Research Papers & Publications
Research
The Birmingham Research Unit
of the Royal College of General Practitioners maintains a
continuing programme of research in a wide and varied number of
fields. Historically, the Unit has collaborated with many
institutions and organisations including the European Influenza
Surveillance Scheme, Health Protection Agency (formerly the Public
Health Laboratory Service), Meteorological Office, Department of
Health, various academic departments, Prescription Pricing
Authority and pharmaceutical companies. The Unit is most renowned
for its work on respiratory diseases, particularly those caused by
viruses such as influenza and respiratory syncytial virus.
Other areas of particular interest include infectious and
intestinal diseases, asthma, allergic rhinitis (hay fever)
chickenpox and herpes zoster (shingles). The Unit welcomes
informal discussions and proposals for future collaborations from
outside sources. Please contact Dr Alex Elliot (aelliot@rcgpbhamresunit.nhs.uk)
if there are any specific projects you would like to discuss.
Below are listed a number
of special reports and the most recent publications produced by the
Unit.
Special
Reports
Our information leaflet, The Birmingham Research Unit, details
the work of the Unit over the last 40 years. (pdf, 290Kb)
The Electronic Health Indicator
Data (eHID) project is an EU funded project concerned with
recording in-patient electronic medical records in a way that
optimised the use of records for epidemiology. The project involved
several networks throughout Europe including the Weekly Returns
Service of the Birmingham Research Unit. (pdf, 516Kb)
A Winter's Tale provides
detailed information on general respiratory diseases and the
problems they can cause to primary and secondary health care
resources. (pdf, 1.7Mb)
The Occupational Morbidity Report is a
joint project with the Health & Safety Executive which aims to
obtain information on the frequency of various kinds of illness in
different occupations and, from the results, identify specific
links between illness and occupation. (pdf, 1.8Mb)
Submitted papers accepted for
publication
- Elliot AJ, Fleming DM. Influenza and
respiratory syncytial virus in the elderly. Expert Rev Vaccines
(accepted Jan 2008).
- Elliot AJ, Cross KW, Fleming DM. Acute
respiratory infections and winter pressures on hospital admissions
in England and Wales 1990-2005. J Pubic Health (accepted Dec
2007).
Publications (2004 –
2008)
1.
Fleming DM, Elliot AJ. Respiratory syncytial virus: a sleeping
giant? Eur Respir J. 2007;30(6):1029-31.
[Medline]
2. Fleming DM,
Elliot AJ. Lessons from 40 years' surveillance of influenza in
England and Wales. Epidemiol Infect.
2007;doi:10.1017/S0950268807009910.
[Medline]
3. Cooper DL,
Verlander N, Joseph C, Elliot AJ, Smith GE. Can syndromic
thresholds provide early warning of national influenza outbreaks? J
Pubic Health; doi:10.1093/pubmed/fdm068.
[Medline]
4. Fleming DM.
The state of play in the battle against antimicrobial resistance: a
general practitioner perspective. J Antimicrob Chemother. 2007;60
Suppl 1:i49-52.
[Medline]
5. Fleming DM,
Elliot AJ, Kendall H. Skin infections and antibiotic prescribing: a
comparison of surveillance and prescribing data. Br J Gen Pract.
2007;57(540):569-73.
[Medline]
6. Downs AM,
Ross AM, Fleming DM, Coles GC. A downturn in the incidence of head
lice infestation? Int J Dermatol. 2007;46(6):660-1.
[Medline]
7. Arkema JM,
Meerhoff TJ, Paget WJ, Meijer A, Ansaldi F, Buchholz U, Fleming D,
Nicoll A, van der Velden J. Seasonal influenza activity in Europe:
declining in most countries in the West but increasing in the
North-East. Euro Surveill. 2007;12(3):E070308.3.
[Medline] [Free Full
Text]
8. Olowokure B,
Clarke L, Elliot AJ, Harding D, Fleming A. Mumps and the media:
changes in the reporting of mumps in response to newspaper
coverage. J Epidemiol Commun Health 2007;61:385-388.
[Medline]
9. Arkema JM,
Paget WJ, Meijer A, Meerhoff TJ, Ansaldi F, Buchholz U, Fleming D,
Nicoll A, van der Velden J. Seasonal influenza beginning in Europe:
report from EISS. Euro Surveill. 2007;12(1):E070125.3.
[Medline] [Free Full
Text]
10. Fleming DM, Elliot AJ.
Correspondence; epidemic influenza and vitamin D. Epidemiol Infect
2007;135(7):1091-2.
[Medline]
11. Fleming DM, Elliot AJ. The
management of acute bronchitis in children. Expert Opin
Pharmacother. 2007;8(4):415-26.
[Medline]
12. Fleming DM, Elliot AJ, Cross
KW. Morbidity profiles of patients consulting during influenza and
respiratory syncytial virus active periods. Epidemiol Infect
2007;135(7):1099-108.
[Medline]
13. Fleming DM, Elliot AJ.
Changing disease incidence: the consulting room perspective. Brit J
Gen Pract 2006;56(532):820-824.
[Medline]
14. Simms I, Fleming DM,
Lowndes CM, Smith GE, Chapman RS. Surveillance of sexually
transmitted diseases in general practice: a description of trends
in the Royal College of General Practitioners Weekly Returns
Service between 1994 and 2001. Int J STD AIDS 2006;17(10):693-8.
[Medline]
15. Deckers JG, Schellevis
FG, Fleming DM. WHO diagnostic criteria as a validation tool for
the diagnosis of diabetes mellitus: A study in five European
countries. Eur J Gen Pract 2006;12(3):108-113.
[Medline]
16. Elliot AJ, Fleming DM.
Surveillance of influenza-like illness in England and Wales during
1967-2006. Euro Surveill 2006;11(10):249-250.".
[Medline] [Free Full
Text]
17. Elliot AJ, Cross KW,
Smith GE, Burgess IF, Fleming DM. The association between impetigo,
insect bites and air temperature: a retrospective 5-year study
(1999-2003) using morbidity data collected from a sentinel general
practice network database. Fam Pract 2006;23:490-496.
[Medline]
18. Fleming DM, Crovari P,
Wahn U, Klemola T, Schlesinger Y, Langussis A, Oymar K, Garcia ML,
Krygier A, Costa H, Heininger U, Pregaldien JL, Cheng SM, Skinner
J, Razmpour A, Saville M, Gruber WC, Forrest B; CAIV-T Asthma Study
Group. Comparison of the efficacy and safety of live attenuated
cold-adapted influenza vaccine, trivalent, with trivalent
inactivated influenza virus vaccine in children and adolescents
with asthma. Pediatr Infect Dis J 2006;25(10):860-869.
[Medline]
19. Meerhoff TJ, Fleming D,
Smith A, Mosnier A, van Gageldonk-Lafeber AB, Paget WJ.
Surveillance recommendations based on an exploratory analysis of
respiratory syncytial virus reports derived from the European
Influenza Surveillance System. BMC Infect Dis 2006;6:128.
[Medline] [Free Full
Text]
20. Viboud C, Tam T, Fleming
D, Handel A, Miller MA, Simonsen L. Transmissibility and mortality
impact of epidemic and pandemic influenza, with emphasis on the
unusually deadly 1951 epidemic. Vaccine. 2006;24(44-46):6701-7.
[Medline]
21. Fleming DM, Elliot AJ.
Estimating the risk population in relation to influenza vaccination
policy. Vaccine 2006;24(20):4378-85.
[Medline]
22. Viboud C, Tam T, Fleming
D, Miller MA, Simonsen L. 1951 influenza epidemic, England and
Wales, Canada, and the United States. Emerg Infect Dis
2006;12(4):661-8.
[Medline]
23. Deckers JG, Paget WJ,
Schellevis FG, Fleming DM. European primary care surveillance
networks: their structure and operation. Fam Pract
2006;23(2):151-8.
[Medline]
24. Pannell RS, Fleming DM,
Cross KW. The incidence of molluscum contagiosum, scabies and
lichen planus. Epidemiol Infect 2005;133(6):985-91.
[Medline]
25. Fleming D. Influenza
pandemics and avian flu. BMJ 2005;331(7524):1066-9.
[Medline]
26. Gani R, Hughes H, Fleming
D, Griffin T, Medlock J, Leach S. Potential impact of antiviral
drug use during influenza pandemic. Emerg Infect Dis.
2005;11(9):1355-62.
[Medline] [Free Full
Text]
27. Fleming DM, Cross KW,
Barley MA. Recent changes in the prevalence of diseases presenting
for health care. Br J Gen Pract 2005;55(517):589-95.
[Medline]
[Free Full Text]
28. Fleming DM, Elliot AJ.
The impact of influenza on the health and health care utilisation
of elderly people. Vaccine 2005.
[Medline]
29. Fleming DM, Pannell RS,
Elliot AJ, Cross KW. Respiratory illness associated with influenza
and respiratory syncytial virus infection. Arch Dis Child 2005.
[Medline] [Free Full
Text]
30. Fleming DM, Pannell RS,
Cross KW. Mortality in children from influenza and respiratory
syncytial virus. J Epidemiol Community Health 2005;59(7):586-90.
[Medline] [Free Full
Text]
31. Fleming DM, Ross AM,
Cross KW, Kendall H, Elliot AJ. Concerning: 'Why has antibiotic
prescribing for respiratory illness declined in primary care? A
longitudinal study using the General Practice Research Database'. J
Public Health (Oxf) 2005;27(2):228-9.
[Medline]
32. Fleming DM, Cross KW,
Pannell RS. Influenza and its relationship to circulatory
disorders. Epidemiol Infect 2005;133(2):255-62.
[Medline]
33. Fleming DM, Elliot AJ.
Children with 'flu: not to be sniffed at. Br J Gen Pract
2005;55(512):231-2.
[Medline]
[Free Full Text]
34. Fleming DM, Soler JK.
Using electronic medical records for research. Eur J Gen Pract
2005;11(1):2-4.
[Medline]
35. Donker GA, Fleming DM,
Schellevis FG, Spreeuwenberg P. Differences in treatment regimes,
consultation frequency and referral patterns of diabetes mellitus
in general practice in five European countries. Fam Pract
2004;21(4):364-9.
[Medline] [Free
Full Text]
36. Davey P, Donnan P,
Fleming D, Wise R, Woodhead M. Association between antibiotic
prescribing trends in general practice and community-acquired
pneumonia mortality. Respir Med 2004;98(8):798-800; author reply
1-3.
[Medline]
37. Ross A, Fleming D.
Hayfever--practical management issues. Br J Gen Pract
2004;54(503):412-4.
[Medline]
[Free Full Text]
38. Woodhead M, Fleming D,
Wise R. Antibiotics, resistance, and clinical outcomes. BMJ
2004;328(7451):1270-1.
[Medline] [Free
Full Text]
39. Sunderland RS, Fleming
DM. Continuing decline in acute asthma episodes in the community.
Arch Dis Child 2004;89(3):282-5.
[Medline] [Free Full
Text]
40. Fleming DM, Barley MA,
Chapman RS. Surveillance of the bioterrorist threat: a primary care
response. Commun Dis Public Health 2004;7(1):68-72.
[Medline]
41. Fleming DM, Schellevis
FG, Van Casteren V. The prevalence of known diabetes in eight
European countries. Eur J Public Health 2004;14(1):10-4.
[Medline]
42. Harcourt SE, Edwards DE,
Fleming DM, Smith RL, Smith GE. How representative is the
population covered by the RCGP spotter practice scheme? Using
Geographical Information Systems to assess. J Public Health (Oxf)
2004;26(1):88-94.
[Medline]
43. Fleming DM, Cross KW,
Cobb WA, Chapman RS. Gender difference in the incidence of
shingles. Epidemiol Infect 2004;132(1):1-5.
[Medline]
44. Fleming DM, Bartelds A,
Chapman RS, Cross KW. The consistency of shingles and its
significance for health monitoring. Eur J Epidemiol
2004;19(12):1113-8.
[Medline]
This page was last updated on 14th July 2008