Termination of pregnancy in a border region between Switzerland and Italy (2008-2015).

In Switzerland, voluntary termination of pregnancy (VTP) can be performed in all public and private hospitals with an obstetrics/gynaecology department. For various reasons, many Italian women use the Swiss healthcare system, in particular in Canton Ticino, a border region adjacent to Italy in the southern part of Switzerland, when they want to have a VTP. In this study, we aimed to illustrate trends in the VTPs in the Canton Ticino between 2008 and 2015 and demonstrate differences between the Swiss women resident in Switzerland (SSR), foreign women resident in Switzerland (FSR) and foreign women resident abroad (FAR), focusing in particular on the Italian women as during this period there were legal changes in Italy.

Local Outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes Serotype 4b Sequence Type 6 Due to Contaminated Meat Pâté.

In January and February 2016, five cases of confirmed and two cases of probable infection due to Listeria monocytogenes serotype 4b, sequence type (ST) 6 belonging to a single pulsed-field gel electrophoresis pulsotype pattern were registered in a region of southern Switzerland. L. monocytogenes was detected in blood samples (four cases) and pleural fluid (one case).

Health literacy, health empowerment and health information search in the field of MMR vaccination: a cross-sectional study protocol.

Objectives: Although public health offices have a detailed record of the vaccination coverage among adolescents in Switzerland, little is known about the factors that determine the decisions of parents to get their children vaccinated. Based on Schulz & Nakamoto's Extended Health Empowerment Model, the present study aims at surveying parents of adolescents in Ticino (Switzerland) to get insights into the role of health literacy, health empowerment, information search behaviour and potential confounding variables that influence whether adolescents are not at all vaccinated, undervaccinated or fully covered against measles, mumps and rubella (MMR).

Methods And Analysis: A survey including concepts of the Extended Health Empowerment Model will be administered to all families with adolescents attending the third year of middle school in Ticino.