[First aid for irritant gas inhalation in an industry].

The inhalation of irritant gases, fumes or dusts may, depending upon the chemical nature of the irritant and upon intensity and duration of the exposure, produce an irritation of the respiratory tract, a toxic pneumonitis (lung oedema) or both. A treatment with corticosteroids by inhalation started immediately is active in reducing the respiratory irritation and in preventing the patient from developing a toxic pneumonitis. The paper presents a logistic model for industrial plants to apply that effective treatment (this includes: in time) to all such patients who need it.

[Concept: occupational medicine 2000].

The group of physicians practising occupational medicine in Switzerland is actually still small, and it will need a very important development to reach, on a nation-wide base and not only within a few large companies, a standard of occupational medicine which satisfies from a social security as well as from an economical point of view. The occupational medicine has, therefore, to elucidate to the social partners and to the public the benefit for health and public welfare of its preventive activity at the workplace. The following goals are thus to be pursued: Further development of a legal basis in Switzerland equal to the standard of the neighbouring countries of the European Community Provision of sound models assuring occupational medical care of all business, in particular of the small and middle-sized business Promotion of student's education, specialist formation and continuative schooling in occupational medicine Provision of an adequate university teaching and research capacity with firm links to the practice A more powerful and competent representation of occupational medical aspects in actual discussions of health legislation and social legislation.

Dialyzed polymorphonuclear neutrophil oxidative metabolism during dialysis: a comparative study with 5 new and reused membranes.

Dialyzed neutrophils were isolated at time 0, 5, 15 and 60 min after the onset of hemodialysis in patients successively treated on 5 new and reused membranes, that is cuprophan (CU), cellulose acetate (CA), polysulfone (PS), polycarbonate (PC) and polyacrilonitrile (PAN). Production of oxygen radicals was monitored by luminol and lucigenin-enhanced chemiluminescence (CL). During dialysis with CU and PC, cells remaining in circulation at the maximum neutropenia showed a significant decrease of luminol-enhanced CL, whether stimulated with opsonized zymosan or phorbol myristate acetate.