[Awareness of clinical relevance of malignant testicular cancer among university students : The value of ​prevention campaigns]. / Das Bewusstsein bezüglich der klinischen Relevanz von bösartigen Hodentumoren unter Studierenden : Der Stellenwert von Aufklärungskampagnen.

BACKGROUND: Early detection of localized testicular cancer is associated with a significantly better prognosis compared to advanced tumor stages. Testicular cancer prevention campaigns like "Hodencheck.de" launched by the German Society of Urology or the international campaign "Movember Foundation" want to inform and raise awareness about testicular cancer and other male cancers. This study aimed to evaluate to which extent public prevention campaigns may influence the behavior of young men and women in Germany. OBJECTIVES: Questionnaires were used to ask students at the University of Frankfurt, Germany, whether they are familiar with the currently most widespread testicular cancer prevention campaigns and whether testicular examinations for cancer screening were performed by themselves, a partner or a physician. RESULTS: Only a minority of the students were aware of the testicular cancer prevention campaigns "Hodencheck.de" and/or "Movember Foundation"; 79.9% of the male and 83.6% of female students had not heard of the two mentioned prevention campaigns. Significantly more male (35.2%) compared to female students (28.9%) knew that testicular cancer is the most common cancer in young men. Of the men, 48.9% had already palpated their testicles, while only 12.4% of the women had already palpated the partner's testicles for cancer screening. Students knowing about the testicular cancer prevention campaigns performed significantly more testicular examinations for screening purposes. CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrates that current testicular cancer prevention campaigns are little known amongst German university students. However, the knowledge of testicular cancer prevention campaigns resulted in an increased awareness and an increased willingness for testicular (self-) examinations.

Widespread detection of antibodies to Leptospira in feral swine in the United States.

As feral swine continue to expand their geographical range and distribution across the United States, their involvement in crop damage, livestock predation, and pathogen transmission is likely to increase. Despite the relatively recent discovery of feral swine involvement in the aetiology of a variety of pathogens, their propensity to transmit and carry a wide variety of pathogens is disconcerting. We examined sera from 2055 feral swine for antibody presence to six serovars of Leptospira that can also infect humans, livestock or domestic animals. About 13% of all samples tested positive for at least one serovar, suggesting that Leptospira infection is common in feral swine. Further studies to identify the proportion of actively infected animals are needed to more fully understand the risk they pose.