Incidence of nontuberculous mycobacteria in four hot water systems using various types of disinfection.

The objective of this study was to determine the incidence of nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) in hot water systems of 4 selected hospital settings. The hospitals provided the following types of disinfection for their hot water systems: hydrogen peroxide and silver, thermal disinfection, chlorine dioxide, and no treatment (control). In each building, 6 samples were collected from 5 sites during a 3 month period.

A comparison between the force of infection estimates for blood-borne viruses in injecting drug user populations across the European Union: a modelling study.

A number of studies have been conducted in injecting drug user (IDU) populations in Europe, in which the prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) was measured together with demographic and epidemiological information such as age and the age at first injection. A measure of the risk of becoming infected is the force of infection (FOI), defined as the per capita rate at which susceptible individuals acquire infection. The objective of this study was to estimate the FOI and its heterogeneity for HBV, HCV and HIV (where available) for IDU populations in a number of countries in Europe.

Depressive symptoms in urban population samples in Russia, Poland and the Czech Republic.

Background: Relatively little is known about depression in countries that were formerly part of the Soviet Union, especially Russia.

Aims: To investigate the rates and distribution of depressive symptoms in urban population samples in Russia, Poland and the Czech Republic.

Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted in randomly selected men and women aged 45-64 years (n=2151 in total, response rate 69%) in Novosibirsk (Russia), Krakow (Poland) and Karvina (Czech Republic).

The association between psychosocial characteristics at work and problem drinking: a cross-sectional study of men in three Eastern European urban populations.

Background: Psychosocial factors at work are thought to influence health partly through health behaviours.

Aims: To examine the association between effort-reward imbalance and job control and several alcohol related measures in three eastern European populations.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Novosibirsk (Russia), Krakow (Poland), and Karvina (Czech Republic).

Psychosocial factors at work and depression in three countries of Central and Eastern Europe.

Psychosocial factors at work have been found to predict a range of health outcomes but their effect on mental health outcomes has not been extensively studied. This paper explores the relationship between psychosocial factors at work and depression in three countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The data come from a cross-sectional study of working men (n = 645) and women (n = 523) aged 45-64 years, randomly selected from population registers in Novosibirsk (Russia), Krakow (Poland) and Karvina-Havirov (Czech Republic).