[Trends in mortality from lung cancer in Mexico, 1980-2000].

Objective: To analyze trends in age-adjusted lung cancer mortality rates in Mexico for the period of 1980 through 2000.

Method: The trends were assessed using the adjusted rates of mortality from lung cancer, year of death, year of birth, age at death, state, and standard population. The standardized mortality rate and the index of potential years of life lost were used to compare incidence and premature deaths.

Recent trends in mortality due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in Mexico, 1980-2002.

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterized by airflow limitation that is not fully reversible. Changes in classification have a major impact on reported mortality rates.

Methods: Between 1980 and 2002, 230,463 COPD cases were studied (age group 35-94 years); 134,579 men; 95,884 women.

[Trends of tobacco demand in Mexico: 1992-1998].

Objective: This paper aims at describing the behavior of tobacco's demand in Mexico across four one-year periods: 1992, 1994, 1996, and 1998, as well as to estimate a cigarette demand function.

Material And Methods: A cross-sectional study with longitudinal analysis was conducted. Information sources were the Encuesta Nacional de Ingreso y Gasto de los Hogares (ENIGH) (National Survey of Household Income and Spending) (NHSIS) and the tobacco pack prices reported by the Procuraduría Federal del Consumidor (Profeco) (Federal Office of Consumer's Protection) (FOCP).

[Smoking among health professionals of the Mexican Social Security Institute, Morelos].

Objective: To assess the prevalence of tobacco smoking by work type among healthcare workers of Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social (Mexican Institute of Social Security, IMSS), in Morelos State, Mexico.

Material And Methods: A cross-sectional was conducted in 3,133 healthcare workers in the 23 medical units of IMSS Morelos District, from October 1998 to March 2000. Data were collected using a self-applied questionnaire on tobacco smoking for different life-stages, some demographic characteristics, and work type.

[Mortality trends in cancer attributable to tobacco in Mexico].

Objective: To describe the mortality trends of cancer attributable to tobacco smoking, particularly lung cancer, for the 1980-1997 period in Mexico.

Material And Methods: Mortality trends were analyzed for each type of cancer associated to tobacco smoking, according to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD). Crude and adjusted mortality rates were estimated for the period between 1980 and 1997, by age, gender, basic death cause, and year of death.

[To smoke or not to smoke, in restaurants, hotels, and bars].

A MEDLINE search was conducted to identify relevant references, to review the information on adverse effects of tobacco smoking and environmental tobacco smoke (ETS). Occupational exposure to ETS causes significant damages to food industry workers. High levels of mutagenic substances have been demonstrated in restaurant air as well as in the urine samples from those workers.

Is primaquine useful and safe as true exo-erythrocytic merontocidal, hypnozoitocidal and gametocidal antimalarial drug?

The main objective of this paper is to make available in a single document, a sequence of events that have been published on the biology of malaria parasites and their interaction with the human host, looking for arguments for effective and save treatment: what we know and what we would like to know about the effects of primaquine in order to justify its use in clinical and public health practice. The practicioner should be aware that the antimalarial activity, hemolytic and methemoglobinemic side effects, and detoxification of primaquine are all thought to depend on various biotransformation products of the drug. In spite of the universal use during over six decades, their site and mechanism of formation and degradation and their specific biologic effects remain very poorly understood in human beings.

[Development of immunizing agents against dengue].

The four serotypes of dengue flaviviruses are transmitted mainly by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, and some epidemics have been attributed to Ae. albopictus, Ae. polynesiensis, and various species of the Ae.

Extended-spectrum beta-lactamases in clinical isolates of enterobacteria in Mexico.

Resistance to extended-spectrum cephalosporins within members of the family Enterobacteriaceae occurs virtually world-wide. Nevertheless, nothing was known about this problem among isolates from Mexico. To address this issue, we studied oximino-cephalosporin resistant isolates of Klebsiella pneumoniae (13), Escherichia coli (7), and Enterobacter cloacae (23) recovered from patients in Mexico City hospitals during 1990 to 1992.

Susceptibility to new beta-lactams of enterobacterial extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) producers and penicillin-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae in Mexico.

The activities of several beta-lactam antimicrobial agents, aminoglycosides and ciprofloxacin, were determined against 62 clinical isolates of enterobacteria resistant to oxyimino cephalosporins (extended-spectrum beta-lactamase producers), collected during 1991 to 1993, and 16 penicillin-resistant invasive isolates of Streptococcus pneumoniae collected during 1994-1996. The numbers and percentages of susceptible enterobacterial strains to tested antibiotics were: imipenem 60 (97%), ciprofloxacin 57 (92%), cefepime 56 (90%), cefpirome 34 (55%), aztreonam 13 (21%), cefotaxime 7 (11%), ceftazidime 0 (0%), amikacin 11 (18%) and gentamicin 16 (26%). Despite the fact that these strains had never been exposed previously to cefepime or cefpirome, the susceptibility was 90% and 55%, respectively.

Bacterial resistance to antibiotics in acute respiratory infections (ARIs).

In this review article, we make suggestions on how to approach the increasing problem worldwide of bacterial acute respiratory infections resistant to antibiotics. After a brief description of the main mechanisms of bacterial resistance, i.e.

[International Workshop on Molecular Epidemiology. Proposals of the Interdisciplinary Group on American Trypanosomiasis and Leishmaniasis].

Parasite diseases such as Leishmaniases and American Trypanosomiases have been increasingly important in Mexico and other countries of the American Region. In known areas, these diseases are highly endemic, and in recently opened developing areas became a new threat to public health. Some social groups working in natural resources exploitation, agriculture, animal stock and public labor are particularly affected.

Epidemiology and control of malaria and other arthropod-borne diseases.

Malaria and other arthropod born diseases remain a serious public health problem affecting the lives and health of certain social groups when the two basic strategies to control fail due to: (1) the lack of effective chemoprophylaxis/chemotherapy or the rapid development of drug resistance of the infectious agents and (2) the ineffectiveness of pesticides or the arthropod vectors develop resistance to them. These situations enhances the need for the design and implementation of other alternatives for sustainable health programmes. The application of the epidemiological methods is essential not only for analyzing the relevant data for the understanding of the biological characteristics of the infectious agents, their reservoirs and vectors and the methods for their control, but also for the assessment of the human behaviour, the environmental, social and economic factors involved in disease transmission and the capacity of the health systems to implement interventions for both changes in human behaviour and environmental management to purpose guaranteed prevention and control of malaria and other arthropod born diseases with efficiency, efficacy and equity.