Sozial- und Präventivmedizin
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Multicenter Study
Surveillance of sexually transmitted diseases in Switzerland, 1973-1994: evidence of declining trends in gonorrhoea and syphilis.
The HIV/AIDS epidemic has led to growing interest in the epidemiology of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in Switzerland. STD surveillance data from three sources are presented: reports from six policlinics of dermatovenereology since 1973, laboratory reports of Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Treponema pallidum and Chlamydia trachomatis since 1988, and reports by the Swiss Sentinel Network between June 1991 and December 1993. The data indicate that there has been a decline in the number of cases of syphilis and, in particular, gonorrhoea since the early 1980s in Switzerland. ⋯ Evidence for two of the before-mentioned factors exists and these probably played important roles in the declines. Firstly, as a result of the emergence of penicillinase producing strains of N. gonorrhoeae, the introduction of new treatments for gonorrhoea in the early 1980s which were simpler to administer and more effective (in particular the use of spectinomycin). Secondly, the national AIDS prevention campaign which began in 1987 and has been associated with major increases in condom use in the Swiss population.
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This article describes the training programme that the Medical Division of the International committee of the red cross has set up since 1986 in collaboration with the Geneva Medical School and WHO. It is meant primarily for health professionals who will have to deal with large populations in critical situations. The objectives and the organization of the course are described and the results of this training programme are analyzed in terms of number and distribution of participants as well as in terms of impact of the programme on coordination of aid agencies' work.
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This contribution is a state-of-the-art of recent knowledge regarding effects from environmental noise on sleep and proposes acoustic thresholds likely to help public authorities in setting up regulations. It recalls physiological sleep aspects and the cyclic organization of the various stages; then it examines noise effects, principally those arising from road traffic, planes and trains. Such effects are firstly considered as changes in sleep organization during night. ⋯ Then partial effects are investigated, either electro-encephalographic or cardiac; these effects are more especially associated with isolated acoustic phenomena and determined from the noise peak level. Other variables, e.g. back noise, phenomena number per period, interval between two noises, have an effect on probability of a local phenomenon which can be connected to a given peak level. The conclusion is that two acoustic values must be retained for considering sleep disturbances: the first one is the energetic level inside the room, with a comfort threshold of 35 dB(A) by night, and the second one is the lowest peak level which should not exceed 50 dB(A).