Logistics of services in insurance companies and its meaning in the forming of the relations with customers

Firmy ubezpieczeniowe aktywne na polskim rynku ubezpieczeń wykorzystują różnorodne kanały dystrybucji swoich produktów. Zapewnia im to docieranie do nowych klientów i wzrost sprzedaży. Dystrybucja ubezpieczeń jest procesem wyjątkowym ze względu na specyficzny produkt, jakim jest ubezpieczenie. Wraz z rozwojem sektora ubezpieczeń wykształciło się wiele form sprzedaży produktów ubezpieczeniowych. Wśród nich nadal dominuje sprzedaż tradycyjna face-to-face. Pomimo pojawienia się wielu alternatywnych form kontaktu jest ona nadal najbardziej popularnym kanałem dystrybucji ubezpieczeń w Polsce. W opracowaniu przybliżono organizację procesu logistyki ubezpieczeń w Polsce. Wskazano również kryteria przydatne w wyborze polityki dystrybucyjnej. Celem artykułu jest scharakteryzowanie wybranych kanałów dystrybucji usług ubezpieczeniowych oraz wskazanie najbardziej powszechnego kanału sprzedaży ubezpieczeń w Polsce.Insurance companies which are active on Polish insurance market, use varied sales channels to deliver their products to the customers. It assures them reaching to new customers and sale increase. Insurances distribution is an exceptional process in view of specific product which is an insurance. Along with the development of the insurance sector, many forms of insurance sales of products developed. The traditional face-to-face way of sales still dominates. In spite of the appearance of many alternative forms of the contact, it is still the most popular delivery channel of insurances in Poland. The paper presents organisation of insurance logistics process in Poland. In the study indicated also useful criteria of choice about the distribution policy. The essence of the paper is to present the selected delivery channels of insurance services and showing the most common sales channel in Poland

Parasites and fungi as a threat for prenatal and postnatal human development

Recent literature data reveals the most common etiological agents of congenital parasitoses to be Toxoplasma gondii, Trypanosoma cruzi, Leishmania donovani and Plasmodium falciparum. An analysis of clinical data indicates that parasitic congenital infections are often asymptomatic, whereas symptomatic newborns usually display nonspecific symptoms, which greatly hinders correct diagnosis. The long-term consequences of prenatal infections are serious clinical problems. This article presents the possible routes of vertical transmissions (mother-to-child) of pathogens including prenatal, perinatal, as well as postnatal routes. It highlights the role of factors involved in protozoa transmission and development of congenital parasitic diseases, such as parasite genotypes, the relationship between the timing of maternal infection and the probability of passage of the parasite through the placental barrier, and the immunological features of pregnant women. Acquired and congenital babesioses in human and experimental animals are presented. It emphasises that the mechanisms by which parasites infect the placenta and cross from mother to fetus are still poorly understood. It also describes the cellular mechanisms of infection by T. gondii, such as tachyzoites crossing biological barriers, the expression of Toll-Like Receptors (TLR) family on trophoblasts and syncytiotrophoblasts as an immune response to intrauterine infection and cases of congenital and acquired toxoplasmosis, as well as the long-term consequences of congenital invasion with T. gondii, episodes of reactivation of latent toxoplasmosis and T. gondii reinvasions. Mycological topics include a rare case of in utero fungal infection of offspring by a mother with vaginal candidosis, and the fungal contamination of ward facilities and medical equipment as potential sources of exogenous infections of newborn children

Clinical cases of parasitoses and fungal infections important from medical point of view

Most important infectious diseases which pose a risk to human health and life are associated with parasites transmitted by a variety of arthropod vectors, or from animal to man. Some of these (malaria, toxoplasmosis, leishmaniosis, dirofilariosis, alveococcosis, cystic echinococcosis) still represent a serious public health problem in many regions in the world. This review describes the epidemiological and clinical aspects of important parasitoses and fungal infections from a medical point of view. It should be emphasized that the development of invasive disease depends on both host (susceptibility/resistance) and parasite factors (pathogenicity/virulence); an immunocompromised state can favour opportunistic parasitic infections: toxoplasmosis, cryptosporidiosis, giardiosis, cyclosporidiosis, blastocystosis and strongyloidosis. This article highlights the role of free-living amoebae in the pathogenesis and transmission of human diseases, the high pathogenicity of Echinococcus multilocularis, and the growing importance of ticks as a reservoir and vector for numerous dangerous pathogens (e.g., Borrelia burgdorferi, Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Babesia microti). It also discusses the diagnostic problems of toxoplasmosis including cross-reactions in serological tests and reviews the search for new drugs and vaccines against toxoplasmosis. Attention is increasingly paid to the role played by the human microbiome in maintaining homeostasis and in the development of fungal infections. This review also presents the most common human superficial fungal infections and the role of Candida albicans infection in the pathogenesis of irritable bowel syndrome

Parasites and fungi as risk factors for human and animal health

Recent literature data suggests that parasitic and fungal diseases, which pose a threat to both human and animal health, remain a clinical, diagnostic and therapeutic problem. Attention is increasingly paid to the role played by natural microbiota in maintaining homeostasis in humans. A particular emphasis is placed on the possibility of manipulating the human microbiota (permanent, transient, pathogenic) and macrobiota (e.g., Trichuris suis) to support the treatment of selected diseases such as Crohn’s disease, obesity, diabetes and cancer. Emphasis is placed on important medical species whose infections not only impair health but can also be life threatening, such as Plasmodium falciparum, Echinococcus multilocularis and Baylisascaris procyonis, which expand into areas which have so far been uninhabited. This article also presents the epidemiology, diagnosis and treatment of opportunistic parasitoses imported from the tropics, which spread across large groups of people through human-to-human transmission (Enterobius vermicularis, Sarcoptes scabiei). It also discusses the problem of environmentally-conditioned parasitoses, particularly their etiological factors associated with food contaminated with invasive forms (Trichinella sp., Toxoplasma gondii). The analysis also concerns the presence of developmental forms of geohelminths (Toxocara sp.) and ectoparasites (ticks), which are vectors of serious human diseases (Lyme borreliosis, anaplasmosis, babesiosis), in the environment. Mycological topics contains rare cases of mycoses environmentally conditioned (CNS aspergillosis) and transmissions of these pathogens in a population of hospitalized individuals, as well as seeking new methods used to treat mycoses

The hydrolytic enzymes produced by fungi strains isolated from the sand and soil of recreational areas

The pathogenicity of fungi depends on, inter alia, the secretion of hydrolytic enzymes. The aim of this study was to determine the enzymatic activity of yeasts and yeast-like fungi isolated from children’s recreation areas, and compare the results with literature data of strains obtained from patients with mycoses. The enzymatic activity of 96 strains was assessed using an API ZYM kit (bioMerieux, France) and their biotypes were established. The fungal species were found to produce from 16 to 19 hydrolases: the most active were: leucine arylamidase (e5), acid phosphatase (e10), alkaline phosphatase (e1), naphthol-AS-BI-phosphohydrolase (e11), esterase – C4 (e2), β-galac - tosidase (e13) and β-glucosidase (e16). In addition, 13 biotypes characteristic of particular species of fungi were defined. Most strains could be categorized as biotypes C2 – 39.5% and A – 26%. The examined fungal strains isolated from recreational areas have selected biochemical characteristics i.e. production of hydrolases, which demonstrate their pathogenicity. They produce a number of enzymes which are also present in strains isolated from patients with mycoses, including: leucine arylamidase (e5), acid phosphatase (e10), naphthol-AS-BI-phosphohydrolase (e11) and alkaline phosphatase (e1). The biotypes identified in the course of this study (A, B3, B4, C1, C6 and D3) have been also reported in cases of fungal infection. Therefore, the fungi present in the sand and soil of recreational have pathogenic properties and are possible factors of fungal infection among children