[Investigation of a family cluster of influenza A/H1N1 infections in Germany, 2009]. / Untersuchungen zu einem familiären Cluster von Infektionen durch Influenza A/H1N1 in Deutschland, 2009.

INTRODUCTION: On May 3, 2009, a first case of influenza A/H1N1 infection occurred in the federal state of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. In order to stop the possible spread of the virus and to study the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of the infection, an investigation was launched by the local health authorities and the RKI. METHODS: Standardised questionnaires were used to assess demographic and clinical data. Specimens were collected from case patients and close contacts and were analysed for influenza A/H1N1 using real-time PCR. RESULTS: The index patient showed fever and coughing 3.5 days after returning from a holiday in Mexico. The local health authorities were informed on May 3, and measures were rapidly implemented. These measures included a trace-back of possible contact persons, isolation of the case and close contacts, prophylactic treatment with Oseltamivir. Virological investigations showed that the case shedded viral genome up until the last day of antiviral therapy. Viral genome was also detected in the spouse and the son of the patient. Both showed no symptoms under a prophylactic treatment with antiviral medication. No viral genome was detected in three other family members, and in six other contact persons outside of the family. DISCUSSION: The spread of the virus was contained due to the fast response of the local health authorities. Two secondary cases occurred in the family. These cases remained asymptomatic, possibly due to antiviral prophylaxis. Epidemiological and virological results suggest that the influenza A/H1N1 virus has a longer incubation period and that viral shedding may probably be prolonged when compared with seasonal influenza.

[Chemical accident in Schönbeck--an assessment of the risk to health and environment]. / Der Chemieunfall in Schönbeck--eine Abschätzung der Gefahren für Gesundheit und Umwelt.

Travelling from Belgium to the BUNA works in Schkopau, ten of eighteen tank wagons filled with vinyl chloride (VC) derailed on the Magdeburg-Halle railway line just outside Schönebeck station. One wagon exploded and four others went up in flames. Buildings and trees in gardens located in the immediate vicinity of the track caught fire and burned. Four owners of garden plots suffered burns. A total of 28 people received inpatient treatment in a nearby hospital, another 268 people were treated as outpatients. The typical symptoms of fume poisoning such as headache, nausea, irritations of respiratory tract and eyes were the primarily diagnosed problems. The vegetation was damaged by flue gases and developing HCl causing fire and caustic burns. Fire brigades and special task forces succeeded to control the looming danger of health and environmental hazards by cooling the burning wagons and pumping the liquid gases from the tank wagons. Vinyl chloride which was released over several days was measured in residential areas to be 0.06-8 ml/m3 air. Vinyl chloride is a gas which is heavier than air. When exposed to light it will be degraded within a few days. A technical guide concentration of 3 ml/m3 air has been adopted for its cancerogenic potential. Dioxin values measured in soils and plants were in the natural range of 20 ng I-TE/kg DS. These values increased to 8300 ng at the very seat of the fire only. With the water used for fire fighting vinyl chloride penetrated into the groundwater revealing values of up to 73 mg/litre. A total of 292 urine samples taken from patients and members of the rescue forces, residents and a control group were tested for their contents of the VC metabolite thiodiacetic acid. However, this number does not allow to draw any conclusions with regard to a potential increase in the risk of cancer. With 0.27, 0.43 and 0.37 mg/litre of urine, the mean values are in the normal range for unexposed people. Only three cases showing values of up to 3.1 mg/litre indicated that a real exposure had taken place. The environmental and health authorities have evaluated the results of the measurements at site. They had set up a consultancy service and were integrated in civil forums. When the project "Extension of the vinyl chloride plant" for PVC production at Buna Sow Leuna Olefinverbund GmbH will be completed, deliveries of vinyl chloride by rail and road will be unnecessary in future. However, the problem of transporting dangerous goods and a complex training of task forces will continue to be of topical importance.

Airway diseases and allergies in East and West German children during the first 5 years after reunification: time trends and the impact of sulphur dioxide and total suspended particles.

BACKGROUND: East-West comparison studies in Europe find higher prevalences of infectious airway diseases and lower prevalences of allergies in eastern areas. Pollution from sulphur dioxide (SO2) or total suspended particles (TSP) are discussed as causes of this difference. METHODS: In four differently polluted areas of East Germany where pollution decreased dramatically between 1989 and 1995 cross-sectional studies in about 7-year-old children were repeated every year between 1991 and 1995. In two differently polluted areas of West Germany studies with the same design were done in 1991 and 1994. In all, 19090 children participated in the study. Thirteen different questions about airway diseases and allergies were evaluated. Logistic regression was used to adjust for confounding. RESULTS: With the exception of pneumonia, all infectious airway diseases and irritations of the airways show a steeper temporal decrease in East than in West Germany or are positively associated with either SO2 or TSP in East Germany. For allergies and related symptoms no differences in time trends could be detected or no association with SO2 or TSP could be seen in East Germany. CONCLUSION: Most airway diseases were more frequent in East than in West Germany in 1991 and were associated with SO2 or TSP. The decrease in these pollutants between 1991 and 1995 has already had a favourable effect. An effect of SO2 or TSP pollution on allergies and related symptoms could not be detected. This pollution does not protect against the development of allergies.

Association of biochemical and subjective indicators of drinking habits with performance on different neurobehavioral tasks.

The present paper outlines the association of biochemical and subjective indicators of alcohol consumption. Due to its relevance as a potential confounding variable in occupational neurotoxicology, both sources of information about drinking habits were related to neurobehavioral test performance. A sample of 308 rotogravure printers and control subjects from a cross-sectional longitudinal study in various German printing plants was studied. Duration of employment was 4 months to 44 years (mean = 14.9, sd = 9.67). Mean age was 38.4 years (range 21 - 60). From venous blood samples three parameters considered to be sensitive for increased consumption of alcohol were used. They were carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT), gamma glutamyl transferase (GGT), and mean cell volume (MCV). During the medical interview subjects with any chronic liver disease were identified and excluded from data analysis. Additionally, information about weekly consumption of alcohol was assessed and transformed to grams per day (g/d) values. Neurobehavioral testing included simple reaction time (SPES version), switching attention, symbol digit substitution, and digit span (EURONEST version). Additionally, a questionnaire of neurotoxic complaints was administrated. Other covariates, i.e. verbal ability, history of solvent exposure, and age were controlled. GGT and CDT were elevated in 10.5% and 6.6% of the population. 3.5% of the subjects reported daily consumption higher than 60 gram. There were positive correlations of CDT and GGT with the subjective indicator of drinking habits. The magnitude of these relationships were low, but the associations were significant. MCV was not correlated with subjective reports of drinking habits, but it showed convergent correlations with CDT and GGT. Comparison of these two parameters with performance on neurobehavioral tasks yielded only one negative association, i.e. between the memory-loaded tasks factor and GGT. CDT and subjective estimation of alcohol consumption were not related to any cognitive function tested in this study. Especially, the digits-backward task was negatively correlated with increased GGT.

Man-made mineral fibre boards in buildings--health risks caused by quality deficiencies.

The Institute of Hygiene was requested to determine causes and scope of health complaints made by the employees of Haldensleben district administration after sound absorbing mineral fibre boards had been installed as suspended ceilings. The boards were coated with a lean water-carried paint; however, the edges, which were partially frayed, were not coated. The air inside the rooms was measured on all four storeys of the building, followed by scanning electron microscopy in compliance with VDI Code 3492. In addition, measurements showed fibres with diameters of > 3 microns which are not subject to the regulations for carcinogenic substances, but, in contrast to the thinner fibres, they may cause irritations of skin and mucosa. The employees were questioned about their health problems. At the beginning of 1994, a total of 79 of the 133 employees complained about itching, reddening and burning of their eyes as well as irritations of the upper respiratory tract. More than 50% had consulted a doctor. Late in 1994, another questionnaire survey was completed. The fibre content of the office air was determined to vary from 1000 to 3500 fibres/m3 and, in addition, 100-200 fibres with diameters of > 3 microns. Our investigations showed that there is an interrelationship between the degree of dust accumulation in the offices and health complaints. Independently of the current discussion of the cancer causing potential of thin man-made mineral fibres, the very long and thick mineral fibres (> 3 microns in diameter) are of topical importance to health.

[Morphometric-stereological study of hippocampal long term potentiation with special consideration of the analysis of variance with two-way hierarchical classification]. / Morphometrisch-stereologische Untersuchungen zur hippocampalen Langzeitpotenzierung unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der zweifachen hierarchischen Varianzanalyse.

Regarding the hippocampal formation and especially the external two thirds of it's dentate molecular layer a lot of possible morphological changes after long-term potentiation (LTP) have been described in literature. The present morphometric-stereological study of vesicles in axo-spino-dendritic synapses of the inner third of the molecular layer was done under the aspect of heterosynaptic influences following LTP. Because of the hierarchical link of the three analytic levels (test-group, animal, synapse), for statistical interpretation we used the analysis of variance with two-way hierarchical classification. Between the 3 groups (passive control, active control, LTP-group) we found no significant differences. Because of the great differences between the vesicles even within a single synapse we subsequently investigated the middle third of the molecular layer, i.e. the terminal area of the stimulated perforant path. No differences between the three groups we found here either. There was no confirmation for the expected greater homogenization of the synapses based on the uniform input. As a result of this study pure morphological studies without selective staining of specific population of synapses are considered inadvisable. Only with the help of selective staining in the area of the synapses possible differences between the groups may be found.

Pretraining septal driving of hippocampal rhythmic slow activity facilitates acquisition of visual discrimination.

Studies have shown hippocampal rhythmic slow activity (H-RSA) to reflect both learning and memory processes across a variety of species and conditioning procedures. In order to investigate these relations further. H-RSA was manipulated by medial septal (MS) stimulation directly before training rats for light/dark discrimination in a T-maze. Rats that had H-RSA increased learned the discrimination significantly faster than those that had H-RSA blocked and control rats. In addition, increase in H-RSA before training was found to correlate with speed of learning. The evidence of this study is consistent with results of other studies showing septal-hippocampal interaction during learning. The results also support the view that H-RSA may be a neurophysiological representation of learning and memory processes.

[Effect of dl-alpha-tocopherol on incorporation of selenium in "selenium-indicating" organs and on glutathione peroxidase activity in rat and rabbit erythrocytes following application of therapeutic doses of sodium selenite]. / Einfluss von dl-alpha-Tokopherol auf die Seleneinlagerung in "selenanzeigende" Organe und die Aktivität der Glutathionperoxydase in den Erythrozyten von Kaninchen und Ratten nach der Aplikation von Natriumselenit in therapeutischer Dosis.

An explanation of the functions of both vitamin E and selenium in metabolism and an account of the correlations between them is followed by reference to the results obtained by the authors of this paper from studies into the effects of dl-alpha-tocopherol on selenium levels in the M. longissimus dorsi, blood, and liver as well as on the activity of glutathione-peroxidase (EC 1.11.1.9) in erythrocytes of rabbit and rat, following application of therapeutic doses of selenium (0.5 mg/kg live weight). In both species selenium application increased the glutathione-peroxidase activity in erythrocytes. Vitamin E had no additional effect. Application of selenium was followed by rise in intraorganic selenium concentrations. In rabbit, the effect of vitamin T on intraorganic distribution of selenium caused an increased of the selenium level in the liver, but not in the muscles. No vitamin E effect was recordable in the rat. The findings are discussed, with conclusions being suggested for the treatment of metabolic disorders in the context of selenium and vitamin E and for non-invasive liver therapy.