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Observational studies suggest that people with a high serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) concentration may have reduced risk of chronic diseases such as osteoporosis, multiple sclerosis, type 1 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and some cancers. The AusD Study (A Quantitative Assessment of Solar UV Exposure for Vitamin D Synthesis in Australian Adults) was conducted to clarify the relationships between ultraviolet (UV) radiation exposure, dietary intake of vitamin D, and serum 25(OH)D concentration among Australian adults residing in Townsville (19.3°S), Brisbane (27.5°S), Canberra (35.3°S), and Hobart (42.8°S). Participants aged 18–75 years were recruited from the Australian Electoral Roll between 2009 and 2010. Measurements were made of height, weight, waist:hip ratio, skin, hair, and eye color, blood pressure, and grip strength. Participants completed a questionnaire on sun exposure and vitamin D intake, together with 10 days of personal UV dosimetry and an associated sun-exposure and physical-activity diary that was temporally linked to a blood test for measurement of 25(OH)D concentration. Ambient solar UV radiation was also monitored at all study sites. We collected comprehensive, high-quality data from 1,002 participants (459 males, 543 females) assessed simultaneously across a range of latitudes and through all seasons. Here we describe the scientific and methodological issues considered in designing the AusD Study. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Inconsistent evidence exists regarding the association between work-related factors and risk of multiple sclerosis (MS). We examined the association between occupational exposures and risk of a first clinical diagnosis of central nervous system demyelination (FCD), which is strongly associated with progression to MS, in a matched case-control study of 276 FCD cases and 538 controls conducted in Australia (2003–2006). Using a personal residence and work calendar, information on occupational history and exposure to chemicals and animals was collected through face-to-face interviews. Few case-control differences were noted. Fewer cases had worked as professionals (≥6 years) than controls (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 0.60, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.37, 0.96). After further adjustment for number of children, cases were more likely to have ever been exposed to livestock than controls (AOR = 1.54, 95% CI: 1.03, 2.29). Among women, there was an increase in FCD risk associated with 10 or more years of exposure to livestock (AOR = 2.78, 95% CI: 1.22, 6.33) or 6 or more years of farming (AOR = 2.00, 95% CI: 1.23, 3.25; also adjusted for number of children). Similar findings were not evident among men. Thus, farming and exposure to livestock may be important factors in the development of FCD among women, with this finding further revealed after the confounding effect of parity or number of children is considered. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Objective: To present Australia-wide data on paediatric COVID-19 and multisystem inflammatory syndromes to inform health service provision and vaccination prioritisation., Design: Prospective, multicentre cohort study., Setting: Eight tertiary paediatric hospitals across six Australian states and territories in an established research surveillance network-Paediatric Active Enhanced Disease (PAEDS)., Participants: All children aged <19 years with SARS-CoV-2 infection including COVID-19, Paediatric Inflammatory Multisystem Syndrome Temporally Associated with SARS-CoV-2 (PIMS-TS) and Kawasaki-like disease TS infection (KD-TS) treated at a PAEDS site from 24 March 2020 to 31 December 2020., Intervention: Laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection., Main Outcome: Incidence of severe disease among children with COVID-19, PIMS-TS and KD-TS. We also compared KD epidemiology before and during the COVID-19 pandemic., Results: Among 386 children with SARS-CoV-2 infection, 381 (98.7%) had COVID-19 (median 6.3 years (IQR 2.1-12.8),53.3% male) and 5 (1.3%) had multisystem inflammatory syndromes (PIMS-TS, n=4; KD-TS, n=1) (median 7.9 years (IQR 7.8-9.8)). Most children with COVID-19 (n=278; 73%) were Australian-born from jurisdictions with highest community transmission. Comorbidities were present in 72 (18.9%); cardiac and respiratory comorbidities were most common (n=32/72;44%). 37 (9.7%) children with COVID-19 were hospitalised, and two (0.5%) required intensive care. Postinfective inflammatory syndromes (PIMS-TS/KD-TS) were uncommon (n=5; 1.3%), all were hospitalised and three (3/5; 60%) required intensive care management. All children recovered and there were no deaths. KD incidence remained stable during the pandemic compared with prepandemic., Conclusions: Most children with COVID-19 had mild disease. Severe disease was less frequent than reported in high prevalence settings. Preventative strategies, such as vaccination, including children and adolescents, could reduce both the acute and postinfective manifestations of the disease., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2021. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Evidence is accumulating to suggest that higher exposure to solar ultraviolet radiation (UVR) is associated with decreased risk of internal cancers, but data for ovarian cancer are unclear. We aimed to examine the association between lifetime ambient UVR and ovarian cancer in a population-based-case-control study. The study included women aged 18 to 79 years with a new diagnosis of invasive (n = 1,215) or borderline (n = 285) epithelial ovarian cancer identified through a network of clinics and state cancer registries throughout Australia. Controls (n = 1,459), frequency matched to cases by age (5-year groups) and state of residence, were randomly selected from the National Electoral Roll. We asked participants to report where they had lived at different periods of their life and assigned an estimate of UVR using data from NASA's Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer database (1997-2003). We estimated the association between ambient UVR and risk of ovarian cancer using conditional logistic regression adjusted for potential confounders. Women in the highest third of average daily ambient UVR over their lifetime were at significantly lower risk of all epithelial ovarian cancers than those in the lowest third [OR, 0.70; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.56-0.88]. The inverse association was stronger for borderline tumors (0.47, 0.31-0.71) than invasive tumors (0.78, 0.61-1.00). The effect sizes for overall and borderline tumors were unchanged after adjusting for confounders, whereas the inverse association for invasive tumors was attenuated. These data suggest that exposure to ambient UVR may reduce the risk of ovarian cancer.