scholarly journals Lead Toxicity and Pollution in Poland

Author(s):  
Angelika Edyta Charkiewicz ◽  
Jeffrey R. Backstrand

Background: Human exposure to lead can occur in a variety of ways, all of which involve exposure to potentially toxic elements as environmental pollutants. Lead enters the body via ingestion and inhalation from sources such as soil, food, lead dust and lead in products of everyday use and in the workplace. The aim of this review is to describe the toxic effects of lead on the human body from conception to adulthood, and to review the situation regarding lead toxicity in Poland. Results: Pb is very dangerous when it is absorbed and accumulates in the main organs of the body, where it can cause a range of symptoms that vary from person to person, the time of exposure and dose. Lead in adults can cause an increase in blood pressure, slow nerve conduction, fatigue, mood swings, drowsiness, impaired concentration, fertility disorders, decreased sex drive, headaches, constipation and, in severe cases, encephalopathy or death. Conclusions: Exposure to lead in Poland remains an important public health problem. This review will cover the range of lead exposures, from mild to heavy. Public health interventions and policies also are needed to reduce occupational and environmental exposure to this element.

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angelika Charkiewicz ◽  
Jeffrey Backstrand

Abstract Background The aim of this review is to describe lead’s toxic effects on the human body from conception through adulthood.Results One toxic heavy metal is lead. Pb is very dangerous when it is absorbed and accumulates in the main organs of the body where it can cause a range of symptoms that vary from person to person, the time of exposure and dose. Lead in adults can cause an increase in blood pressure, slow nerve conduction, fatigue, mood swings, drowsiness, impaired concentration, fertility disorders, decreased sex drive, headaches, constipation and in severe cases encephalopathy or death.Conclusions Toxic exposure to lead in Poland remains an important public health problem. This review will cover the range of lead exposures, from mild to heavy. Public health interventions and policies also are needed to reduce occupational and environmental exposure to this heavy metal.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
AHMED DAHIRU BALAMI ◽  
Salmiah Muhammad Said ◽  
Nor Afiah Muhammad Zulkefli ◽  
Bachok Norsa’adah ◽  
Bala Muhammad Audu

Abstract Background Many studies on malaria knowledge, attitude and practice among pregnant have been conducted in Hausa speaking communities in Nigeria. Despite this, no standard and uniform instrument for assessing this important public health problem has been developed in the Hausa language, even though it is widely spoken. The aim of this study was to develop and validate a questionnaire in Hausa language assessing information, motivation, and behavioural skills for malaria prevention during pregnancy. Methods The questionnaire was first developed in English language, and then assessed for its contents by a team of experts. It was then forwardly translated to Hausa, and backwardly translated again to English by independent language experts. These two English versions were then compared by a Public Health expert, following which the questionnaire was administered to 190 Hausa speaking antenatal care attendees. Exploratory factor analysis was performed on the data collected. Sixty three out of the 190 respondents were invited after two weeks to answer the same questionnaire, following which reliability tests were performed. Results The questionnaire showed good internal consistency, with Cronbach’s alpha values of 0.859, 0.890 and 0.773 for information, motivation and behavioural skills constructs respectively. The motivation and behavioural skills constructs were able to delineate their items into three and two sub-sections respectively. The factor loadings for the two constructs ranged from 0.610 to 0.965. As for test retest reliability, the Krippendorff’s alpha values for the items of the motivation section ranged from 0.941 to 0.996; that for behavioural skills ranged from 0.810 to 0.953, while for frequency of ITN use, it was 0.988. The Cohen’s kappa values for the information section ranged from 0.689-0.974, except the item for ‘fever’ (zazzabi) which was 0.382, and was as such reworded to a simpler terminology ‘hotness of the body’ (zafin jiki). Conclusions The Hausa language IMB questionnaire on malaria in pregnancy demonstrated good validity, and a high level of reliability. It is as such recommended for use among Hausa speaking communities to ensure uniformity and objectivity.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
AHMED DAHIRU BALAMI ◽  
Salmiah Muhammad Said ◽  
Nor Afiah Muhammad Zulkefli ◽  
Bachok Norsa’adah ◽  
Bala Muhammad Audu

Abstract Background: Many studies on malaria knowledge, attitude and practice among pregnant women have been conducted in Hausa speaking communities in Nigeria. Despite this, no standard and uniform instrument for assessing this important public health problem has been developed in the Hausa language, even though it is widely spoken. The aim of this study was to develop and validate a questionnaire in Hausa language assessing information, motivation, and behavioural skills for malaria prevention during pregnancy.Methods: The questionnaire was first developed in English language, and then assessed for its contents by a team of experts. It was then forwardly translated to Hausa, and backwardly translated again to English by independent language experts. These two English versions were then compared by a Public Health expert, following which the questionnaire was administered to 190 Hausa speaking antenatal care attendees. Exploratory factor analysis was performed on the data collected. Sixty three out of the 190 respondents were invited after two weeks to answer the same questionnaire, following which reliability tests were performed.Results: The questionnaire showed good internal consistency, with Cronbach’s alpha values of 0.859, 0.890 and 0.773 for information, motivation and behavioural skills constructs respectively. The motivation and behavioural skills constructs were able to delineate their items into three and two sub-sections respectively. The factor loadings for the two constructs ranged from 0.610 to 0.965. As for test retest reliability, the Krippendorff’s alpha values for the items of the motivation section ranged from 0.941 to 0.996; that for behavioural skills ranged from 0.810 to 0.953, while for frequency of ITN use, it was 0.988. The Cohen’s kappa values for the information section ranged from 0.689-0.974, except the item for ‘fever’ (zazzabi) which was 0.382, and was as such reworded to a simpler terminology ‘hotness of the body’ (zafin jiki).Conclusions: The Hausa language IMB questionnaire on malaria in pregnancy demonstrated good validity, and a high level of reliability. It is as such recommended for use among Hausa speaking communities to ensure uniformity and objectivity.


2004 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 551-555 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jon S. Vernick ◽  
Jason W. Sapsin ◽  
Stephen P. Teret ◽  
Julie Samia Mair

For at least the past three decades, injuries have been recognized as an important public health problem in the United States. In 2001, there were approximately 157,000 deaths due to injuries in the US. There were also almost 30 million non-fatal injury incidents.Injuries have been defined as: “…any unintentional or intentional damage to the body resulting from acute exposure to thermal, mechanical, electrical, or chemical energy or from the absence of such essentials as heat or oxygen”. Within public health, the field of injury prevention and control is dedicated to reducing the burden of injuries on the lives of people around the world.Injury prevention seeks to reduce injuries by: 1) identifying risk factors, 2) designing interventions to address the risk factors, 3) implementing those interventions, 4) evaluating their effectiveness, and 5) replicating those that work. As with many other public health problems, interventions can target factors associated with the human or host, vehicle or vector, and the physical or social environment.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (14) ◽  
pp. 51-55
Author(s):  
Ülkü VERANYURT ◽  
Betül AKALIN

Background: Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE) infections are a significant threat to public health due to the limited availability of antibiotics and the effect on mortality. This study was conducted retrospectively to determine the prevalence of CRE in a teaching and research hospital in Istanbul. Materials and Methods: In 2016, 2017 and in the first half of 2018 Klebsiella species were evaluated retrospectively in culture samples that were sent to Microbiology Laboratory in an educational hospital. The typing of Klebsiella species were performed with MALDITOF-MS device (Biomerieux, France). Imipenem, merapenem, ertapenem susceptibilities of the strains were evaluated with VITEC2 Compact (Biomerieux, France) according to EUCAST (European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing). If the strains were found to be resistant, the results were confirmed by the antibiotic gradient test. Results: In our study, 257 samples; Klebsiella oxytoca 9 (3.49%) and Klebsiella pneumoniae 248 (96.51%) were detected. 130 endotracheal aspirates, 57 wounds, 34 blood, 15 urine, 9 sputum, 3 catheters, 4 tissue biopsies, 2 mediastinum, 2 peritoneal fluid and 1 pleural fluid strains were identified. While none of the Klebsiella oxytoca strains were resistant to carbapenems, the percentages of Klebsiella pneumoniae resistance against imipenem, merapenem and ertapenem were found to be 23.29%, 16.94% and 29.44% respectively. Conclusion: The increasing problem of carbapenem-resistant (CR) Klebsiella pneumoniae in the last decade has been observed in our hospital for the last 2 years. CR strains often show increased resistance to other antibiotics and their treatment possibilities are limited. It increases the importance of controlling this factor. The application of effective infection control programs and the use of rational antibiotics are of great importance.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 111
Author(s):  
Hepti Muliyati ◽  
Menis Mbali ◽  
Hadidja Bando ◽  
Riana Pangestu Utami ◽  
Opyn Mananta

Wasting on children is an important public health problem because of its considerable impact on their health and growth. This problem could lead to iron deficiency which could induce infection disease and probably lower a child’s intelligence as a long-term effect. This study aimed to analyze factors related to wasting on 12-59 months children in Bulili Public Health Center (PHC), Palu City. The analytical descriptive study designed with a cross-sectional approach was applied in this study. One hundred and twenty-one subject was selected from 283 children with purposive sampling technique. Data were analyzed with chi-square and Fisher exact test with significant (p < 0,05). The result showed that most children with low birth weight experienced wasting with a p-value = 0,000. Most of the children from higher-income families did not experience wasting with a p-value = 0,004. Most children who didn’t receive breastfeeding milk did not experience wasting with a p-value = 0,958. This study concluded a correlation between low birth weight and income to wasting, but breastfeeding practice was not related.


2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-39
Author(s):  
Ioana-Codruta Racz

Abstract Health is an integral part of sustainable development, a process that can’t be materialized if there is a high prevalence of diseases, a high percentage of those is due to environmental factors. An important component of health is the healthy nutrition, especially of children and pregnant women. Iodine is an essential micronutrient for a good nutrition that covers the physiological needs of the body, iodine deficiency having important consequences for mother and fetus, then for children, especially in the first years of life. The main role of iodine in the body is due to his importance for synthesis of thyroid hormones involved in growth and development of psychic and somatic body, starting with intrauterine life. Iodine deficiency was, and still is, a public health problem, globally the most affected countries are in Central Africa, central South America and northern Asia. Europe iodine deficiency is relatively lower. Multiple interventions were made to improve and even eradicate iodine deficiency disorders, in particular through the universal iodization of salt for human consumption, but must be supported in continuing efforts because this issue is not fully resolved to this day.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (8) ◽  
pp. e0256659
Author(s):  
Mehmet Aykur ◽  
Hande Dagci

Free-living amoeba (FLA) is widely distributed in the natural environment. Since these amoebae are widely found in various waters, they pose an important public health problem. The aim of this study was to detect the presence of Acanthamoeba, B. mandrillaris, and N. fowleri in various water resources by qPCR in Izmir, Turkey. A total of (n = 27) 18.24% Acanthamoeba and (n = 4) 2.7% N. fowleri positives were detected in six different water sources using qPCR with ITS regions (ITS1) specific primers. The resulting concentrations varied in various water samples for Acanthamoeba in the range of 3.2x105-1.4x102 plasmid copies/l and for N. fowleri in the range of 8x103-11x102 plasmid copies/l. The highest concentration of Acanthamoeba and N. fowleri was found in seawater and damp samples respectively. All 27 Acanthamoeba isolates were identified in genotype level based on the 18S rRNA gene as T4 (51.85%), T5 (22.22%), T2 (14.81%) and T15 (11.11%). The four positive N. fowleri isolate was confirmed by sequencing the ITS1, ITS2 and 5.8S rRNA regions using specific primers. Four N. fowleri isolates were genotyped (three isolate as type 2 and one isolate as type 5) and detected for the first time from water sources in Turkey. Acanthamoeba and N. fowleri genotypes found in many natural environments are straightly related to human populations to have pathogenic potentials that may pose a risk to human health. Public health professionals should raise awareness on this issue, and public awareness education should be provided by the assistance of civil authorities. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study on the quantitative detection and distribution of Acanthamoeba and N. fowleri genotypes in various water sources in Turkey.


PEDIATRICS ◽  
1964 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-37
Author(s):  
Dacio Pinheiro

Tetanus in the newborn infant is still a most important public health problem in Brazil. An analysis of 238 cases, admitted in a two-year period to the pediatric service of the University Hospital in Sao Paulo, is presented. It is suggested that prognosis is related more closely to amount of tetanospasmin produced and absorbed by the central nervous system than to some of the more traditional indices of clinical severity. The plan of treatment in use is presented, since the over-all recovery rate compares very favorably with other published reports.


Author(s):  
Jose Andonegui ◽  
Aitor Eguzkiza ◽  
Mikel Auzmendi ◽  
Luis Serrano ◽  
Ane Zurutuza ◽  
...  

e-Ophthalmology is the use of information and telecommunications technologies to provide or support a group of activities related to ophthalmic care. Chronic glaucoma is an ocular disease characterized by optic neuropathy that leads to progressive loss of the visual fields and often is associated with elevated intraocular pressure levels. Glaucoma is an important public health problem because it is one of the main causes of blindness worldwide and generates an important demand for ophthalmologic consultations. The aim of this chapter is to discuss the application e-Ophthalmology-based models in the diagnosis and follow-up of chronic glaucoma. The authors describe the current status of the use of e-Ophthalmology-based models in the screening and follow-up of chronic glaucoma, the main advantages of these models, the technologic requirements for their implementation, and future trends in this field.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document