Strategies to increase influenza vaccine uptake among health care workers in Greece

The aim of the current study was to investigate the contribution of various strategies to increase influenza vaccine uptake among health care workers (HCWs) working in hospitals in Greece during the 2005-2006 season. A total of 132 Greek public hospitals participated in the study. The mean HCWs vaccination rate against influenza during 2005-2006 was 16.36% compared with 1.72% during the previous season. Logistic regression analysis showed that the implementation of the following strategies was significantly associated with influenza vaccination rates above the mean vaccination rate: a mobile vaccination team (OR 2.942, 95% CI 1.154-5.382, p-value 0.016) and lectures on influenza and influenza vaccine (OR 2.386, 95% CI 0.999-5.704, p-value 0.036). In conclusion, in Greece influenza vaccination rates among HCWs remain low; however, the implementation of specific strategies was associated with increased vaccine uptakes.     

Left ventricular mass regression in the LIFE study: effect of previous antihypertensive treatment

BACKGROUND: Whether to include only those patients who have not had prior hypertension treatment in clinical trials of left ventricular (LV) mass reduction is controversial. Accordingly, our aim was to study the relationship between prior treatment and both baseline and 1-year echocardiographic LV mass in subjects enrolled in the Losartan Intervention For Endpoint reduction (LIFE) study. METHODS: We studied clinical and baseline echocardiographic data on 960 patients with electrocardiographically confirmed left ventricular hypertrophy enrolled in the electrocardiographic substudy of the LIFE study, 847 of whom had LV mass remeasured after 1 year of blinded treatment. The majority (75%) of these patients had prior medical treatment for hypertension. RESULTS: In multivariable regression analysis, controlling for age, sex, blood pressure (BP), body mass index, and indices of pump and myocardial function, prior antihypertensive treatment was not associated with either greater LV mass or relative wall thickness on the baseline study. Moreover, there was no significant difference between the 637 subjects who were previously treated and the 210 who were not treated with regard to the mean reduction in systolic or diastolic pressures (-25 +/- 17 v -24 +/- -16 and -13 +/- 9 mm Hg v -12 +/- 9 mm Hg), LV mass (-27 +/- 38 v -29 +/- 34 g), or LV mass/body surface area (-14 +/- 20 v -15 +/- 18 g/m(2)), all P >.05. CONCLUSIONS: Prior treatment is not associated with either greater LV mass or greater relative wall thickness when age, body mass index, sex, systolic BP, heart rate, or indices of LV volume load and systolic function are taken into account. In addition, prior treatment is not associated with lesser degrees of LV mass reduction. For design of future clinical trials, restriction of inclusion criteria to only previously untreated patients does not appear to be necessary when the selection criterion is electrocardiographically determined left ventricular hypertrophy.     

Gastrocolic fistula secondary to nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs abuse in a cirrhotic patient

Gastrocolic fistula is rarely described in the literature. It has been associated with a variety of diseases and recently with benign gastric ulcers related to the use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs'). The present case represents the first report of gastrocolic fistula due to NSAIDs in a cirrhotic patient. This is in keeping with the established knowledge that cirrhotic patients constitute a high-risk group of patients when treated with NSAIDs'. Review of the literature shows that this condition warrants a complete diagnostic work-up to exclude more ominous underlined diseases.