[Incidence study of listeriosis in Spain].

We performed a descriptive retrospective study of cases of listeriosis occurring in Spain from 2001 to 2007 to determine the burden and trend of this disease in our setting. Several sources of information were used. Epidemiological information was collected from 1.

Particle counting and microbiological air sampling: results of the simultaneous use of both procedures in different types of hospital rooms.

Introduction: In order to assess the relationship between the concentrations of airborne fungi and particles, particle counting was combined with fungal air sampling in several rooms of a hospital.

Methods: Concentrations of ≥0.5μm particles (P05) and ≥1μm particles (P1) were measured using a particle counter; fungal air sampling was performed with volumetric air samplers, which impacted air on Rodac plates with Sabouraud chloramphenicol agar.

[Transmissibility and severity of the pandemic influenza A (H1N1) 2009 virus in Spain].

Objectives: To estimate the value of the basic reproduction number for the pandemic wave of influenza A (H1N1) 2009 in Spain and to assess its impact on morbidity and mortality in the Spanish population compared with those in the previous influenza season.

Methods: Data on the incidence of influenza and viral detections were obtained from the Spanish Influenza Surveillance System. Deaths from pandemic influenza were obtained from the Coordinating Center for Health Alerts and Emergencies of the Spanish Ministry of Health and Social Policy, and deaths from seasonal influenza during the period 2003-2008 were obtained from the National Statistics Institute.

[Influenza vaccination in pregnant women. Coverage, practices and knowledge among obstetricians].

Background And Objectives: Women who are pregnant during influenza season have an increased risk of infection and severe clinical disease. Several national and international organizations currently recommend vaccination for pregnant women. We intended to estimate the influenza vaccination rate in a population of postpartum women attended in a tertiary hospital in Barcelona.

[Main features of the new influenza virus a pandemic (H1N1)].

At the end of March 2009, a new influenza virus A (H1N1) of porcine origin was isolated in two children from California presenting flu-like clinical syndrome. This virus was initially disseminated in Mexico and US and then worldwide. Eight weeks later, it had reached 74 countries with almost 30,000 cases and had caused 145 deaths.

[Polymyositis-dermatomyositis: incidence in Spain (1997-2004)].

Background And Objective: Epidemiologic studies of polymyositis-dermatomyositis incidence in Spain are lacking. The aim of the study was to determine the incidence rates of dermatomyositis-polymyositis and their distribution in our country.

Material And Method: Observational and descriptive study.

[Safety-engineered devices to prevent percutaneous injuries: cost-effectiveness analysis on prevention of high-risk exposure].

Objective: To assess the efficiency of the replacement of several medical devices by engineered sharp injury (SI) prevention devices (ESIPDs).

Methods: The cost-effectiveness ratios of the replacement of medical devices in use by ESIPDs were estimated: their purchasing costs and the direct costs of sharp injury care were taken into account; the number of SI avoidable by each ESIPD was estimated from the 252 occupational SI notified by healthcare workers at a 1,300 bed hospital from March 2002 to February 2003. The relationship between ESIPD additional costs and the number of high-risk SI was estimated (SI were classified as high-risk if they met two or more of the following criteria: moderately-deep or deep injury, injury with a device previously inserted in an artery or vein, or with a device exposed to blood).

An approach to the study of potentially preventable nosocomial infections.

Objective: To analyze a method that identifies potentially preventable nosocomial infections, as a tool to evaluate the performance of infection control programs through quantification of their potential for reducing nosocomial infections.

Methods: The database of the Study of the Prevalence of Nosocomial Infections in Spain (EPINE) was reanalyzed. The method was based on the use of false negatives of the classification table obtained from application of a fixed multiple logistic regression model, as an estimator of the number of potentially preventable nosocomial infections.