Przeglad epidemiologiczny最新文献

Bioterrorism is the phenomenon of the unlawful and intentional use of biological agents, such as pathogenic microorganisms or toxins, to cause health, economic and social harm. This paper discusses the basics of the CDC's classification of potential agents used in bioterrorism with a focus on the description of the most dangerous Category A pathogens. This includes their general characteristics, potential for use as biological weapons, and the most current forms of diagnosis, treatment and prevention of diseases caused by them. The paper highlights the role of international organisations, such as the UN and Interpol, in monitoring and countering bioterrorism threats. The paper also includes information about bioterrorist attacks in recent years and possible potential threats in the future. A narrative review of scientific literature, government reports and data from international agencies was conducted. The results highlight the need for continuous monitoring of bioterrorist threats, the development of effective response schemes and investment in protective measures. Despite its rarity, bioterrorism has a high potential effectiveness in causing social panic and economic destabilisation, making it one of the most serious challenges facing the world today.

Background: In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a significant decrease in the number of detected syphilis cases in Poland, but in the following years a more than two-fold increase in new infections was observed.

Objective: The aim of the study was to assess the epidemiological situation of syphilis cases in Poland in 2021-2022 in comparison to previous years.

Material and methods: Analysis of the epidemiological situation was based on case-based data from reports of newly detected syphilis cases recognized in 2021-2022 years and received from doctors and laboratories. Additionally aggregated data from MZ-56 reports on infectious diseases, infections and poisoning from 2016 to 2019 sent from Sanitary Inspections to NIPH NIH - NRI was used. Also, data about treatment patients in dermatology/venerology clinics in 2016-2022 reported on MZ-14 forms and published in statistics bulletin on NIPH NIH - NRI website.

Results: In 2021 in Poland 1,403 newly diagnosed syphilis cases were reported (diagnosis rate was 3.67 per 100,000), including 31 cases among non-Polish citizens. However in 2022, 44.8% more cases were diagnosed, i.e. 2,032 cases (diagnosis rate 5.38 per 100,000 inhabitants), including 75 infections of citizenship other than Polish. Between 2021-2022, the most often syphilis cases were detected among people below 40 year old (74.2%) and among men (88.4%).

Conclusions: In 2020, the number of reported a newly detected syphilis cases decreased more than by half compared to the previous year, what is probably connected with COVID-19 pandemic and action taken to limited this. However, the increase in infections observed since 2021 confirms changes in the frequency of syphilis detection in Poland observed even before the pandemic.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a significant threat to people's lives. Detection of adherence to preventive behaviors and risks perceived by people is essential for infection control. Medical students are future healthcare providers.

Objective: This study explored adherence to preventive behaviors and risk perception of the COVID-19 pandemic in Iran's medical students.

Material and methods: In this cross-sectional study, Iranian medical students participated whose preventive behaviors and risk perceptions of COVID-19 were assessed by an online tool. Generalized Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with a beta-regression family was used for mediation analysis.

Results: A total of 654 medical students participated. The mean risk perception of COVID-19 on a 1 to 7 range scale was 3.53±1.7 for themselves and 3.66±1.7 for their family members. The risk perception for disease severity was 2.9±1.5. According to SEM, male sex, COVID-19 history, and living with parents were predictors of adherence directly and through the mediator pathway of risk perception (P <0.1). Briefly, the male sex reduced adherence directly and through risk perception reduction. The history of COVID-19 directly reduced adherence, but through the mediation pathway of risk perception, it increased adherence. However, the total effect was in favor of adherence reduction. Living with parents directly increased adherence but reduced adherence through the mediation pathway of risk perception. However, the total effect was in favor of adherence increase.

Conclusions: Although conventionl statistical analaysis did not support the association of risk perception and adherence, the generalized SEM showed risk perception as a potential mediator with a small effect. The present study showed the roles of sex, COVID-19 history, and living with parents as the factors affecting risk perception and preventive behaviors on the basis of SEM results. Among the results, living with parrants was a modifiable factor to increase the adherence.

Introduction: Climate change has a significant impact on human health, particularly with regard to the respiratory, immune and cardiovascular systems. In addition, these changes have a significant impact on mental health and dermatological diseases. The main drivers of these health changes are increasing temperature, humidity, expansion of the ozone hole and increasing environmental pollution. Without corrective action, these trends will worsen.

Purpose of the work: The purpose of this review is to present the current state of knowledge on the impact of climate change on the development of skin diseases in humans and to explore possible methods of their prevention.

Materials and methods: A narrative review of the literature was conducted and an analysis of the literature retrieved from PubMed and Google Scholar databases was performed. Articles were searched using the keywords: "climate change", "environmental pollution", "UV radiation", "skin diseases".

Conclusions: Climate change is associated with a significant increase in the incidence of various skin diseases, especially cancer, allergic diseases, infectious diseases and reactions after insect bites. The main cause of these changes is global warming, but increased pollution and the expansion of the "ozone hole" are also significant contributors to the increase in the number of diseases. Increased awareness of these trends enables faster diagnosis and treatment of lesions, as well as more effective prevention of new diseases.

Background: In 2022, gonorrhoea cases in EU/EEA countries returned to the pre-pandemic upward trend, reaching a new peak. During the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic, in February 2022, Russia's invasion of Ukraine led to mass migration.

Objective: This paper aims to summarize the epidemiological situation of gonorrhoea in Poland in 2022, a year characterized by dual crises.

Material and methods: Epidemiological surveillance case-based data on gonorrhoea for 2022, incidence rates from bulletins (years 2013-2022), and the number of patients treated in dermatology-venereology clinics from the Statistical Bulletins of the MoH were compared with data from previous years.

Results: In 2022, Poland experienced a rise in gonorrhoea cases, with 630 reported, a 20.7% increase from the pre-pandemic peak in 2019. The incidence rate was 3.22 per 100,000 men and 0.21 per 100,000 women, with significant regional variation (0.08-4.66/100,000). Over 20% of cases reported in 2022 were diagnosed in 2020-2021. Most patients were Polish (91%), and none of the cases involved refugees fleeing the Ukraine conflict. The median time from diagnosis to reporting was 11 days, with 75% of cases reported within 4 weeks. Most cases involved men (93.3%) and were most common in the 25-34 age group (42.9%). N. gonorrhoeae frequently affected the genitourinary tract (79.7%), followed by the rectum (10.1%) and the pharynx (9.9%). Two cases of ocular infections involved adults. Nearly half of the diagnoses in 2022 were made by dermato-venerologists (46%).

Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic caused delays in reporting cases of gonorrhoea. The war in Ukraine didn't impact the increase in 2022, suggesting that the actual number of infections among refugees remained undetected. Strengthening surveillance and local coordination is crucial to address these and future challenges. Healthcare workers (include surveillance) must provide complete and up-to-date epidemiological data for effective prevention. Public health measures should improved access to diagnostics, treatment, and post-exposure prophylaxis.

Background: Tetanus is an infectious disease caused by the bacterium Clostridium tetani, which produces a neurotoxin (tetanospasmin) that causes spastic paralysis. This disease can only be prevented by vaccination. Tetanus is very rare in EU countries, where it mainly affects people over 60 years of age. Tetanus is a serious health problem in countries with low vaccination rates and poor hygiene conditions, and neonatal tetanus is a particularly significant problem in these countries. In Poland, according to the Vaccination Program, mandatory vaccinations against tetanus should be given to children and adolescents up to the age of 19.

Objective: The aim of the study was to assess the epidemiological situation of tetanus in Poland in 2020-2022.

Material and methods: The assessment of the epidemiological situation of tetanus in Poland in 2020-2022 was made based on the interpretation of data from the annual bulletins "Infectious diseases and poisonings in Poland" for 2020-2022 and the bulletins "Vaccinations in Poland" for 2020-2022 as well as data from individual epidemiological reports on diseases registered in the "Epibaza" system.

Results: In 2020, 2 cases of tetanus were registered in Poland, in 2021 - 5 cases, and in 2022 also 5 cases. The total incidence in 2020 was 0.005 per 100 000 people, in 2021 and 2022 - 0.013 per 100 000 and was lower compared to the median for 2015-2019 (0.031). In 2020-2021, all reports concerned hospitalized people, while in 2022 one person was treated as an outpatient. No cases were recorded in people under 30 years of age.

Conclusions: In Poland, a decrease in the number of reported tetanus cases was observed in 2020-2022 compared to previous years. Sporadic tetanus cases in Poland are recorded mainly in older age groups but also occur among adults under 60 years of age. The cases can be associated with the lack of booster vaccinations in adults.

This paper presents the history of X-ray wagons whose service contributed to improving the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis. The main aim of the paper is to analyse the surviving sources and present a contributory study that will draw the attention of researchers to the role of X-ray wagons in post-war Poland. The paper uses selected press titles, documents and witness accounts. The article is supplemented by a rich iconography found during a research in the State Archive in Wrocław (Archiwum Państwowe we Wrocławiu) and in the press. Due to the research, it has been possible to reconstruct - at least partially - the appearance, equipment and operation of X-ray wagons in post-war Poland. The study carried out in this article paves the way for further, more extensive studies. .

Background: Limited health literacy among adults contributes to poor health outcomes. Low health and oral health literacy (OHL) are particularly more visible among rural population of developing countries.

Objective: The present study was done to assess OHL among patients attending a community dental outreach program in Punjab, India.

Material and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 652 patients who attended who attended community dental out-reach program regularly organized by the institute. A self-constructed questionnaire (divided into Section A and Section B) written in English and Punjabi language was given to each subject. OHL was graded on a 15-point Likert scale and was assessed as low, medium and high on the basis of sum of total responses. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS-21 statistical package. ANOVA and Student t-test were used to do comparisons between different groups.

Results: 52.4% of the study subjects had low OHL scores and only 19.3% of subjects had high scores. Dental terms like 'mouth-guard', 'abrasion' and 'abscess' were known to only 20.4%, 37.4% and 32.5% of the subjects respectively. The mean OHL score revealed a significant association with the occupation (p=0.035) of study subjects. Only 45.2% of study subjects were 'interested in seeking more information on oral health' and it was significantly associated with the educational qualification of study subjects.

Conclusions: More than half of the subjects had low OHL scores. There is an urgent need to address this problem, especially among the rural population by taking appropriate measures by the government so that their health literacy level can be raised.

Objectives: We summarize the epidemiological situation of infectious diseases in 2022 in Poland, with particular attention to the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the influx of refugees from Ukraine, which occurred as a result of Russian aggression against this country.

Material and methods: The evaluation uses published surveillance reports for individual diseases (Epidemiological chronicle) and data from the national register of infectious diseases Epibaza, which collects mandatory reports and information obtained during epidemiological investigations conducted by the State Sanitary Inspection. Data on mortality were obtained from Statistics Poland.

Results: In 2022, 2,370,351 cases of COVID-19 and 29,026 deaths due to this disease were recorded. COVID-19 mortality in 2022 was significantly lower (by 68%) than in 2021, although COVID-19 still caused more deaths than other infectious diseases combined. In 2022, mass testing for SARS-CoV-2 was withdrawn, causing much higher incidence underestimation. For diseases such as influenza and influenza-like illnesses, chickenpox, Lyme disease, the 2022 incidence corresponded to the median for the years 2016-2020. The incidence of tick-borne encephalitis (+70.8% vs. 2016-2020 median), Clostridioides difficile infections (+93.5% vs. 2016-2020 median), norovirus infections (+62.8% vs. 2016-2020 median), invasive pneumococcal disease (+88.8% vs. 2016-2020 median), and sexually transmitted infections returned to the upward trend. In the case of HIV, diagnoses among migrants from Ukraine also contributed to the increased number of new diagnoses (+100.9%). Migrants from Ukraine accounted for the highest percentage of HIV/AIDS cases (23.9%), hepatitis B (6.2%) and C (10.6%), tuberculosis (4.6%), measles (11.1%), and rubella (4.8%). The size of the Ukrainian migrant population in Poland is estimated at 2%-3% of the general population.

Conclusions: For most diseases, there was an increase in recorded incidence compared to 2020-2021 and a return to pre-pandemic trends. The impact of the influx of refugees from Ukraine was small for most diseases.