Reye's syndrome and spruce budworm insecticide spraying in Maine, 1978-1982

Studies have associated insecticides used for spruce budworm control with Reye's syndrome. In Maine, spruce budworm insecticide spraying began in 1954, and an annual spray program was started in 1972. Reye's syndrome incidence information (1978-1982), obtained from hospital discharge data, death certificates, and reports to the Bureau of Health, was compared with the geographic distribution of spruce budworm insecticide spraying. No association between Reye's syndrome and spruce budworm spraying was found, although some geographic clustering of Reye's syndrome cases was observed.