Underreporting of work accidents associated with blood-borne risk factors.

Background: Work accidents (WA) due to percutaneous or mucocutaneous injury are extremely frequent among health professionals. The notification of these accidents ensures not only the compliance with legal requirements, but it also enables health institutions to develop, implement and evaluate strategies to prevent them. This study aimed to estimate the proportion of underreporting of work accidents caused by percutaneous and mucocutaneous lesions in a hospital setting, as well as its determinants.

Characterization of a mine legacy site: an approach for environmental management and metals recovery.

The characterization of historical mine tailings provides important information for land-management decisions, in particular when considering potential reprocessing activities or the development of an environmental protection program. In addition, outcomes from such characterization may define the scope for a more detailed investigation. The present work describes the characterization of the waste material from the Cabeço do Pião tailings impoundment performed within the project ReMinE: Improve Resource Efficiency and Minimize Environmental Footprint.

Farm practices and risk factors which influence the high prevalence of brucellosis in small ruminant flocks in Northeast Portugal.

The region of Tras-os-Montes e Alto Douro in northeast Portugal displayed the highest prevalence of brucellosis in small ruminants of the country. A vaccination programme of the whole population with Brucella melitensis Rev-1 was carried out from 2001 to 2004 in an attempt to reduce prevalence levels and protect public health. Although individual prevalence decreased from 5.

Use of "Cold Spell" indices to quantify excess chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) morbidity during winter (November to March 2000-2007): case study in Porto.

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between the occurrence of cold episodes and excess hospital admissions for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in Porto, Portugal, in order to further understand the effects of cold weather on health in milder climates. Excess COPD winter morbidity was calculated from admissions for November to March (2000-2007) in the Greater Porto Metropolitan Area (GPMA). Cold spells were identified using several indices (Díaz, World Meteorological Organization, Cold Spell Duration Index, Australian Index and Ondas' Project Index) for the same period.