Economic costs due to workers' sick leave at wastewater treatment plants in Bulgaria.

Background: The compensatory mechanisms of social security include expenses for sick leave. The aim of the study is to determine the economic cost due to sick leave among workers in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), comparing with the same economic indicators of the National Social Security Institute (NSSI) in Bulgaria.

Material And Methods: The sick leave of 111 workers at 3 WWTPs was studied in the period 2012-2014 on the grounds of registered absences from work due to temporary incapacity for work.

Seroprevalence of anti-HAV total antibodies among workers in wastewater treatment plants.

Objectives: Data on high frequency of hepatitis A virus (HAV) antibodies for wastewater treatment staff is contradictory. Literature lacks data on the seroprevalence of antibodies to HAV (anti-HAV) among workers in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in Bulgaria. The aim of this study is to establish a specific humoral immune response to hepatitis A virus - anti-HAV total antibodies among staff in WWTPs.

The influence of air pollution during intrauterine development and early childhood on respiratory functions at later age.

Aim: The aim of this study is to estimate the influence of high levels of air pollution during intrauterine development and early childhood on the respiratory functions at a later stage in life.

Material And Methods: The subjects were children from Dimitrovgrad - one of the most industrialized areas in Bulgaria. The transition to market economy (after 1989) was accompanied by a great drop in industrial production and levels of air pollutants respectively.

Respiratory and cardiovascular functions among smoking and nonsmoking girls from two regions with different air pollution degree.

Aim: The aim of the present study was to analyze the respiratory and cardiovascular functions among smoking and nonsmoking girls attending two schools situated in regions with different levels of air pollution. The characteristic of air pollution is based on the data gathered by stations 1 and 2 belonging to the Uniform National System for Monitoring the Air Pollution in Bulgaria. The participants (n=108, 16.

Health assessment of populations living close to the airport of Bourgas, Bulgaria.

The aim of this follow-up performed in a period of three years (1997-1999) was to assess the morbidity rate among children (0-17 years) and adults (18 years and above) from housing estates Sarafovo, Izgrev, Zornitsa and party Slaveykov, located close to the airport of Bourgas and compare it to population living at more distance from the airport (town centre). It was found that the prevalence of all diseases in children and the incidence in adults were higher in populations living close to the airport than in matching population living in the town centre. Specific groups of diseases which may be considered more closely associated with the adverse health effects of noise included diseases of the nervous system and of the sense organs, mental disorders, cardiovascular diseases, particularly arterial hypertension, and diseases of the digestive system.

Preserving the environment in the resort of Bankya.

The town of Bankya is a balneological resort (spa) situated in a picturesque valley 17 km west from Sofia. It is a place suitable for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases and certain functional diseases of the nervous system. As a national resort, it applies stricter environmental regulations for activities that might endanger the environment, including road transport.