Eduardo A. Undurraga

Conditional cash transfers for primary education: Which children are left out?

Highlights • We investigate predictors of child participation in Bolivia’s CCT program.• Children less exposed to Westerners have lower probabilities of receiving transfers.• Participation rates are highest around age 11u202fy.• Parents’ modern human capital is not associated with participation.• Participation rates are similar for boys and girls.

Child stunting is associated with weaker human capital among native Amazonians

We assessed associations between child stunting, recovery, and faltering with schooling and human capital skills in a native Amazonian society of horticulturalists‐foragers (Tsimane).

Clinical, laboratory, and demographic determinants of hospitalization due to dengue in 7613 patients: A retrospective study based on hierarchical models

In Brazil, the incidence of hospitalization due to dengue, as an indicator of severity, has drastically increased since 1998. The objective of our study was to identify risk factors associated with subsequent hospitalization related to dengue. We analyzed 7613 dengue confirmed via serology (ELISA), non-structural protein 1, or polymerase chain reaction amplification. We used a hierarchical framework to generate a multivariate logistic regression based on a variety of risk variables. This was followed by multiple statistical analyses to assess hierarchical model accuracy, variance, goodness of fit, and whether or not this model reliably represented the population. The final model, which included age, sex, ethnicity, previous dengue infection, hemorrhagic manifestations, plasma leakage, and organ failure, showed that all measured parameters, with the exception of previous dengue, were statistically significant. The presence of organ failure was associated with the highest risk of subsequent dengue hospitalization (OR=5·75; CI=3·53-9·37). Therefore, plasma leakage and organ failure were the main indicators of hospitalization due to dengue, although other variables of minor importance should also be considered to refer dengue patients to hospital treatment, which may lead to a reduction in avoidable deaths as well as costs related to dengue.

Comparison between the traditional (1997) and revised (2009) WHO classifications of dengue disease: a retrospective study of 30 670 patients

To compare WHOs traditional (1997) and revised (2009) guidelines for dengue classification, using a large sample of patients of all ages with varying clinical conditions from a dengue‐endemic area in Brazil.

Birth seasons and heights among girls and boys below 12 years of age: lasting effects and catch-up growth among native Amazonians in Bolivia

Abstract Background: Seasons affect many social, economic, and biological outcomes, particularly in low-resource settings, and some studies suggest that birth season affects child growth. Aim: To study a predictor of stunting that has received limited attention: birth season. Subjects and methods: This study uses cross-sectional data collected during 2008 in a low-resource society of horticulturists-foragers in the Bolivian Amazon, Tsimane’. It estimates the associations between birth months and height-for-age Z-scores (HAZ) for 562 girls and 546 boys separately, from birth until age 11u2009years or pre-puberty, which in this society occurs ∼13–14u2009years. Results: Children born during the rainy season (February–May) were shorter, while children born during the end of the dry season and the start of the rainy season (August–November) were taller, both compared with their age–sex peers born during the rest of the year. The correlations of birth season with HAZ were stronger for boys than for girls. Controlling for birth season, there is some evidence of eventual partial catch-up growth, with the HAZ of girls or boys worsening untilu2009∼u2009age 4–5u2009years, but improving thereafter. By age 6u2009years, many girls and boys had ceased to be stunted, irrespective of birth season. Conclusion: The results suggest that redressing stunting will require attention to conditions in utero, infancy and late childhood.