Risk Behavior and Reciprocity of Organ Donation Attitudes in Young Men.

BACKGROUND: Lack of donor organs remains a major obstacle in organ transplantation. Our aim was to evaluate (1) the association between engaging in high-risk recreational activities and attitudes toward organ donation and (2) the degree of reciprocity between organ acceptance and donation willingness in young men. METHODS: A 17-item, close-ended survey was offered to male conscripts ages 18 to 26 years in all Swiss military conscription centers. Predictors of organ donation attitudes were assessed in bivariate analyses and multiple logistic regression. Reciprocity of the intentions to accept and to donate organs was assessed by means of donor card status. RESULTS: In 1559 responses analyzed, neither motorcycling nor practicing extreme sports reached significant association with donor card holder status. Family communication about organ donation, student, or academic profession and living in a Latin linguistic region were predictors of positive organ donation attitudes, whereas residence in a German-speaking region and practicing any religion predicted reluctance. Significantly more respondents were willing to accept than to donate organs, especially among those without family communication concerning organ donation. CONCLUSIONS: For the first time, it was shown that high-risk recreational activities do not influence organ donation attitudes. Second, a considerable discrepancy in organ donation reciprocity was identified. We propose that increasing this reciprocity could eventually increase organ donation rates.

[Importance of disposable medical materials and instruments in the prevention of intrahospital infections]. / Znacaj medicinskog materijala i instrumenata za jednokratnu upotrebu u prevenciji intrahospitalnih infekcija.

Possibility for transmission of infectious diseases from patients to medical staff or vice versa is significant. Protective measures for patients as well as physicians must be applied and controlled. The aim was to investigate the microbiological status of disposable and reusable instruments and materials in order to establish the difference between them in protection from microorganisms. From the 122 samples of wet swab from reusables, 70.5% were bacteriologically negative and 29.5% positive. Seventy percent of isolated bacteria were a pathogens, and 30% were pathogens. All 80 samples of wet swab from disposable products were sterile. The frequency of bacteriologically negative samples among disposable products is highly significant (p < 0.01). These results confirm that the level of protection is higher if disposable products are used. Reusables should be replaced by disposable materials to decrease the incidence of nosocomial infections.

[Specific hormone reactions to aircraft noise in pregnant women]. / Specificnosti hormonskog reagovanja trudnica na dejstvo avionske buke.

In order to find out if there is some specific hormonal reaction to JET aircraft noise, a group of eight pregnant women, living in a small suburban community near the airport "Beograd", were investigated. Pregnant women in the first three-months of pregnancy were exposed to the aircraft noise of 75-85 dB/A during 60 minutes, before and after that blood and urine samplers were taken for analyses. Those preliminary result of the level of cortisone, cortisol, testosterone and prolactin suggested that aircraft noise modified the hormonal reaction. Further investigation is needed in order to point out some other possibilities.

Asymptomatic Herpesvirus hominis (HVH) cervicovaginal infection in normal and high risk pregnancy.

Asymptomatic genital Herpesvirus hominis (HVH) infection in a group of 100 pregnant women with normal and high risk pregnancy was examined. Vaginal and cervical HVH shedding was diagnosed by the method of immunofluorescence. The results of cervical and vaginal swabs taken from the same patients, showed that in both groups of pregnant women examined, the presence of HVH infection in the vagina and cervix was not always simultaneous. Asymptomatic vaginal HVH type 1 infection was found more often in high risk pregnancy, and the difference in reference to the normal pregnancy was statistically significant. Asymptomatic cervical infection was more caused of HVH type 2 both in normal and high risk pregnancy.

[Prospective study of the incidence of HIV infection in the 1st trimester of pregnancy]. / Prospektivno ispitivanje ucestalosti HIV infekcije u prvom trimestru trudnoce.

The article deals with the results of an anonymous testing of HIV infections in Yugoslavia. The presence of anti-HIV-antibodies was examined in the blood of pregnant patients, randomly selected, in a Ward where about 3000 artificial abortions were carried out in the first trimester of pregnancy in a six-month period. On the basis of the obtained results one patient of 177 tested women was infected by HIV virus. At the same time, it can be presumed that among 3000 pregnancies there were many anti-HIV positive persons. It should be emphasized that the staff was not aware of HIV infection in one patient, and that in Yugoslav epidemiological conditions a HIV infected person could unexpectedly be detected without preliminary findings and data.

[HIV infection and human reproduction]. / HIV infekcija i humana reprodukcija.

Problems connected with HIV infection, especially with its transmission, problems of HIV infection as an indicator of the termination of pregnancy, the role of pregnancy in the activation of latent HIV infection, and the possibility of the transmission of HIV infection by breast feeding are put forward and discussed. The authors present the results of their own studies of the presence of HIV antigen in the genital secretion, fetal tissue, and amniotic fluid in 4 anti-HIV positive pregnant women, in whom pregnancy was interrupted because of HIV infection. HIV antigen was positive in the cervical secretion and fetal tissue of one of the four pregnant women, whose diagnosis was ab. imminens. The presence of HIV virus, probably also of HIV antigen, in the cervical secretion appears significant for the transmission of infection from mother to child and for the occurrence of spontaneous abortion. When it is not possible to apply the method of HIV virus isolation, the determination of HIV antigen could have a prognostic importance of the effect of HIV on the course and outcome of pregnancy.

Effects of reducing diet and increased leisure time physical activity on hypertension associated with obesity.

The study examined the effects of energy restriction and increased leisure time physical activity on the body mass, body fat, and blood pressure. A group of moderately obese women (120-160% of ideal body mass) referred to the Dietetic Unit as out-patients, were assigned to a reducing diet and increased activities. The diet provided an average of 4.18 MJ (bout 1000 kcalories), with a reduced salt intake of 0.5 g per day, enriched with cellulose and supplemented by trace elements and vitamins. Increased leisure time activities consisted in one-hour walking a day at the least and ten-minute light gymnastics. The average reduction in the blood pressure obtained in the study was 19 mmHg systolic and 10 mmHg diastolic in the non-exercising group. The exercised subjects had a greater reduction in the systolic (23 mmHg) and diastolic (11 mmHg) blood pressures. The significant correlation was not found between the body mass loss and the blood pressure decrease. It was observed that the normal blood pressure was achieved in about two thirds of the patients when they had lost 9 to 132 percent of their body mass, indicating that the achievement of a desirable body mass is not essential for the sizeable reduction in the blood pressure. Although this study demonstrates that a combined nutritional-physical activity intervention program may be effective in reducing a high blood pressure, it does not show a distinction between the body mass loss and physical activity as mediating factors.

Mode of delivery and level of passive immunity against herpes simplex virus.

The level of passive neonate protection against HSV depends on the transplacentally acquired neutralized HSV antibodies' titer. In this study we investigated the anti HSV antibodies' transplacental passage in a group of women who delivered vaginally and pregnant women who had cesarean section, with the aim of examining the influence of the mode of delivery on the level of passive immunity to HSV. Serologic examination was performed in a group of 102 women who delivered vaginally and 80 pregnant women who had cesarean section, using the test of microneutralization. The titer of anti HSV type 1 and anti HSV type 2 antibodies in the mothers' and cord blood was determined and compared. The cord serum neutralizing HSV type 1 antibodies' titer, was twice higher as compared to those in mothers blood in 60.7% of paired sera in the group of women who delivered vaginally. The cord serum anti HSV type 1 titers were twice as high as compared to those in mothers' blood only in 15.5% of paired sera in group of pregnant women who had cesarean section. In the cases when cesarean section was performed, our results showed the lack of anti HSV type 2 antibodies in 15% of cord sera, even though the mothers' sera were anti HSV type 2 positive. The results of this study point to the possibility that antibody transfer through the placenta is an active and selective process that depends also on the mode of delivery: there are lower levels of HSV neutralizing antibodies in the cord sera of infants whose mothers had cesarean section compared to those who delivered vaginally.