Cent Eur J Public Health 2003, 11(4)
Determination of Normal Concentration Levels of Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Pb, Se and Zn in Hair of Child Population in the Czech Republic
Beneš B., Sladká J., Spěváčková V., Šmíd J.
Cent Eur J Public Health 2003, 11(4):184-186 
Knowledge of normal levels of concentrations of trace elements (Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Pb, Se and Zn) in the population serve, among others, in the designing of regulations of exposure limits and prevention of diseases caused by deficiency in essential trace elements. Concentrations of the named elements in the hair of children in the Czech population were determined by means of atomic absorbtion spectrometry. The samples of hair were collected during 1994-2001 from 3,556 children (1,741 boys and 1,815 girls, average age 9.9 years). Mineralization in a microwave digestion system was used following a washing procedure. The accuracy of results was checked by...
Metal Concentrations in Human Placentas
Zagrodzki P., Zamorska L., Borowski P.
Cent Eur J Public Health 2003, 11(4):187-191
The concentrations of some metals (Cu, Zn, Fe, Pb) in human placentas at term in two populations living in polluted (Krakow, n=10) and non-polluted (Bieszczady, n=13) areas were investigated by means of graphite furnace - or flame atomic absorption spectrometry (GF-AAS or F-AAS). The concentrations of Cu, Fe and Pb were higher in Krakow vs. Bieszczady, while Zn concentration was lower, but these differences were not significant. The following results were obtained for the whole studied group: Cu 1.17±0.25 g/g w.w., Zn 8.44±2.10 g/g w.w., Fe 115.0±31.9 g/g w.w., Pb 51.6±18.0 ng/g w.w.The inverse accumulation of Zn and...
Preventing Lead Poisoning in Children: Can the US Experience Inform Other Countries? The Case of Poland
Jarosinska D., Rogan W.J.
Cent Eur J Public Health 2003, 11(4):192-197
Exposure to excess lead during childhood is preventable, but nowhere has that goal been achieved. In the US, recommendations for prevention of childhood lead poisoning are issued by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, based on periodically updated population-based data on the prevalence of lead poisoning by age and blood lead level. A well developed public health infrastructure is to provide case management to the lead exposed children. In Poland, the social and economic transitions of the last decade changed the potential for childhood lead exposure, and there has been a profound restructuring of the health care system. Blood lead testing...
Difference of Baseline Serum Copper Levels Between Groups of Patients with Different One Year Mortality and Morbidity and Chronic Heart Failure
Málek F., Dvořák J., Jirešová E., Špaček R.
Cent Eur J Public Health 2003, 11(4):198-201
Background: Serum copper concentrations as indicators of non-specific inflammatory response are higher in patients with severe heart failure than in patients with mild to moderate cardiac insufficiency and correlate with acute phase protein concentrations. The aim of this study was to find out if baseline serum copper concentrations are higher in patients with chronic heart failure and higher one year mortality and morbidity and whether serum copper concentrations correlate with prognostic indicators. Methods and results: Baseline serum copper concentrations were determined in 64 patients with chronic heart failure, functional classification NYHA II-IV...
Weight Gain in Two Adult Cohorts in East and West Germany After Reunification
Wimmer K., Laubereau B., Wölke G., Döring A., Heinrich J.
Cent Eur J Public Health 2003, 11(4):202-208
Background: Several epidemiological studies have shown consistently higher prevalence rates of obesity and overweight in East German adults compared to West German adults before German reunification in 1990. If different lifestyle factors after German division contribute to these differences, one might speculate that trends of obesity and overweight in the East and West after German reunification in 1990 would be similar.Objective: To examine weight gain in East and West German adult cohorts in the decade after German reunification.Methods: The study population includes 554 individuals with complete data aged 20 - 47 years in 199092 participating...
Effectiveness of Vaccination against Influenza in Škoda Auto Company Employees During Influenza Season 2000-2001
Beran J., Moravík J.
Cent Eur J Public Health 2003, 11(4):209-212
The SkodaAuto management evaluated the effectiveness of vaccination within the course of the influenza season, 2000 - 2001. All 23,782 company employees working in the plants at Mladá Boleslav, Vrchlabí, and Kvasiny were enrolled into the study, of which 5,079 (21.3 %) agreed to be vaccinated against influenza in the autumn, 2000. In comparison with the preceding years, two- to three-fold more employees were vaccinated. During the study period (i.e. between the 4th and 13th week of 2001), 67 (1.3%) individuals from the vaccinated group and 1,297 (6.9%) from the non-vaccinated group fell ill due to influenza or an influenza-like disease (i.e. a five-fold...
Vaccine - Associated Paralytic Poliomyelitis and Other Diseases with Acute Flaccid Paralysis Syndrome in Belarus
Samoilovich E.O., Feldman E.V., Yermalovich M.A., Protas I.I., Titov L.P.
Cent Eur J Public Health 2003, 11(4):213-218
According to the WHO global polio eradication initiative acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) surveillance has been conducted in Belarus since 1996. For the period 1996-2002, 295 AFP cases were reported. The main indices of AFP surveillance in Belarus met the WHO criteria. All AFP cases, with the exception of one, were virologically examined. Polioviruses (PV) were isolated from 28 (9.5%) of them. Results of intratypic differentiation (a neutralization test with type-specific monoclonal antibodies and a restriction fragment length polymorphism assay) proved vaccine origin of all isolated PV. According to the final classification, 11 AFP cases were classified...
Suppression of Salivary Streptococcus mutants and Lactobacilli by Topical Caries Preventive Agents
Jurić H., Dukić W., Janković B., Karlović Z., Pavelić B.
Cent Eur J Public Health 2003, 11(4):219-222
Reduction of cariogenic bacteria, especially salivary Streptococcus mutans and lactobacilli is a valuable clinical procedure that in many ways alleviates implementation of targeted caries preventive procedures in the entire population. The aim of this study was to investigate the caries preventive values of certain preventive procedures in in vivo conditions. Four groups of subjects, each with 18 children aged from 4-5 and 10-12 years (n=72) were treated with different caries preventive agent (aminfluoride solution, Proxyt paste, chewing gum containing xylitol and fluoride and chlorhexidine solution). During a period of two months five control measurements...
Tobacco Industry Efforts to Keep Cigarettes Affordable: A Case Study from Hungary
Szilágyi T., Chapman S.
Cent Eur J Public Health 2003, 11(4):223-228
Objective: To review strategies of multinational tobacco companies aimed at keeping tobacco products affordable to smokers in Hungary and to provide background information on the Hungarian request for the delayed introduction of minimum European Union tobacco excise duty levels.Method: Review of internal tobacco industry documents available on the World Wide Web, downloaded between 26 July 2001 and 31 October 2002.Conclusions: Appropriate pricing strategies and lobbying for low tobacco tax policies were used by the tobacco industry in Hungary to keep cigarettes affordable to the public. During the 1990s and in the early 2000s transnational...
Mathematical Models for the Evaluation of Antibiotic Resistance in Hospitals: A Systematic Review
Bonovas S., Panagiotakos D.B., Charalambides C., Vatopoulos A.
Cent Eur J Public Health 2003, 11(4):229-237
As the appearance and spread of antibiotic resistance is becoming an increasingly serious public health problem, there is a definite need for further studies by simulation, experiment and observation. Mathematical models may provide very useful tools to develop a rationale to extend the effective life of existing and newly introduced antimicrobial agents. In this work we systematically reviewed a number of mathematical models recently presented in the literature, in order to provide a brief and informative tool for public health policy makers, regarding the spread of antibiotic resistance, worldwide.
Light Microscopy Observation of Lytic Enzymatic Activity of the Organisms Associated with Bacterial Vaginosis
Demirezen Ş.
Cent Eur J Public Health 2003, 11(4):238-239
In this study, cervico-vaginal smears taken from 500 patients were examined cytologically using the Papanicolaou technique. Seventeen of the 500 were classified as having bacterial vaginosis.Lytic enzymatic activity of the organisms on clue cells were determined at light microscopic level. The integrity of the cell and the smoothness of the cell membrane were disrupted. Small cavities on the cell membrane and hollows in the cytoplasm were observed. Due to the loss of cytoplasm, very narrow and thin tracks around the nucleus and in the cytoplasm resembling a cobweb were seen.It is suggested that these lytic cellular changes might be formed by...