Feature Article

Dengue has become a major public health problem in Sri Lanka with a considerable economic burden.

Increasing evidence from epidemiological studies suggests that maternal exposure to ambient PM2·5 can increase the risk of pregnancy loss. However, no studies have been done in low-income countries such as those in Africa, which have the highest incidences of pregnancy loss.

The objectives of this study were to characterize the emissions of indoor air pollutants from the burning of mosquito coils and cigarettes using a closed environmental chamber, to compare air pollutant emissions from different types of mosquito coils and cigarettes, which are popular in Indian market; to quantify emissions from burning of mosquito coils and cigarettes with respect to particulate matter (PM0.25, PM1.0, PM2.5, and PM10) and metals.

Voluntary, permanent land protection is a key conservation process in many coun-tries. Concerns with the effectiveness of such decentralized processes exist due tothe potential for (1) selection bias, that is, the protection of parcels whose land coverwould have been conserved in the absence of protection, and (2) local spill

The hypothesized link between the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism continues to cause concern and challenge vaccine uptake. The objective of the study was to evaluate whether the MMR vaccine increases the risk for autism in children, subgroups of children, or time periods after vaccination.