The Advantages and Disadvantages of Integrated Care Implementation in Central and Eastern Europe - Perspective from 9 CEE Countries.

Introduction: Health and social care systems in Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries have undergone significant changes and are currently dealing with serious problems of system disintegration, coordination and a lack of control over the market environment.

Description: The increased health needs related to the ageing society and epidemiological patterns in these countries also require funding needs to increase, rationing to be reformed, sectors to be integrated (the managed care approach), and an analytical information base to be developed if supervision of new technological approaches is to improve. The period of system transitions in CEE countries entailed significant changes in their health systems, including health care financing.

Does COPD have a clinically relevant impact on hearing loss? A retrospective matched cohort study with selection of patients diagnosed with COPD.

Objectives: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) as a multisystemic disease has a measurable and biologically explainable impact on the auditory function detectable in the laboratory. This study tries to clarify if COPD is also a significant and clinically relevant risk factor for hearing impairment detectable in the general practice setting.

Design: Retrospective matched cohort study with selection of patients diagnosed with COPD.

Detection and genetic characterisation of Hepatitis E virus in Czech pig production herds.

The objective of the present study was to carry out a small surveillance programme in Czech pig production herds using the nested reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (nRT-PCR) technique to trace Hepatitis E virus (HEV) in different biological samples and to characterise the detected swine HEV isolates by phylogenetic analysis. A total of 32 piglets from 11 herds clinically suspected of postweaning multisystemic wasting syndrome (PMWS) were examined. Bile, liver tissue and serum samples were collected from each animal.

Atypical myxomatosis--virus isolation, experimental infection of rabbits and restriction endonuclease analysis of the isolate.

Atypical form of myxomatosis, which caused non-lethal and clinically mild disease in domestic rabbits 1 month after immunization with a commercially available vaccine MXT, is described. The isolated myxoma virus designated as Litovel 2 (Li-2) did not induce systemic disease following subcutaneous and intradermal applications in susceptible experimental rabbits but led to the immune response demonstrated by ELISA. No severe disease was induced in those Li-2 inoculated rabbits by challenge with the virulent strains Lausanne (Lu) or Sanar (SA), while the control animals showed nodular form of myxomatosis with lethal course of the illness.