Mortality from lung cancer in workers exposed to sulfur dioxide in the pulp and paper industry

Our objective in this study was to evaluate the mortality of workers exposed to sulfur dioxide in the pulp and paper industry. The cohort included 57,613 workers employed for at least 1 year in the pulp and paper industry in 12 countries. We assessed exposure to SO(2) at the level of mill and department, using industrial hygiene measurement data and information from company questionnaires; 40,704 workers were classified as exposed to SO(2). We conducted a standardized mortality ratio (SMR) analysis based on age-specific and calendar period-specific national mortality rates. We also conducted a Poisson regression analysis to determine the dose-response relations between SO(2) exposure and cancer mortality risks and to explore the effect of potential confounding factors. The SMR analysis showed a moderate deficit of all causes of death [SMR = 0.89; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.87-0.96] among exposed workers. Lung cancer mortality was marginally increased among exposed workers (SMR = 1.08; 95% CI, 0.98-1.18). After adjustment for occupational coexposures, the lung cancer risk was increased compared with unexposed workers (rate ratio = 1.49; 95% CI, 1.14-1.96). There was a suggestion of a positive relationship between weighted cumulative SO(2) exposure and lung cancer mortality (p-value of test for linear trend = 0.009 among all exposed workers; p = 0.3 among workers with high exposure). Neither duration of exposure nor time since first exposure was associated with lung cancer mortality. Mortality from non-Hodgkin lymphoma and from leukemia was increased among workers with high SO(2) exposure; a dose-response relationship with cumulative SO(2) exposure was suggested for non-Hodgkin lymphoma. For the other causes of death, there was no evidence of increased mortality associated with exposure to SO(2). Although residual confounding may have occurred, our results suggest that occupational exposure to SO(2) in the pulp and paper industry may be associated with an increased risk of lung cancer.     

Mercury exposure in Munduruku Indians from the community of Sai Cinza,State of Pará, Brazil

The objective of this cross-sectional study was to evaluate mercury exposure and health status among Munduruku Indians from the community of Sai Cinza, State of Pará, Brazil. The population studied included 330 indians, who submitted to a questionnaire, clinical exams, and collection of hair, blood, urine, and feces. Mercury was measured in hair and fish. Although no person was found to have overt mercury intoxication, the mean levels of mercury in hair were elevated (14.45 micrograms/g for children from 7 to 12 years old, 15.70 micrograms/g for women between 14 and 44 years old, and 14.1 micrograms/g for the remaining population). Mercury levels in fish were below levels recommended by the World Health Organization, but rates of fish consumption were high. These results place this indigenous populations as a group under risk of mercury toxicity from the gold production.     

Different forms of payment systems for dental services and their impact on care

The Brazilian dental care sector is facing a paradoxical crisis characterized by a surplus of dentists and a large contingent of people lacking dental care, thus highlighting the need to improve management strategies. One necessary step is to analyze the various payment schemes for dental services. This paper reviews two important approaches, fee for service and capitation, and considers the impacts and consequences of payment strategies on the dental care system.     

Financial incentives for employees as part of a policy to upgrade care in a public hospital in Volta Redonda,Rio de Janeiro State,Brazil

The authors present and analyze six years of regular and steady application of an institutional evaluation policy based on financial incentives in a public hospital in Volta Redonda, Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil, as a part of the hospital's administrative modernization policy. This type of policy is considered implicitly capable of developing a sequence of strategic wagers: (1) release of financial resources for payment of bonuses; (2) creation of an operationally feasible and sensitive evaluation instrument; (3) creation of adequate management mechanisms to improve evaluation policy; (4) employee adherence to the hospital upgrading policy based on the bonus system; and (5) maintenance of the effects of evaluation policy over time. The article discusses the "degree of success" of each of these wagers in an attempt to portray possible gains throughout the process, while also identifying inherent difficulties in such a policy.     

Chagas' disease seroprevalence among school-age children in Espírito Santo State,Brazil, 1999-2000

Although the Brazilian State of Espírito Santo is not considered endemic for Chagas' disease, the sylvatic triatomines occurring there frequently invade houses, increasing the chances of Trypanosoma cruzi transmission to man. The epidemiological pattern of the disease in Espírito Santo was evaluated by a serological survey of 5,243 schoolchildren ages 7 to 14 years, residents of 17 municipalities. Indirect immunofluorescence, indirect hemagglutination, and immunoenzymatic (ELISA) tests were positive in only one person, representing only 0.019% of the total. This result was similar to those found by other authors in previous studies. Based on the results of serological tests it is concluded that the epidemiological pattern of Chagas' disease in Espírito Santo remains stable, despite the intensive destruction of the Atlantic Forest that has occurred in recent decades.     

Profile of undergraduate nursing students' attitudes towards mental disease,before the influence of specific academic education

Students starting the Nursing Course bring with them stereotypes and prejudice in relation to mentally-ill people, thus showing lack of knowledge as to their possibilities of recovery and social living. This study aimed at elaborating a profile of the attitudes presented by these students in relation to such people and at showing aspects that can negatively influence their future professional conduct. To that end, the opinion scale for mental disease was used. The students presented a negative attitude profile, which made it possible to conclude that academic education from courses in this area must be planned so as to favor the change of the attitude profile presented.     

Professionalization of nursing aides at the State of Sao Paulo: a study of supply/demand regarding training

The purpose of this exploratory study was to verify the problem of nursing aides professionalization and to analyze the offer of courses and demand regarding technical level capacitation at the state of S?o Paulo, Brazil. Data were obtained through the analysis of documents on professional capacitation in the area in the 1990s. Authors identified a scenario of conceptual and political changes regarding the professionalization and the existence of a great number of aides being professionalized. They also verified a tendency to increase the offer of courses and the demand regarding the capacitation and specialization at the technical level.     

The use of home inquiry as a tool to follow up health actions in microareas -- analyzing the vaccination status of children under 1 year of age

One of the strategies on which local health services rely in order to follow up activities is home inquiry, a source of important information concerning the access to services and knowledge regarding the population's health conditions. This work aims at analyzing the use of inquiries as an instrument for diagnosis and follow-up of the vaccinal situation of children under one year old in a micro area of the City of Ribeir?o Preto-SP, Brazil. In the first semester of 1998, 106 families were interviewed by using a family record. Nine children under 01 year old (4.35% of the population) were identified, of whom 4 (44.44%) presented vaccination delay. It was later identified that 8 children presented an updated record and that information was not obtained in only one case. It can be verified that home inquiry is a viable strategy to follow up and evaluate the care delivered, which, in the case of this study, concerns vaccination actions, so as to efficiently and effectively determine the directions to be taken in health care in local level.     

APOE-epsilon4 and APOE -491A polymorphisms in individuals with subjective memory loss

The accurate clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease can only be made with a high degree of certainty in specialized centres. The identification of predictive or diagnostic genetic factors may improve accuracy of disease prediction or diagnosis. One major genetic risk factor, the epsilon4 allele of the apolipoprotein E gene, is universally recognised. We have recently shown that the A allele of the apolipoprotein E, -491A/T promoter polymorphism is also an important risk factor for Alzheimer's disease in an Australian population. We designed the present study to investigate the association between apolipoprotein E genotype, -491A/T polymorphism, plasma apoE levels and the subjective experience of memory decline among 98 subjects and 49 age, gender and education-matched normal controls. An increased frequency of the epsilon4 allele of apolipoprotein E was significantly associated with the 'memory complainers' group (OR = 2.35, P = 0.02) as was the A allele of the -491A/T polymorphism (OR = 2, P = 0.02). Among all subjects, only seven individuals were homozygous for both of these alleles, and six of these seven individuals belonged to the 'memory complainers' group. This sub-group also had relatively elevated plasma apolipoprotein E levels (P < 0.01) and tended to score lower on the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Cambridge Cognition Test. These data suggest that the epsilon4 allele of apolipoprotein E and the -491A allele are over-represented among individuals who complain of memory difficulties. Follow-up studies should clarify whether these genotypes and phenotypes are useful in the prediction and/or diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease.