Cent Eur J Public Health 1998, 6(4)

Mother-child pass in Austria and primary toxoplasmosis infections in pregnant women

Moese J.R., Vander-Moese A.

Cent Eur J Public Health 1998, 6(4):261-264

The mother-child pass (MCP) in Austria, introduced in 1975, has been successful till now. The changes and the results of the serological screening for toxoplasmosis, included in the MCP over the last 22 years, are demonstrated.

Active control of congenital toxoplasmosis in the population

Palička P., Slabá H., Zitek K.

Cent Eur J Public Health 1998, 6(4):265-268

Repeated serological investigations (CFT, IFT, ELISA) of 50,000 pregnant women revealed that 5.1 ‰ pregnancies in the Karvina district, Czech Republic are threatened by toxoplasmosis. In 2.8 ‰ pregnancies the infection was contracted shortly before pregnancy, one third of them ended by spontaneous abortion. In this group the birth of a congenitally infected infant is rare. Primary infections of women who are already pregnant (2.3 ‰ of pregnancies) are much more serious. This number comprises 1.2 ‰ pregnancies with a spontaneous abortion and 1.2 ‰ pregnancies leading to the delivery of a congenitally infected infant....

Evaluation of reactogenicity and immunogenicity of two influenza vaccines (Vaxigrip and Fluarix) in the season 1996-1997

Beran J., Prymula R., Chlíbek R., Rychlý R., Špliňo M., Douda P., Gál P.

Cent Eur J Public Health 1998, 6(4):269-273

Influenza is a very serious disease, which causes thousands of deaths all over the world every year. As there is so far no sufficiently effective causal therapy of influenza the main function of vaccination lies in prevention. Influenza is a major problem especially in collective facilities. Therefore, great emphasis is laid in the Czech Republic Army on the vaccination of military groups and on the evaluation of reactogenicity and immunogenicity of the vaccines used. The specific aim of the clinical trial was to evaluate the reactogenicity and immunogenicity of two inactivated split influenza vaccines Fluarix and Vaxigrip in healthy adult volunteers...

Air pollution by particulate matter in the industrialized city of Leoben, Austria

Wippel R., Köck M., Kosmus W., Pichler-Semmelrock F.P., Marth E.

Cent Eur J Public Health 1998, 6(4):274-279

At seven sites in Leoben, Austria, aerosol particles were sampled in two size fractions by a dichotomous sampler using virtual impaction: the fine fraction (alveolar aerosol) with an aerodynamic diameter d_ac < 2.5 µm (PM_2.5), and the coarse fraction (tracheobronchial aerosol) with an d_ac between 2.5 and 10 µm. It is believed that these particles are able to reach the lower regions of the human respiratory tract, and thus be responsible for most of the adverse health effects associated with suspended particulate pollution. A second sampling procedure was made collecting the PM_2.5 fraction and...

Family and social determinants of school maladjustment in students with emotional disturbances and behavioral disorders from recovery schools in Bulgaria

Serdeva S., Tzvetkov D., Manolova A.

Cent Eur J Public Health 1998, 6(4):280-283

This inquiry study is part of a comprehensive investigation on the organization and the effect of the education of students with emotional disturbances and behavioral disorders in special recovery schools. The aim for conducting the inquiry is to reveal the characteristics of the family and social background which may affect the school adaptation. The investigated group includes 254 students - 192 with emotional disturbances and behavioral disorders and 62 healthy children of the same age from the settlements where the recovery schools are based. Two types of questionnaires developed by the team are used for investigating the students' family and social...

Mineral concentrations in the blood of male smokers and non-smoking males and females measured with fluoro-X-ray analyzer

Sakamoto N., Sakamoto K., Ando S.

Cent Eur J Public Health 1998, 6(4):284-287

For clarification of the effects of smoking on mineral absorption in red blood cells (RBC) and serum, their concentrations at these sites were examined in ten male smokers and 12 male and 10 female non-smokers by fluoro-X-ray analysis. K in serum was high, and P, Ca and Fe low, compared to RBC. Mg and S in serum and RBC were essentially the same. S, Mg, P and K in RBC of smokers were higher than in male non-smokers, and Ca was lower. S and Ca in serum of smokers were significantly lower than in male non-smokers. P in smokers was higher than in non-smokers. P in RBC may possibly activate the reflux of Mg into RBC and may suppress that of Ca. In smokers,...

Does acute exposure to the electromagnetic field emitted by a mobile phone influence visual evoked potentials? A pilot study

Urban P., Lukáš E., Roth Z.

Cent Eur J Public Health 1998, 6(4):288-290  

To search for a potential negative influence on the central nervous system (CNS) of the electromagnetic field emitted by a mobile phone, the authors performed a pilot experimental study of the influence of a single short acute exposure to the GSM mobile phone Motorola 8700, using visual evoked potentials (VEP) examination as an electrophysiological marker of CNS dysfunction. The study group consisted of 20 healthy volunteers. The duration of exposure was 5 minutes. The output power of the device was 1.5 W when the antenna was pulled up. Five parameters of VEP were evaluated by means of multifactorial ANOVA. Confounding effects of age, sex, and of the...

Biological significance of the zoning of the masking effect of noise, related to the adaptive capacities of the auditory analyzer for speech communication

Tzaneva L.

Cent Eur J Public Health 1998, 6(4):291-292

The paper discusses the problem about the ergonomic assessment of the abilities of the auditory analyzer for processing of speech information, depending on the zoning of the masking effect of noise and the degree of speech communication. A significant increase of the loss of speech information with rise of the intensities of the masking effect of noise (from 21.33 % at L eq. 40 dB up to 96 % at L eq. 90 and less than 90 dB/A/) is found. The speech communication is graded into 4 bands, depending on the qualitative-quantitative criteria of the processed speech communication. The regularity of the standard for masking noise (L eq. 65 dB/A), which guarantees...

Informativeness of critical ratios "useful signal-masking noise" in speech communication

Tzaneva L.

Cent Eur J Public Health 1998, 6(4):293-295

In experimental conditions the influence of 8 ratios "useful signal-masking noise" of 3 types of production noise (impulse, continuous and interrupted) is studied as well as continuous (white) noise as control on the perception of an audiometric test by 60 individuals with normal hearing. The test is understandable phonetically with difficulties and balanced at speech. The test intensity is L_equiv. 70-75 dB/A/. The most expressed masking effect of continuous (white) noise, followed by the impulse and constant production noise is found. The lowest masking effect is found out at interrupted noise. This is explained by the acoustic characteristics...

Qualitative identification of volatile metabolites from two fungi and three bacteria species cultivated on two media

Kiviranta H., Tuomainen A., Reiman M., Laitinen S., Liesivuori J., Nevalainen A.

Cent Eur J Public Health 1998, 6(4):296-299

Two fungal species, Aspergillus fumigatus and Penicillium brevicompactum and three bacteria, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Enterobacter agglomerans and Streptomyces albus were cultivated on two media, malt extract agar and dichloran glycerol agar. The volatile metabolite samples from the cultures were adsorbed on Tenax TA and analyzed qualitatively by thermal desorption gas chromatography and with a mass selective detector. Various hydrocarbons, alcohols, ketones, esters and terpenes were identified. The production was highly dependent on both the medium and the microbial species. 2-Methyl-1-propanol, 2-methyl-1-butanol...

Comparison of environmental quality in the districts of the Czech Republic with mortality pattern and selected health parameters

Švejdarová H., Bencko V.

Cent Eur J Public Health 1998, 6(4):300-306

The aim of this study was to analyse a potential connection between the chosen parameters of the quality of the environment and the mortality pattern of residents in the Czech Republic. By means of linear regression selected parameters of the quality of the environment in the districts were compared with mortality rates and some other indices of the health status of the inhabitants of the districts. The region of Prague was excluded from our study because of a substantial gap in environmental data set. The percentage of inhabitants who live in an environment evaluated as "acceptable" served as the independent variable. The total mortality rate or some...

Mutagenicity tests on the bacteria and the detection of genotoxicity of industrial complex mixtures containing PAHs

Malachová K.

Cent Eur J Public Health 1998, 6(4):307-313

The study summarizes the results of an evaluation of mutagenicity of heterogeneous complex mixtures of substances, the main mutagenic component of which consists of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. The testing was performed using bacterial assays of mutagenicity - the SOS chromotest and the S. typhimurium His-test (in modifications without and with metabolic activation in vitro). It was found that samples of tested tar mixtures (crude tar, pitch, anthracene oils III and II, granulated pitch and some of its extraction portions) induced SOS repair functions and frameshift mutations in tests with metabolic activation. Some of samples as tar, pitch...

Hygiene aspects of drinking water ultrafiltration

Šefcová H.

Cent Eur J Public Health 1998, 6(4):314-316

Ultrafiltration is highly effective method for removal of bacteria and viruses and does not produce organohalides associated with water treatment by chlorine gas. The aim was to assess the hygiene suitability of the unit for possible use in bottled water production. The ultrafiltration unit was in operation for 220 hours with simulated of varying duration. The running time (220 hours) and shut-down duration (to 5 hours) did not in any way influence the effectiveness of the module (100 % filtration of aerobic colony count at 37 °C and 22 °C).

Dose-response analysis and biologically-based risk assessment for initiator and promoter carcinogens. Summary report of NATO/CCMS Study

Zapponi G.A., Cogliano J.

Cent Eur J Public Health 1998, 6(4):317-320  

Professor MVDr Zdeněk Matyáš - 75^th Anniversary

Editorial

Cent Eur J Public Health 1998, 6(4):259-260