary lifestyle but did not provide unambiguous evidence for an effect of sedentary lifestyle on weight gain.

Aims/hypothesis We examined the relationship between pre-morbid intelligence quotient (IQ) and the metabolic syndrome, and assessed the role of the metabolic syndrome as a mediating factor in the association of IQ with total and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality. Methods In this cohort study, 4,157 men with IQ test results from late adolescence or early adulthood [mean age (range) 20.4 (16-30) years] attended a clinical examination in middle-age [38.3 (31-46) years] at which the components of the metabolic syndrome were measured. They were then followed for 15 years to assess mortality. Results In age-adjusted analyses, IQ was significantly inversely related to four of the five individual components comprising the metabolic syndrome: hypertension, high BMI, high triglycerides and high blood glucose, but not low HDLcholesterol. After controlling for a range of covariates that included socioeconomic position, higher IQ scores were associated with a reduced prevalence of the metabolic syndrome itself (odds ratio 1 SD increase in IQ 0.87, 95% CI 0.78-0.98). Structural equation modelling revealed that education was not a mediator of the relationship between IQ and the metabolic syndrome. The metabolic syndrome partially mediated the relationship between IQ and CVD but not that between IQ and total mortality. Conclusions/interpretation In this cohort, higher scores on a pre-morbid IQ test were associated with a lower prevalence of the metabolic syndrome and most of its components. The metabolic syndrome was a mediating variable in the IQ-CVD relationship. Diabetologia (2008) 51:436-443

The economic recession in Denmark in the 1980s was concurrent with an increase in disparities in fetal growth, whereas the economic recession in Finland and Sweden in the early 1990s did not substantially increase the socioeconomic inequality in fetal growth. The economic growth in the later part of the 1990s may have diminished the socioeconomic inequality in fetal growth in Finland, Norway, and Sweden.