A Study of Illness in a Group of Cleveland Families

Acute respiratory illness in the community. Frequency of illness and the agents involved

“…Sparing of the under 1 year age group, because of lower rates in the first 6 months of life, is in keeping with the known role of maternal antibody in preventing infection in very young children; this has been clearly documented with RS and certain parainfluenza viruses [12,26]. It is also in keeping with the findings of the Cleveland Family Study, one of the few investigations with enough observations for this phenomenon to be recognized [4]. The overall differences in illness frequency between adult men and women have been reported before.…”

“…The most far-reaching change in mortality took place in the first half of this century, when deaths from acute respiratory illness gradually decreased until they nearly disappeared, except in recognized high-risk segments of the population, such as the elderly and very young; similar changes are now beginning to occur in the developing world [1,2]. However, morbidity associated with respiratory illnesses continues to be a major A. S. MONTO AND K. M. SULLIVAN societal burden [3,4]. Vaccination would be an attractive control measure, but the large number of serologically distinct aetiologic agents involved suggests that this approach will not generally be applicable, given current technology [5,6].…”

Register of newly diagnosed diabetic children.

“…Infections are probably the factors most likely to be responsible because of their seasonal prevalence; indeed there is a remarkable similarity between the seasonal pattern of juvenile diabetes and the seasonal pattern of infections of childhood. 13 Most of these infections are minor respiratory illnesses, and it seems unlikely that they would cause diabetes though they might constitute a stress factor sufficient to precipitate overt diabetes in patients who had previously sustained islet cell damage. Alternatively, diabetes may result from virus infections that specifically damage the islet cells, in which case the seasonal pattern of diabetes could reflect that of aetiological virus infections.…”

The common cold, allergy, and cancer

“…Studies of frequency of common colds using diary records or frequent physical examinations have widely differing results. Lidwell & Williams (1961) in their study of office workers suggested an average of 2 colds per year whereas Dingle et al (1953) found 6 episodes of respiratory disease per person per year. Tyrrell (1965) suggests that this latter figure may be inflated by the definition of a common cold used and the fact that many of the families studied contained young children.…”