Cent Eur J Public Health 1995, 3(1)
Industrialization and environmental health in Poland
Indulski J.A., Rolecki R.
Cent Eur J Public Health 1995, 3(1):3-12 
There has been enormous pollution and biodegradation of environment in Poland as the consequence of industrialization developed regardless the principles of sustainable development. In the recent years, the decrease of total emission of air pollution caused by gases and dust, the decrease of emission of unprocessed sewage and industrial waste can be seen. These facts are the consequences of economic recession which have appeared in Poland along with economic transformation. However, there is still significant escalation of environmental pollution, in so-called areas of ecological hazards. There are heavily industrialized and urbanized areas covering...
Cohort study of the relationship between air pollution and short term health effects as determined by peak expiratory flow measurements
Bjerknes-Haugen G., Clench-Aas J., Samuelsen S.O., Bartonová A., Bakketeig L.S.
Cent Eur J Public Health 1995, 3(1):13-20
The aim of the study was to establish if air pollution has short term effects on health and well-being for individuals living in an industrialized area of Norway. A cohort study was designed so that two groups (one randomly selected from the general population and one with preexisting lung disease) were followed hour by hour during two months in the winter and in the summer of 1988. In order to minimize the problems of confounding factors, each individual served as her/his own control. Each participant described through the use of a diary the presence of symptoms from the upper and lower respiratory tract as well as general symptoms of ill health....
Salmonellae in gulls and other free-living birds in the Czech Republic
Hubálek Z., Sixl W., Mikuláskova M., Sixl-Voigt B., Thiel W., Halouzka J., Juricová Z., Rosický B., Mátlová L., Honza M.
Cent Eur J Public Health 1995, 3(1):21-24
Cloacal swabs, collected from 756 wild synanthropic and exoanthropic birds of 57 species in the Czech Republic, yielded 32 strains of Salmonella typhimurium [phage types (PT) 141, 104 and 41], six isolates of S. enteritidis (PT 8, 4 and 6e), and one each of S. panama and S. anatum. Except for one S. enteritidis isolate from a grey-lag goose (Anser anser) and one S. typhimurium isolate from a coot (Fulica atra), all of the other strains were derived from black-headed gulls (Larus ridibundus), of which 24.7% were found to be infected. The black-headed gull might play a role in the dispersal of pathogenic salmonellae.
Effect of stressful environmental factors upon neonatal immune system
Verma B.K., Thakur D.K.
Cent Eur J Public Health 1995, 3(1):25-29
To examine the effects of stressful environmental conditions upon the immune system of the newborn (neonates), we analyzed the neonatal serum immunoglobulin levels in a total of 67 neonates from tribal families living in a rural community of eastern India. These cases were grouped into three categories, based upon the predominance of one of the three factors being analyzed, and the reasonable absence of the other two factors. The three factors as determined by the prevailing environmental conditions, which were the basis for forming the three groups, were: 1. indoor air pollution; 2. hygienic conditions, and 3. the cohabitation of domesticated animals...
A resistance of head lice (Pediculus capitis) to permethrin in Czech Republic
Rupes V., Moravec J., Chmela J., Ledvinka J., Zelenková J.
Cent Eur J Public Health 1995, 3(1):30-32
An outbreak of pediculosis at primary schools was recorded in the Czech Republic in 1992. Almost 20% of children in some schools were infested. This outbreak can be attributed to the resistance of head lice to permethrin, which has not been mentioned in literature yet. The resistance factors established in three towns range between 2 and 385 and between 5 and 557 for LC50 and LC90 values, respectively. This resistance has developed after exclusive use of pyrethroids lotion and shampoo in the Czech Republic since 1978, and it was accompanied by a cross-resistance to d-phenothrin and bioalethrin. But the susceptibility of head lice to malathion and pirimiphos-methyl...
Natural foci of tick-borne encephalitis in central Europe and the relationship of the incidence of Ixodes ricinus to original ecosystems
Minár J.
Cent Eur J Public Health 1995, 3(1):33-37
Based on reports of the national epidemiological service on tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) morbidity in 1953-1987, data in the literature, and results of the author's own field research on the occurrence of the common tick, Ixodes ricinus, foci of this disease have been identified on the territory of Czechoslovakia. In Bohemia a significant focus of TBE in the Central Bohemian Region is located in the Krivoklát area with forests and in the Berounka, mid-Vltava, and lower-Sázava river basins, in the Brdy area and the Czech Karst continuing southwards via the Vltava basin to foci in the South Bohemian region in the districts of Písek and Ceské Budĕjovice...
The prevalence of environmental mycobacteria in drinking water supply systems in Olomouc County, north Moravia, Czech Republic, in the period 1984-1989
Kubálek I., Mysák J.
Cent Eur J Public Health 1995, 3(1):39-41
The presence of environmental mycobacteria was studied in drinking water supply systems in Olomouc County, Czech Republic, in order to detect the possible spread of M. kansasii from the neighbouring region in Ostrava County. Drinking water samples from water supply systems of 16 localities were investigated. The samples of running water, and tap swabs or tap scrapings were collected twice a year, in the spring and in the autumn. The most common cultivated and identified species were M. gordonae (20.4%), M. flavescens (13.8%), rapidly growing mycobacteria (5.0%) and then by occasional identification of M. fortuitum, M. terrae, M. scrofulaceum. M. kansasii...
Exposure and impact assessment of emissions from mercury recycling using domestic rabbits
Reichrtová E., Bencko V.
Cent Eur J Public Health 1995, 3(1):42-47
A biomonitoring study using domestic rabbits (Chinchilla) aimed at the exposure and impact risks assessment of emissions released into the ambient air from a mercury-recycling plant has been carried out. Groups of rabbits were exposed to the emissions during 6 months at biomonitoring stations built up in two localities (Rudnany and Matejovce) in the distance of about 3 and 6 km around and downwind from the mercury-producing plant. The aim of the biomonitoring was to trace the translocation of inhaled inorganic Hg in body tissues and the immunotoxic impact of the emissions in the exposed mammalian organism in comparison to a non-exposed animals living...