Cristina O'Callaghan-Gordo

CREAL Center for Research in Environmental Epidemiology | CREAL

Background The association between air pollution and green spaces with breast cancer risk stratified by menopausal status has not been frequently investigated despite its importance given the different impact of risk factors on breast cancer risk depending on menopausal status. Objectives To study the association between air pollution, green space...

Purpose Mental health conditions may affect outcome of COVID-19 disease, while exposure to stressors during the pandemic may impact mental health. The purpose of this study was to examine these factors in relation to ocurrence of depression and anxiety after the first outbreak in Spain. Methods We contacted 9515 participants from a population-base...

Sparse data exist on the complex natural immunity to SARS-CoV-2 at the population level. We applied a well-validated multiplex serology test in 5000 participants of a general population study in Catalonia in blood samples collected from end June to mid November 2020. Based on responses to fifteen isotype-antigen combinations, we detected a seroprev...

Background: Emerging evidence links ambient air pollution with coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) disease, an association that is methodologically challenging to investigate. Objectives: We examined the association between long-term exposure to air pollution with SARS-CoV-2 infection measured through antibody response, level of antibody response among...

Background Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a leading cause of pediatric death, with >99% of mortality occurring in low- and lower middle-income countries. At least half of RSV-related deaths are estimated to occur in the community, but clinical characteristics of this group of children remain poorly characterized. Methods The RSV Global Onlin...

Background: High blood lead levels (BLLs) have been previously reported in indigenous people living in communities in the northern Peruvian Amazon. Oil extraction activities have been conducted in the area since the 1970s and have been identified as a source of lead exposure. Objective: Measure BLL and assess risk factors associated with BLL amo...

An ongoing epidemic of chronic kidney disease of uncertain etiology (CKDu) afflicts large parts of Central America and is hypothesized to be linked to heat stress at work. Mortality rates from CKDu appear to have increased dramatically since the 1970s. To explore this relationship, we assessed trends in maximum and minimum temperatures during harve...

There is evidence for the influence of socioeconomic status (SES) on healthy behaviours but the effect of social mobility (SM) is not yet well known. This study aims to analyse the influence of origin and destination SES (O-SES and D-SES) and SM on healthy behaviours and co-occurrence, from an integrated gender and age perspective. Data were obtain...

Sparse data exist on the complex natural immunity to SARS-CoV-2 at the population level. We applied a well-validated multiplex serology test in 5000 participants of a general population study in Catalonia in blood samples collected from end June to mid November 2020. We detected a seroprevalence of 18.1% in adults (n=4740), and modeled extrapolatio...

Sparse data exist on the complex natural immunity to SARS-CoV-2 at the population level. We applied a well-validated multiplex serology test in 5000 participants of a general population study in Catalonia in blood samples collected from end June to mid November 2020. Based on responses to fifteen isotype-antigen combinations, we detected a seroprev...

Background Colorectal cancer is the third most frequent tumor in males and the second in females worldwide. In Spain, it is an important and growing health problem, and epidemiologic research focused on potential risk factors, such as environmental exposures, is necessary. Objectives To analyze the association between colorectal cancer risk and re...

Background: Self-reported data about environmental exposures can lead to measurement error. Objectives: To validate the self-reported perception of proximity to industrial facilities. Methods: MCC-Spain is a population-based multicase-control study of cancer in Spain that recruited incident cases of breast, colorectal, prostate, and stomach...

Background: The epidemiological evidence on green spaces and obesity is inconsistent. Objectives: To study the association of access to green spaces and surrounding greenness with obesity in Spain. Methods: We enrolled 2354 individuals 20-85 years from urban areas of seven provinces of Spain between 2008-13. Subjects were randomly selected pop...

Background: Breast cancer is the main cause of cancer mortality among women. Green spaces have been recently associated with reduced cancer mortality among women. Mechanisms explaining the beneficial effect of green spaces include increased levels of physical activity and reduced exposure to air pollution, which have been both associated with canc...

Background: Micronuclei (MN) are biomarkers of early genetic effects that have been used to investigate the association between environmental exposures and cancer. However, few studies have examined the association between environmental exposures during pregnancy and MN in mothers and newborns. Objectives: We examined MN frequency in maternal bl...

We aimed to describe Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PCP) prevalence and features in children from sub-Saharan Africa, and to investigate PCP-associated risk factors. During 2006-2007 we used molecular methods to test children younger than 5 years old admitted with severe pneumonia to a hospital in Southern Mozambique for Pneumocystis infection....

Although association between respiratory syncytial virus infection and later asthma development has been established, little is known about the role of other respiratory viruses. Rhinovirus was considered a mild pathogen of the upper respiratory tract but current evidence suggests that rhinovirus is highly prevalent among children with lower respir...

Objectives: To evaluate the benefits of using procalcitonin (PCT) and C-reactive protein (CRP) as pre-screening tools to predict blood culture positivity among Mozambican children with clinical severe pneumonia (CSP). Methods: 586 children <5 years with CSP and no concurrent malaria fulfilled criteria to be included in the study groups. We deter...

The global burden of disease attributable to seasonal influenza virus in children is unknown. We aimed to estimate the global incidence of and mortality from lower respiratory infections associated with influenza in children younger than 5 years. We estimated the incidence of influenza episodes, influenza-associated acute lower respiratory infectio...

Malaria and severe pneumonia in hospitalized young children may show striking clinical similarities, making differential diagnosis challenging. We investigated ways to increase diagnostic accuracy in patients hospitalized with clinical symptoms compatible with malaria and severe pneumonia, in an area with high a prevalence of infection with human i...

Severe malaria is difficult to differentiate from other forms of malaria or other infections with similar symptoms. Any parameter associated to malaria-attributable severe disease could help to improve severe malaria diagnosis. This study assessed the relation between erythropoietin (EPO) and malaria-attributable severe disease in an area of Mozamb...

To determine the epidemiology and clinical presentation of virus-associated acute respiratory infections (ARI) in Mozambican infants. A systematic selection of nasopharyngeal aspirates (n = 333), collected from infants younger than 12 months who visited Manhiça District Hospital (southern Mozambique) with ARI during a 12 months respiratory syncitia...

The role of viruses in pediatric pneumonia remains poorly studied in sub-Saharan Africa, where pneumonia-associated mortality is high. During a 1-year hospital-based surveillance, a nasopharyngeal aspirate (NPA) was collected from children aged <5 years admitted to hospital in rural Mozambique with clinically severe pneumonia. Identification of 12...

Pneumonia is the major cause of mortality and morbidity in children worldwide. Procalcitonin (PCT) and C-reactive protein (CRP) are used in developed countries to differentiate between viral and bacterial causes of pneumonia. Validity of these markers needs to be further explored in Africa. We assessed the utility of PCT and CRP to differentiate vi...

The in vitro activity of rifaximin against 84 diarrheagenic Escherichia coli and 11 Shigella sonnei causing traveler's diarrhea was evaluated. The MIC of rifaximin ranged between <0.007 and 32 mg/L; other agents tested had an MIC of >256 mg/L in most cases. The results showed the potential use of rifaximin to treat these infections.

Petrol has been extracted from Achuar territory in the Northern Peruvian Amazon since the 1970s. In spite of early identification of negative impacts on the environment and repeated attempts by the Achuar to improve conditions, very little research has been done on specific environmental and health impacts. Some recent governmental studies have sho...