Attitudes and knowledge among parents or guardians of 12-year-old girls about HPV vaccination - A population-based survey in Iceland.

PURPOSE: To assess attitude and knowledge among parents or guardians of 12-year-old girls about human papillomavirus (HPV), cervical cancer, and HPV vaccination. Material andMethods: A mail survey was sent to a randomized sample of 1,000 parents or guardians of 12-year-old girls from a cohort of total 2,092 girls born in 1995 and registered in the Icelandic National Register by the end of December 2007. RESULTS: Of the 994 eligible parents, 583 (59%) returned the questionnaire. Majority of the respondents were mothers who had two or three children. More than one-third of respondents had university education and 84% were married or living with a partner. Over two-thirds did not know that HPV causes cervical cancer and genital warts. Almost all (> 90%) would vaccinate theirs daughters with a HPV vaccine, 73% said they would vaccinate their sons, or themselves if the vaccine was effective for them. Only 11% believed HPV vaccination would increase promiscuity or decrease cervical screening attendance. CONCLUSION: In Iceland, willingness to vaccinate young girls with HPV vaccine is high, however, knowledge about HPV infections is limited.

Superior cycle control with a contraceptive vaginal ring compared with an oral contraceptive containing 30 microg ethinylestradiol and 150 microg levonorgestrel: a randomized trial.

BACKGROUND: This trial was conducted to compare cycle control with vaginal ring a combined contraceptive vaginal ring, and a combined oral contraceptive (COC) delivering 30 mug ethinylestradiol (EE) and 150 mug levonorgestrel. METHODS: This open-label, randomized, multi-centre, Phase III study involved adult women from 11 countries. Subjects were treated with either vaginal ring or a COC for 13 cycles (12 months). RESULTS: A total of 1030 subjects (vaginal ring, n=512; COC, n=518) comprised the intention-to-treat (ITT) population. The percentage of women in the ITT population who completed the trial was 70.9% for vaginal ring and 71.2% for the COC group. The incidence of breakthrough bleeding and spotting over cycles 2-13, the primary efficacy parameter, was lower with vaginal ring (range 2.0-6.4%) than the COC (range 3.5-12.6%), and for cycles 2 and 9 the lower incidence with vaginal ring was confirmed as statistically significant (P=0.003 and P=0.002 respectively). The incidence of intended bleeding was significantly higher over all cycles with vaginal ring (58.8-72.8%) than with the COC (43.4-57.9%). CONCLUSIONS: Cycle control with vaginal ring was excellent and superior to that of a COC containing 30 mug EE.

Health-related fitness in Swedish adolescents between 1987 and 2001.

AIM: To assess trends in neuro-muscular and cardio-respiratory fitness and morphological fitness in Swedish adolescents between 1987 and 2001. METHODS: Comparison of data from two samples, one from 1987 (n = 479) and one from 2001 (n = 1470). Subjects underwent functional tests of muscular strength in the lower limbs, trunk and upper body, sub-maximal ergometrics, and measurement of body mass and height. RESULTS: Cardio-respiratory fitness showed only small changes between 1987 and 2001 among boys, with no changes in girls. Neuro-muscular fitness, as measured by three functional tests, was lower in 2001 compared to 1987. The most pronounced changes in these functional tests were found in the arm-hang test, while changes in lower body and trunk strength tests were less. Our results indicate that the difference in the prevalence of overweight in adolescents between 1987 and 2001 is mainly due to a large change in the most unfit group. The fittest group showed only marginal changes. CONCLUSION: We suggest that the differences in neuro-muscular fitness are at least partly due to differences in the amount and nature of physical activity, and that this might lead to consequences for health later in life.

[Animal and human bites in Iceland.].

Information on incidence, epidemiology and complications of human and animal bites in Nordic countries is limited, but these injuries can carry serious infectious complications. We conducted a prospective study at the Borgarspitalinn Emergency Department (ED) from August 1991 to July 1992. During this time 145 individuals entered the ED due to bites (accounting for ~0.4% of all admissions to the ED); 66 subjects (46%) had been bitten by dogs (41 provoked), 29 (20%) by cats, 34 (23%) by humans and 16 (11%) by other animals (horse, rabbit, hamster, rat, parrot, piranha fish, guinea pig, mink). The victims of dog and human bites were primarily men under 30 years of age, 73% and 79%, respectively. Dog and human bites were most common during the summer months and 41% of subjects bitten by humans were inebriated. Culture specimens were obtained on admission from 67 subjects, 31 from dog bites (58% positive), 10 from cat bites (80% positive), 19 from human bites (84% positive) and 7 from other bites (43% positive). The most common organisms isolated from dog bites were beta-hemolytic streptococci, S. aureus and CDC M-5, from cat bites Pasturella multocida, Flavobacterium sp. and from human bites S. aureus and beta-hemolytic streptococci. Prophylactic antibiotics were prescribed to 92 (63%) of the victims. Clinical infection was observed in 23 (16%) individuals. The infection rates after dog, cat and human bites were 8%, 28% and 29%, respectively. Three individuals bitten by humans had to be hospitalized due to osteomyelitis and/or severe cellulitis. The demography of bites in this study was similar to that reported elsewhere. Infection rates were comparatively low, possibly due to current habits of prophylactic antimicrobial use.