Cent Eur J Public Health 2006, 14(1)

Improving the Worlďs Health - the Role of National Public Health Institutes

Pekka Jousilahti

Cent Eur J Public Health 2006, 14(1):3-5 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.b0052

The Evaluation of Short and Long Term Administration of Drugs Improving Life Expectancy in Patients with Myocardial Infarction in a Hungarian County Hospital

László Márk, Győző Dani, Erzsébet Nagy, Ferenc Erdei, András Katona

Cent Eur J Public Health 2006, 14(1):6-9 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.b0051

Objective: The patients after myocardial infarction could hope for a significant improvement in their life expectancy when complying with the principles of the secondary prevention. Today there is no doubt that the administration of ACE-inhibitors, beta-blockers, aspirin and statins decrease mortality in these patients. Although the clinicians are aware of the guidelines of Evidence Based Medicine, international and Hungarian surveys show that in their everyday application there is still much to improve.Patients and methods: The authors studied the therapy of 200 consecutive patients (115 men and 85 women) who suffered from acute myocardial infarction...

Pregnancy Complications and Delivery Outcomes of Pregnant Women with Common Cold

Ferenc Bánhidy, Nándor Ács, Erzsébet Puhó, Andrew E. Czeizel

Cent Eur J Public Health 2006, 14(1):10-14 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.b0050

Objective: To study the association between common cold during pregnancy and pregnancy complications and delivery outcomes: gestational age/birth weight, in addition preterm birth and low birthweight.Method: In the population-based large data set of the Hungarian Case-Control Surveillance System of Congenital Abnormalities (HCCSCA), 19801996, controls without congenital abnormalities were analysed.Results: Of 38,151 newborn infants, 5,475 (14.4%) had mothers with common cold. The prevalence of threatened preterm delivery, placental disorders and severe nausea and vomiting was lower while the occurrence of anemia was higher in pregnant mothers...

Dyslipidemia in Industrial Workers in Hot Environments

Katia Vangelova, Christo Deyanov, Michaela Ivanova

Cent Eur J Public Health 2006, 14(1):15-17 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.b0049

The aim of the study was to follow the rate and manifestation of dyslipidemia in industrial workers exposed to heat. One hundred and two male industrial workers exposed to heat and a control group of 102 male workers were studied. The microclimate components were followed and Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) was calculated. The mean WGBT was 35.4 oC (28.4 -41.7 oC) for the studied heat exposed work places. The lipid indices: total cholesterol (TC), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and triacylglycerols were assayed with enzymatic tests. TC/HDL-C ratio was calculated, too. Arterial pressure, anthropometric...

Dietary Intake of Sulphites by Children in the Slovak Republic

Terézia Šinková, Katarína Janeková

Cent Eur J Public Health 2006, 14(1):18-21 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.b0048

The mean dietary intake of sulphites by Slovak children aged 7 to 10 years was estimated. Calculations were based on a food model of a specific boarding-school in January, May, July and October while respecting the scientifically recommended dietary allowances. It was assumed that sulphites were used in the widest possible range of foods and at maximum permitted levels. Due to this fact and since sulphites are partially lost during food processing and storage, the results are over-estimated. However the mean daily exposure of consumers with the lowest (21 kg) and the mean (26.5 kg) body weight to sulphites ranged from 44 to 55% and from 36 to 43% of...

Serological Profile and Virological Evaluation of Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C Virus Infection among HIV Infected Patients in Greece

Ioannis S. Elefsiniotis, Vassilios Paparizos, Chrysoula Botsi, Konstantinos D. Pantazis, Andreas Katsambas

Cent Eur J Public Health 2006, 14(1):22-24 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.b0047

In this study we evaluate the prevalence of HBV and HCV infections and the HBV and/or HCV viral load as well as HCV genotype among 737 HIV-infected patients. 89/737 (12.1%) were HBsAg(+) and the majority of them (60.7%) were HBeAg(+), in contrast to general Greek population; anti-HBc seropositivity was detected in 48.1% of the study population. Serum HBV-DNA levels were 5.75±1.66 (-log10 copies/ml) and HBeAg(+) coinfected patients had significantly higher levels than HBeAg(-) ones (7.40±0.64 vs 4.59±1.01, respectively, p<0.001). 8.2% of HIV-infected patients were anti-HCV(+) and the majority of them (85.7%) had HCV-RNA levels...

Privatisation of Hospitals in Poland - Barriers and Opportunities

Krzysztof Krajewski-Siuda, Piotr Romaniuk

Cent Eur J Public Health 2006, 14(1):25-29 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.b0046

The paper discusses the question of privatisation of the in-patient care sector in Poland. The references to the general reforming processes are made, as well as the legal context of ownership changes is presented. First part of the article describes the forms of privatisation applied in Poland, such as privatisation of the management, partial privatisation, functional privatisation and total privatisation. The basic data concerning legal regulations currently being in force is also included. Legal status is an important obstacle for the process of privatisation, since the regulations are incoherent and ambiguous. The project of Commercialisation and...

Evaluation of Humans Exposure to Single Electromagnetic Pulses of Arbitrary Shape

Lukáš Jelínek, Luděk Pekárek

Cent Eur J Public Health 2006, 14(1):30-34 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.a3363

Transient current density J(t) induced in the body of a person exposed to a single magnetic pulse of arbitrary shape or to a magnetic jump is filtered by a convolution integral containing in its kernel the frequency and phase dependence of the basic limit value adopted in a way similar to that used for reference values in the International Commission on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection statement. From the obtained time-dependent dimensionless impact function WJ(t) can immediately be determined whether the exposure to the analysed single event complies with the basic limit. For very slowly varying field, the integral kernel is extended to include the...

Noise-Induced Gastric Lesions: a Light and Scanning Electron Microscopy Study of the Alterations of the Rat Gastric Mucosa Induced by Low Frequency Noise

Jorge da Fonseca, José Martins dos Santos, Nuno Castelo Branco, Mariana Alves-Pereira, Nuno Grande, Pedro Oliveira, Ana Paula Martins

Cent Eur J Public Health 2006, 14(1):35-38 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.a3362

Introduction: Exposure to low frequency noise (LFN) can lead to vibroacoustic disease (VAD), recognized as a systemic disease with lesions in a broad spectrum of organs. Although gastrointestinal complaints are common among individuals exposed to noise, only few studies tried to evaluate the digestive lesions. The authors performed this study in order to investigate gastric lesions in an animal model of VAD. Material and methods: Adult Wistar rats were exposed to continuous LFN. After five weeks they were sacrificed. The stomachs were studied by light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy, and compared with stomachs of animals kept in silence.Results:...

Reference Frameworks for the Health Managementof Measles, Breast Cancer and Diabetes (Type II)

Helmut Brand, Peter Schröder, John K. Davies, Ixhel Escamilla, Caroline Hall, Kieran Hickey, Eleni Jelastopulu, Reli Mechtler, Wendy Tse Yared, Jaroslav Volf, Birgit Weihrauch

Cent Eur J Public Health 2006, 14(1):39-45 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.a3370

This paper presents reference frameworks which order effective and feasible policies and interventions for the health management of measles, breast cancer and diabetes (type II). These reference frameworks can be used to rapidly appraise regional health policy documents and existing health management systems. Furthermore, the reference frameworks can serve health policy makers for the planning of health management measures.

Structural Biology of Bacterial Pathogenesis

Jindřich Jíra

Cent Eur J Public Health 2006, 14(1):46

News and Notes

WHO Fact Sheet: Avian Influenza

Cent Eur J Public Health 2006, 14(1):47-50

Avian influenza.