[Dirofilariasis in the Nizhny Novgorod Region].

The paper presents the results of clinical, epidemiological, and epizootological analyses of local cases of human dirofilariasis in the Nizhny Novgorod Region, which suggest that natural and climatic changes, namely the abnormally hot summer in 2010-2011 and increasing migratory processes among human beings and animals, open up possibilities for forming foci ofdirofilariasis outside habitats of Dirofilaria repens.

[A possible association of fatal pneumonia with mutations of pandemic influenza A/H1N1 sw1 virus in the receptor-binding site of the HA1 subunit].

The paper gives the results of sequence analysis of 150 positive samples in real-time RT-PCR, including 47 autopsy materials from patients (including 10 pregnant women), who died from fatal pneumonia mainly in November-December 2009, in whom the lifetime etiological diagnosis had not been made and hence no early etiotropic therapy performed. 70% of the primary materials from the deceased patients were found to have pandemic influenza A(H1N1) v mutants in the lung tissue with D222G (15%), D222N (15%), D222E (2%) substitutions, as well as a mixture of mutants (38%). Nasopharyngeal lavages from 3 Chukotka deceased patients exhibited only consensus (nonmutant) D222 virus variants; there was a mixture of consensus and mutant virus variants in the trachea and a mixture of mutant ones in the lung. Preliminary data from the study of the interaction of the hemagglutinin of two strains having D222G and D222N mutations with 9 oligosaccharides imitating the variants of cell receptors for influenza A virus suggest that there is a double receptor specificity for alpha2'-3' and alpha2'-6'-sialosides with a preponderance of alpha2'-3'-specificity. Further spread of the mutants that have acquired a high virulence and preserved their capacity for the respiratory route of human infection may lead to the situation similar to that seen in the 1918-1919 pandemic. Another scenario for evolution of the virus is to preserve its receptor specificity for alpha2'-3'-sialosides and high virulence with losses of alpha2'-6' specificity and capacity for aerosol transmission, by damping the pandemic.

[Regional problems in the provision of hygienic reliability of drinking water consumption].

The paper gives the recent results of researches made at the F.F. Erisman Federal Hygiene Research Center on water-supply hygiene. It presents a functional model of comprehensive assessment of the factors determining the sanitary reliability of drinking water supply, shows the specific features of formation of conditions for water consumption in a number of regions of the Russian Federation and the risk of a water factor to human health, and substantiates the mechanism of water quality control and management at the regional level.

[The status and dynamics of occupational morbidity in the Novgorod region]. / Sostoianie i dinamika professional'noi zabolevaemosti v Novgorodskoi oblasti.

The article deals with results obtained by analysis of occupational morbidity by registration materials according to Russian Health Ministry Order No 176 (05/28/01).

[Organization of sanitary and epidemiological supervision of radiation exposure during x-ray studies in Novgorod region]. / Organizatsiia sanitarno-épidemiologicheskogo kontrolia za struktoroi oblucheniia pri provedenii rentrenologicheskikh issledovanii v Novgorodskoi oblasti.

Providing up-to-date X-ray equipment for medical institutions of Novgorod region could improve efficiency of radiologic diagnosis. Introducing individual radiation monitoring of radiation dose for X-ray staffers and for patients results in objective assessment of absorbed radiation doses for lower risk of long-term accidental effects.

[The role of catecholamines in the mechanisms of thyroid gland influence on the development of "stress" and "steroid" stomach ulcers]. / O roli katekholaminov v mekhanizmakh vliianiia shchitovidnoi zhelezy na vozniknovenie "stressornykh" i "steroidnykh" iazv zheludka

It was demonstrated in experiments on rats that induction of "stress" and "steroid" ulcers of the stomach was accompanied by reduction in adrenaline and noradrenaline content in the wall of the stomach. Induction of such ulcers in the animals with experimental disturbances of the thyroid gland function was also accompanied by a reduction in catecholamine content in the wall of the stomach; this phenomenon was much more pronounced in hyperthyroidism than in hypothyroidism, however.