[The Fetal Tobacco Syndrome - A statement of the Austrian Societies for General- and Family Medicine (ÖGAM), Gynecology and Obstetrics (ÖGGG), Hygiene, Microbiology and Preventive Medicine (ÖGHMP), Pediatrics and Adolescence Medicine (ÖGKJ) as well as Pneumology (ÖGP)].

Over more than 50 years, the nocuous effects of smoking in pregnancy on the fetus are well known. In the first years of science the focus was primarily on restricted fetal growth while in more recent years over 10.000 studies investigated the incomparably big sum of detrimental effects for the unborn's health.

[Allergen-specific Immunotherapy for children and adolescents - a review on available products in Austria].

A pediatric consensus report on allergen-specific immunotherapy for children and adolescents is presented for Austria. Products on the market in Austria are presented and categorised according to studies performed on the target population of children and adolescents, their effectiveness and indication. In general, more clinical studies on children and adolescents are mandatory for most of the available allergen-specific immunotherapeutics.

[Long-acting beta-2 agonists in pediatric asthma therapy--friend or foe].

Recent publications suggest that long-acting beta-2 agonists (LABAs) increase the risk for death in asthma. The American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published a relevant alert in 2005. In the currently valid Austrian consensus guidelines for drug therapy of bronchial asthma in children and adolescents, LABAs are only recommended as add-on therapy in those patients whose asthma is not sufficiently controlled by inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) alone.

Birth weight, education, environment, and lung function at school age: a community study in an alpine area.

Our aim was to assess the effect of birth weight, gestational age, predispositions, education, housing and environmental factors on indices of lung function and to evaluate selective interactions among the main predictors. We studied schoolchildren (aged 7.5-12 yrs) in a cross-sectional survey of 13 small alpine communities in Tyrol (Austria).

[Pulmonary sling or ring-sling complex? respiratory problems--diagnosis, therapy, prognosis].

PS is a rare congenital vascular anomaly in which the left pulmonary artery originates from the right pulmonary artery and courses between trachea and esophagus to the hilus of the left lung causing compression of the right mainstem bronchus and trachea. In about half of all cases this vessel anomaly is associated with tracheo-bronchial and/or cardiovascular malformations. We present 6 patients with PS concentrating on the accompanying malformations of the tracheobronchial tree.

Perceived traffic air pollution, associated behavior and health in an alpine area.

The relationship of traffic air pollution, perception of exhaust fumes/soot and behavioral impact or symptoms/illnesses was investigated in two surveys (adults: aged 25-65, N = 1989, 62% participation; children: aged 8-12, N = 796, 85% participation) in 13 small alpine communities (Tyrol/Austria) by means of questionnaire responses and air pollution measurements. Although pollutant levels complied with current WHO guidelines, adult respondents felt annoyed by odourous traffic fumes (39.7%) or visible dust/soot (26.

A prospective study of the association of serum neopterin, beta 2-microglobulin, and hepatitis B surface antigenemia with death in infants and children with HIV-1 disease.

A high percentage of HIV-1-infected infants and children in Romania are coinfected with hepatitis B virus. Little information is available on the impact of concurrent hepatitis B infection on the course of HIV-1 infection. We conducted a prospective cohort study over 1 year in a group of 68 HIV-1-infected infants and children to determine whether hepatitis B surface antigenemia, neopterin, and beta 2-microglobulin (B2M) predicted death.

Effects of air pollution on the respiratory tract of children.

The effects of air pollution on pulmonary function and respiratory status was evaluated in 1,626 school aged children from a European Alpine region. Based on measurements of SO2, NO2, and O3 as well as infrared imaging and lichen mapping, three zones of exposure were defined. Results of standardized respiratory questionnaires, medical examinations, and lung function tests were compared among the children in the three different exposure zones.

[Effects of health and medical undertreatment on the clinical status and social behavior of infants and small children in a Romanian orphanage].

The homage of 135 abandoned children in the city of Resita, south west Rumania, has been checked by a medical team from the University of Innsbruck for social, clinical and hyginical situation. The local government had applied for such an investigation. Most of the infections and other diseases are based on a dramatically bad hygienical situation.

[Nemaline myopathy: an unusual course].

A girl presents immediately post partum with postures and movements typical for severe muscular hypotonia (floppy infant). Her sucking and swallowing abilities are reduced. There is marked drooling.

[Relationship between pseudocroup and air pollutant burden of the inhaled air and weather].

An epidemiological study is presented to demonstrate, in addition to the viral aetiology, the influence of airpollution and various weather conditions to the incidence of croup. By means of a special statistic tool (baseline data curves) we could demonstrate that rapid changes in airpollutants (especially NO and NO2) are followed by increased occurrence of croup. In addition, the quotient NO2/NO seems to correlate directly to the O3 concentration.

[A rare case of venous drainage in intralobar pulmonary sequestration].

We report on a 6-year-old boy with an area of opacity in the right lung that persisted after a feverish respiratory tract infection. Aortography confirmed the suspected diagnosis of pulmonary sequestration. An intralobar sequestration supplied with blood from a supradiaphragmatic and an infradiaphragmatic artery arising from the descending aorta was seen.

[Diagnosis and therapeutic strategies in pneumonia in childhood].

Acute lower respiratory tract infections remain a major cause of morbidity in infants and children. In the majority of patients therapy is complicated by difficulties in securing a specific diagnosis and identification of the causative organism. Treatment is therefore largely based on experiential rather than experimental data.

Infections following tickbites. Tick-borne encephalitis and Lyme borreliosis--a prospective epidemiological study from Tyrol.

We present here a prospective study on infections following tickbites in military recruits in the province of Tyrol (Austria). 84 recruits experienced tickbites and underwent clinical and serological examination twice at four-week intervals for signs of tick borne encephalitis (TBE)-virus or Borrelia burgdorferi infections. 56 and 50 recruits could be evaluated for TBE-virus and Borrelia infection, respectively.