Cent Eur J Public Health 2007, 15(4)

Vaccines against Human Papillomaviruses - A Major Breakthrough in Cancer Prevention

Vladimír Vonka, Eva Hamšíková

Cent Eur J Public Health 2007, 15(4):131-139 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.a3447  

Carcinoma of the cervix (CaCer) is the second most frequent malignancy in women on a global scale. Epidemiological studies carried out at the beginning of the second half of the 20th century showed that CaCer was of infectious nature and that its agent was transmitted by sexual intercourse. For some 15 years, herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV2), the genital herpes virus, was suspected to be the etiological agent. This hypothesis was disproved just in the time when the first convincing evidence that the agents of the disease were human papillomaviruses (HPVs) was produced. Copious new findings obtained during the 1980's and 1990's unequivocally confirmed...

Obesity and Education in Three Countries of the Central and Eastern Europe: The HAPIEE Study

Hynek Pikhart, Martin Bobak, Sofia Malyutina, Andrzej Pajak, Růžena Kubínová, Michael Marmot

Cent Eur J Public Health 2007, 15(4):140-142 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.a3452  

The international pattern of obesity is only partly understood. While in developed countries the association between education and obesity is inverse, in the developing world social distribution of obesity is less predictable. We examined obesity patterns in three countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE): Russia, Poland and the Czech Republic, middle-income post-communist countries undergoing social and economic transition. The prevalence of obesity was inversely associated with education of individuals in our three samples of Central and Eastern European populations. In agreement with previous findings, the inverse socioeconomic gradient was...

The Effect of Breastfeeding and its Duration on Acute Otitis Media in Children in Brno, Czech Republic

Ermis Vogazianos, Paris Vogazianos, Jindřich Fiala, Dalibor Janeček, Ivo Šlapák

Cent Eur J Public Health 2007, 15(4):143-146 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.a3427  

Aim: We designed this study to assess the effect of breastfeeding and its duration on acute otitis media (AOM) in children of our geographical region. Our main aim was to determine the period of breastfeeding, necessary to achieve optimal preventive results against AOM. Methods: The children that, according to the questionnaire, had suffered AOM infections in the past were used as the study group with the rest of the children used as control. The duration of breastfeeding was divided into months and the odds ratios for the occurrence of AOM were calculated for the children breastfed for more than or equal to a certain period, compared to the children...

The Use of Data Set of the Hungarian Case-Control Surveillance of Congenital Abnormalities for Evaluation of Birth Outcomes beyond Birth Defects

Andrew E. Czeizel, Erzsébet H. Puhó, Zoltán Kazy

Cent Eur J Public Health 2007, 15(4):147-153 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.a3440  

Aims: To use the data set of the Hungarian Case-Control Surveillance of Congenital Abnormalities (HCCSCA) for the evaluation of birth outcomes beyond congenital abnormalities and to show as example the study of 49 antimicrobial drugs used in Hungary for the reduction of preterm births.Methods: The population-based data set of the Hungarian Case-Control Surveillance of Congenital Abnormalities, 1980-1996, included 38,151 newborn infants without birth defects and this sample represented 1.8% of Hungarian births. Medically recorded gestational age at delivery and birthweight, in addition the rate of preterm births and low birthweight newborns born...

Profile of Services Provided by an Accident and Emergency Care Department in Connection with Road Traffic Injuries Involving Children, 2003-2005

Olga Odetta Duma

Cent Eur J Public Health 2007, 15(4):154-157 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.a3428  

Objective: To study profile of services provided by an accident and emergency care department (AECD) in connection with road traffic injuries involving children in "St. Maria" University Paediatrics Hospital, Iaşi, Romania.Methods: The survey represents a descriptive analysis of 2003-2005 data regarding the 538 injured children aged 0-18 years and allowed to design the request pattern based on: a) comparison between observed case distribution by weekday, month and season and hypothetical equal distribution using χ2 test; b) most common features of cases.Results: Injuries ranged from 4.3% in March to 12.3% in August, being significantly...

Drugs and Fatal Traffic Accidents in the Czech Republic

Viktor Mravčík, František Vorel, Tomáš Zábranský

Cent Eur J Public Health 2007, 15(4):158-162 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.a3429  

Introduction: The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of psychotropic drug use in active participants in traffic accidents who died during the accident or shortly after it due to injuries resulting from the accident.Methods: A special mortality register containing data of all forensic autopsies was analysed. The studied sample consisted of persons who died during traffic accidents and were active participants in those ones (pedestrians, cyclists, or drivers), and were toxicologically tested during the forensic examination. Results: The sample consisted of 1,213 cases, 1,039 (85.7%) males and 174 (14.3%) females who died in 2003-2005....

"Our Class Does Not Smoke": The Czech Version of the "Smoke-Free Class Competition" Programme

Drahoslava Hrubá, Veronika Zachovalová, Halina Matějová, Irena Daňková

Cent Eur J Public Health 2007, 15(4):163-166 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.a3441  

The "Smoke-Free Class Competition" programme stems from a theory of the consequences of cultural and social miming in the onset of smoking addiction: it initiates non-smokers' active encouragement in supporting a non-smoking environment in class groups of teenagers. The first experience with the programme (Our Class Does Not Smoke) in the Czech Republic was obtained from a set of 13 classes from 6 primary schools with 261 14-year-olds who had been acquainted with the programme rules and voluntarily agreed to abide by them. Methods: Methodological instruction for teachers, school psychologists, pupils and parents providing motivation to various activities...

Occurrence of Campylobacter, Salmonella, Yersinia enterocolitica and Listeria monocytogenes in Some Retail Food Products in Novi Sad

Ljiljana B. Trajković-Pavlović, Milka B. Popović, Budimka D. Novaković, Vera P. Gusman-Pasterko, Marija R. Jevtić, Jelena M. Mirilov

Cent Eur J Public Health 2007, 15(4):167-171 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.a3432  

The official reporting system in the Province of Vojvodina (PV) indicates that cases of human salmonellosis were partly covered by complete epidemiological investigation including laboratory analysis of the suspected food. Intestinal campylobacteriosis and yersiniosis and four cases of septicemias caused by Listeria monocytogenes were not fully epidemiologically investigated. Actual country legislation on food safety does not include provisions for a routine control of the above mentioned pathogens except for Salmonella. In the PV, there are no other sources of data that contribute to risk assessment of the above food-borne diseases.A pilot investigation,...

Public Health and Potential Complications of Novel Fashion Accessories: An Unusual Foreign Body in the Upper Gastrointestinal Tract of an Adolescent

Niki E. Tsesmeli, Christos G. Savopoulos, Apostolos I. Hatzitolios, Dimitrios T. Karamitsos

Cent Eur J Public Health 2007, 15(4):172-174 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.b0043  

Various foreign bodies (FB) may be ingested. Most of them harmlessly pass through the anus but sharp or pointed ones are likely to cause complications. Although FB's ingestion is commonly seen by the emergency room personnel, a case of an ingested tongue-ring in the stomach of a female adolescent has not been reported. A 16-year-old female was referred to us for swallowing a tongue-ring while eating, a day after she had swallowed its clip. After finishing her meal, she had replaced the ingested tongue-ring with a similar one! She had a history of accidental swollowing the clip during breakfast a day before as well. She had no history of mental illness,...

The Report from the Sixty-Third International Atlantic Economic Society Conference held in Madrid, Spain, March 14-18, 2007

Helena Hnilicová

Cent Eur J Public Health 2007, 15(4):175-176 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.b0042  

FAO and WHO urge all countries to be more vigilant about food safety. Recent food scares prove weaknesses in food safety systems around the world.

Cent Eur J Public Health 2007, 15(4):139, 142  

New WHO pocket-charts will save lives by predicting heart attack and stroke.

Cent Eur J Public Health 2007, 15(4):146  

Parties to global tobacco control treaty take decisive steps to combat illicit tobacco trade and promote smoke-free environments.

Cent Eur J Public Health 2007, 15(4):166, 171