Toxic and Microbiological Effects of Iron Oxide and Silver Nanoparticles as Additives on Extended Ram Semen.

The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of iron oxide (Fe) and silver (Ag) nanoparticles (NPs) on ram semen. A skim milk extender without antibiotics was used as a diluent of 21 ejaculates (8 rams; 2-3 ejaculates/ram). The groups of control (C; semen without NPs), Fe NPs (3.

COVID-19 vaccine coverage in health-care workers in England and effectiveness of BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine against infection (SIREN): a prospective, multicentre, cohort study.

Background: BNT162b2 mRNA and ChAdOx1 nCOV-19 adenoviral vector vaccines have been rapidly rolled out in the UK from December, 2020. We aimed to determine the factors associated with vaccine coverage for both vaccines and documented the vaccine effectiveness of the BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine in a cohort of health-care workers undergoing regular asymptomatic testing.

Methods: The SIREN study is a prospective cohort study among staff (aged ≥18 years) working in publicly-funded hospitals in the UK.

Iron Oxide Nanoparticles as an Alternative to Antibiotics Additive on Extended Boar Semen.

This study examined the effect of FeO nanoparticles on boar semen. Beltsville thawing solution without antibiotics was used to extend ejaculates from 5 boars (4 ejaculates/boar). Semen samples of control group (C) and group with FeO (Fe; 0.

Outbreak of uncommon O4 non-agglutinating Salmonella typhimurium linked to minced pork, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, January to April 2013.

Introduction: In January 2013, the National Reference Centre for Salmonella (NRC) detected a salmonellosis cluster in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, caused by uncommon O4 non-agglutinating, monophasic Salmonella (S.) Typhimurium DT193. Circulating predominant monophasic S.

Effectiveness of the 2012/13 trivalent live and inactivated influenza vaccines in children and adolescents in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany: a test-negative case-control study.

A live attenuated influenza vaccine has been available in Germany since the influenza season 2012/13, which is approved for children aged 2-17 years. Using data from our laboratory-based surveillance system, we described the circulation of influenza and non-influenza respiratory viruses during the influenza season 2012/13 in Saxony-Anhalt. We estimated the effectiveness of live and inactivated trivalent influenza vaccines in preventing laboratory-confirmed cases among children and adolescents.

Effectiveness of routine and booster pertussis vaccination in children and adolescents, federal state of Brandenburg, Germany, 2002-2012.

Background: In Germany, whole-cell pertussis vaccines were rapidly replaced by high-concentration acellular pertussis-containing vaccines (3+1 doses from 2 months of age) starting in 1995. Boosters were recommended for 9- to 17-year-olds (2000) and for 5- to 6-year-olds (2006). Pertussis incidence remains high despite rising vaccination coverage (VC).

Summer increase of Legionnaires' disease 2010 in The Netherlands associated with weather conditions and implications for source finding.

During August and September 2010 an unexpected high number of domestic cases of Legionnaires' disease (LD) were reported in The Netherlands. To examine this increase, patient characteristics and results of source finding and environmental sampling during the summer peak were compared to other domestic cases in 2008-2011. This analysis did not provide an explanation for the rise in cases.

Ectopic pregnancy through a caesarean scar in a ewe.

Case History: A routine ultrasonographic examination for pregnancy diagnosis in a 3-year-old ewe revealed a normal embryo located in the uterine cavity and an abnormal mass located in the abdomen. At the time of examination, the ewe was 4.5 months pregnant, but 10 months previously she had undergone a caesarean section due to dystocia.

The burden of extrapulmonary and meningitis tuberculosis: an investigation of national surveillance data, Germany, 2002 to 2009.

Tuberculosis (TB) surveillance commonly focuses on pulmonary (PTB) where the main organ affected is the lung. This might lead to underestimate extrapulmonary TB (EPTB) forms, where in addition to the lung other sites are affected by TB. In Germany, TB notification data provide the main site and the secondary site of disease.

Lamb eimeriosis: applied treatment protocols in dairy sheep production systems.

The effect of different treatment protocols using the triazinone compounds diclazuril and toltrazuril on Eimeria oocyst excretion, diarrhoea and weight gain was evaluated in the present study. The protocols were designed in order to best fit to common management practices in dairy production systems as applied in Greece. During the first two trials comparative preventive (11 days after birth) and therapeutic (18 days after birth) single treatments using either drug were performed on an intensive farm.

Outbreak investigation of brucellosis in Thassos, Greece, 2008.

In spring 2008, the Hellenic Center for Disease Control and Prevention was notified about human brucellosis cases in Thassos, a Greek island that had been up to that point under a brucellosis eradication programme. Following the verification of the outbreak a 1:1 case– control study was conducted in the island. The study revealed that consumption of locally produced raw cheese was a risk factor for Brucella melitensis infection (odds ratio (OR): 15.

Evaluation of Precision Xceed® meter for on-site monitoring of blood β-hydroxybutyric acid and glucose concentrations in dairy sheep.

The accuracy of the Precision Xceed® hand-held meter as an on-site method for measuring blood β-hydroxybutyric acid (BHBA) and glucose concentrations, for the diagnosis of pregnancy toxemia and ketosis in dry and lactating dairy sheep, was assessed. Five to eight hours after the start of the morning feed, blood was collected once from 193 clinically healthy sheep (143 dry and 50 lactating). BHBA and glucose analyses were performed with serum in the laboratory, and with whole blood with the Precision Xceed®.

An outbreak of gastroenteritis linked to seafood consumption in a remote Northern Aegean island, February-March 2010.

Introduction: Raw seafood consumption has frequently been linked to gastroenteritis and Norovirus is a common cause. In February and March 2010, there was an increase cases of gastroenteritis on the remote island of Agios Efstratios in the Northern Aegean Sea, Greece. A massive increase in seafood consumption associated with a religious festival a few days prior to the outbreak suggested seafood as the vehicle of transmission.

A waterborne Campylobacter jejuni outbreak on a Greek island.

A case-control and a case-crossover study were performed to investigate a Campylobacter jejuni outbreak in Crete in 2009. Most cases originated from rural areas, served by a different water-supply system from that of the adjacent town. Thirty-seven cases and 79 controls were interviewed; cases were interviewed for two different time periods for the case-crossover study.

Occupational blood exposure accidents in the Netherlands.

Background: To make proper evaluation of prevention policies possible, data on the incidence and associated medical costs of occupational blood exposure accidents in the Netherlands are needed.

Methods: Descriptive analysis of blood exposure accidents and risk estimates for occupational groups. Costs of handling accidents were calculated.

Compliance with boil water advice following a water contamination incident in the Netherlands in 2007.

In May 2007, Escherichia coli was detected in tap water supplied by a company in North Holland. The company issued advice through mass media to boil tap water before consumption; this advice was lifted six days later. A cross-sectional study was implemented to investigate compliance among residents in this area.

Investigation of a Q fever outbreak in a rural area of The Netherlands.

A Q fever outbreak occurred in the southeast of The Netherlands in spring and summer 2007. Risk factors for the acquisition of a recent Coxiella burnetii infection were studied. In total, 696 inhabitants in the cluster area were invited to complete a questionnaire and provide a blood sample for serological testing of IgG and IgM phases I and II antibodies against C.

Warm, wet weather associated with increased Legionnaires' disease incidence in The Netherlands.

It has been suggested that warm and humid weather is related to a high incidence of Legionnaires' disease (LD), but no data on this association existed in The Netherlands. The objective of this study was to investigate the short-term effects of the weather on LD in The Netherlands. National LD surveillance and meteorological data were obtained.

Factors influencing influenza vaccination rates among healthcare workers in Greek hospitals.

Influenza vaccination rates are generally low among healthcare workers (HCWs) worldwide. In September 2005, the Hellenic Center for Disease Control and Prevention conducted a nationwide campaign to promote influenza vaccination in hospital HCWs. During the 2005-2006 influenza season, the overall vaccination rate among HCWs was 16.

A prospective, randomized comparison of adrenaline injection in combination with detachable snare versus adrenaline injection alone in the prevention of postpolypectomy bleeding in large colonic polyps.

Objectives: Our study sought to compare the efficacy of adrenaline injection in combination with detachable snare versus adrenaline injection alone in the prevention of postpolypectomy bleeding in large colonic polyps.

Methods: At the time of colonoscopy, patients with at least one colonic polyp > or =2 cm were randomized to receive treatment either by the injection of a 1:10.000 solution of adrenaline and the position of a detachable snare followed by a conventional snare polypectomy (group A) or injection of adrenaline followed by a conventional snare polypectomy (group B).

Herpes simplex virus type 1 in peptic ulcer disease: an inverse association with Helicobacter pylori.

Aim: To assess the frequency of herpes simplex virus type I in upper gastrointestinal tract ulcers and normal mucosa with the modern and better assays and also with a larger number of well characterized patients and controls and its relationship to Helicobacter pylori(H pylori).

Methods: Biopsy specimens from 90 patients (34 with gastric ulcer of the prepyloric area and 56 with duodenal ulcer) were evaluated. Biopsies from 50 patients with endoscopically healthy mucosa were considered as the control group.