Prevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi in ticks removed from skin of people and circumstances of being bitten - research from the area of Poland, 2012-2014.

INTRODUCTION: During feeding, the tick sucks blood from the host along with the pathogens that are in the blood, simultaneously exchanging its own pathogens with the host. Humans can also be a host. It is important to understand the most typical circumstances in which people might become infected with Borrelia burgdorferi. This knowledge will help to prepare health education programmes aimed at the prevention of Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to determine the percentage of ticks infected with Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, depending on the circumstances of getting bitten. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The research material consisted of ticks acquired from people who had been bitten, and questionnaires completed by these people. 510 ticks were acquired from 257 females and 253 males. Following delivery of a tick for testing, the stage of its development was determined and a molecular assay of Borrelia burgdorferi DNA performed. RESULTS: A positive result of the nested-PCR test was obtained in 78 ticks, which represents 15.30% of all ticks. The infected ticks were collected from male (41 ticks - 52.56%) and female subjects (37 ticks - 47.44%). The biggest number of infected ticks were collected in autumn (54 ticks - 69.23%) and from people who had been into forests (44 ticks - 56.41%). Among the people from whom the infected ticks were acquired, the dominating group included persons over 16 years of age (53 persons - 67.95%) and children aged 0-5 years (16 persons - 20.51%). One in four infected ticks were acquired from the southwestern (20 ticks - 25.64%) and eastern regions of Poland (21 ticks - 26.92%). CONCLUSIONS: Infestation of ticks infected with Lyme disease spirochete in this study proved to be variable and depend on the season, the area of tick attack and the region in Poland. The results of the study clearly show that ticks infected with Borrelia burgdorferi inhabit all regions of Poland. The results are consistent with National Institute of Hygiene data which indicates that Lyme disease cases are recorded in all regions of Poland.

An analysis of malignant tumour incidence in the male population of Poland in the period 2006-2010.

In the period 2006-2010, the National Cancer Registry indicated a gradual increase in the incidence of malignant tumours among men, from 64,092 thousand in 2006 to 70,024 thousand in 2010. In the reference period, the number of deaths due to malignant tumours among men oscillated around 52 thousand. The aim of this study was to analyse the incidence of malignant tumours in the male population of Poland in the period 2006-2010. The study material comprised data obtained from the National Cancer Registry and from the Central Statistical Office, available on the websites of these institutions. The malignant-tumour incidence rate among the male population in 2006-2010 showed a slow but steady growth, while the death rate dropped slightly at the end of 2010. The hypothesis that the cancer-incidence risk grows with age has been proven, and a substantial increase in this risk is observed from the fourth decade of life. The most common malignant tumours in Poland in the analysed period included lung cancer, followed by prostate cancer and colorectal cancer. Future prophylactic and educational programmes should be addressed to men prior to reaching the age of increased cancer risk.

Problems of health education in rural areas in Poland.

Health promotion is aimed at the reduction of the differences in society's access to factors determining the frequency of occurrence of pro-health behaviours. This means the construction of health resources and increase in the level of egalitarianism in access to these resources. Health education carried out on a high level in rural schools provides actual possibilities for gaining these resources. Many examples of educational practices confirm that the establishment of health conditioning and health behaviours of schoolchildren, and the diagnosis of rural school on the background of the specificity of the community in which it functions. These are a basis for the construction of effective educational programmes, and not analysis of the differences between urban and rural children and adolescents. In Poland, the performance of health education in rural schools encounters many problems associated both with the lack of infrastructure for health promotion, insufficient perception of the importance of health education at school by the educational authorities, underestimation of primary health care, low activity of the local governments, and lack of qualified rural health promoters. Current health education in Polish rural schools deepens inequalities in access to health, and postpones the moment of providing equal opportunities for rural and urban schoolchildren with access to the resources which condition the maintenance or even an enhancement of health. The objective of the study is to present selected problems in the performance of health education in a Polish rural school in the light of international trends, experiences and discussions related with an optimum form of health promotion in the environment of rural a school and the community.

Self-examination of breasts as an element of breast cancer prophylaxis.

Increased mortality, morbidity and incidence of neoplastic diseases, malignancy especially, has been observed in Poland for over 20 years. Death rate has increased from 19.34% to 22.13% in male population and from 16.68% to 18.48% in females in 1987-1996. The prognosis for 2010 estimates ca 70,000 deaths in males and ca 40,0000 in females. In the male population, among malignancies, lung cancer accounts for the biggest number of deaths. In the female population the first place is taken by breast cancer. Breast cancer is likely to develop in any age, however it increases significantly with age. Among the causes is the lack of knowledge about self-detection of alarming signs and symptoms within breasts that should arouse their concern. The purpose of the study was to answer the following questions: 1. Do young women know the technique of self-examination of the breasts? 2. Where did they learn about the necessity of breast self-examination? 3. Do they self-examine breasts?