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The purpose of this study is to explore the use of the scan test to detect temporal clustering of poison control center data. We applied the scan test to a computerized data set consisting of all cases of carbon monoxide poisoning reported to our Poison Control Center in 1988. Using a time window of three days, the scan test identified three statistically significant temporal clusters. A review of case and climatologic data revealed that two of the clusters were due to family outbreaks and one was due to a sudden cold spell. We conclude that the scan test is a potentially useful surveillance tool which can be easily applied to poison control center data.

The fertile years have not been prolonged in the cohort of women whose life expectancy has increased so dramatically this century. This suggests that reproductive senescence is tightly controlled and not extended by factors that enhance female longevity. Other physiological mechanisms may also be fixed within narrow age limits.

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