Publications by authors named "Erkki Palva"

Cuticular defects trigger a battery of reactions including enhanced reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and resistance to necrotrophic pathogens. However, the source of ROS generated by such impaired cuticles has remained elusive. Here, we report the characterization of mutant, a () - overexpressing line that demonstrates enhanced defense responses that result both from increased accumulation of ROS and permeability of the leaf cuticle.

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We studied the use of symptomatic medication in the treatment of acute maxillary sinusitis (AMS) in primary care and whether this use is in accordance with national guidelines. The data was collected annually in the Antimicrobial Treatment Strategies (MIKSTRA) Program in 30 primary health care centres throughout Finland during one week in November in the years from 1998 to 2002. Physicians and nurses collected the data about the diagnoses, prescription-only medicines and over the counter medicines prescribed or recommended for all patients with an infection during the study weeks.

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Background: Management of acute maxillary sinusitis (AMS) is not optimal; antibiotics are often prescribed for viral sinusitis, which leads to many problems including those with antimicrobial resistance. Guidelines have been proposed as a means to change the professional practices.

Objective: Our aim was to study whether a nationwide guidelines implementation programme has an effect on the management of AMS in primary care.

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Objectives: Acute otitis media (AOM) is one of the most common diseases of childhood, representing a major disease burden on the society. New evidence-based guidelines for AOM, focusing on children under 7 years of age, were introduced in Finland in 1999. The aim of this study was to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of implementing those guidelines in Finland.

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Most treatment recommendations for acute otitis media favour active use of pain relief medication. These data comprised 3059 Finnish primary care acute otitis media patients. We found that 10.

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Background: A national 5-year follow-up study of infection-specific antibiotic use in primary care was conducted to see if prescribing practices change after implementing new treatment guidelines.

Methods: The data were collected during 1 week of November each year from 1998 to 2002 from 30 health care centers that covered a total population of 819,777 persons and in 2002 from 20 control health care centers that covered a population of 545,098 persons. National guidelines for 6 major infections (otitis media, sinusitis, throat infection, acute bronchitis, urinary tract infection, and bacterial skin infection) were published in 1999-2000.

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The objective was to study prescription practices of primary care physicians in prescribing antibiotics for community-acquired respiratory tract infections. Design was time series analysis and cross-sectional survey. The setting was 30 community primary health care centres.

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Objectives: To study the management of acute maxillary sinusitis (AMS) in Finnish primary care and to compare it both to recommendations in national guidelines and to the management of other upper respiratory tract infections (URTI).

Design: A cross-sectional multi-centre epidemiological survey.

Setting: Thirty primary care health centres in Finland.

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The aim of this study was to investigate the association between regional macrolide resistance in Streptococcus pyogenes and macrolide use in Finland. During 1997-2001, a total of 50,875 S. pyogenes isolates were tested for erythromycin susceptibility in clinical microbiology laboratories throughout Finland.

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The objectives of this prospective epidemiological study were to describe the diagnosis and treatment of respiratory tract infections by Finnish general practitioners and to compare current practice with national evidence-based guidelines. All patients (n = 4386) seeking primary care for a respiratory tract infection for the first time in 30 health centres during 1 week in November 1998 participated in the study. The main outcome measures were the amounts and types of diagnostic tests used and antimicrobials prescribed.

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