Recent Developments in School-Based Health Services in Turkey

Seventeen million students aged between five and nineteen years and one million teachers and staff attending over 55.000 schools account for more than twenty percent of the Turkish population. They can present with a broad range of medical disorders. It is important that they have services designed to deal with their health problems. The aim of this article is to review the recent developments in school health services in Turkey. Recent projects aiming to improve school-based health services and health research at schools have also been reviewed. In countries where social inequalities are prevalent, school-based health services have a particular importance in reaching out to children who do not have access to appropriate health care. Nowadays, it is encouraging to observe that the topic of “school health” has gained interest among managers and health workers in Turkey

Prevalence of Febrile Seizures in School-Aged Children: A Community Based Survey in İzmir, Turkey

Aim:Febrile seizures (FS) are the most common seizures seen in childhood. Although they are usually benign and self-limiting, parents feel great fear and concern about them. The prevalence of FS varies in different parts of the world. These differences are thought to be due to genetic, geographic and environmental factors. However, there has been no recent study about the prevalence of FS among Turkish children. This study was designed to find out the prevalence, clinical and some epidemiological features of FS among Turkish school children.Materials and Methods:A school based, cross-sectional study was conducted in first and second grade children. A stratified cluster sampling technique was used to define the study population, which represents the schools located in the metropolitan area of İzmir. Data were collected through a standard questionnaire from the parents who agreed to be involved in the study. The survey had questions about some demographic features of the children and FS episodes.Results:Three thousand eighty hundred six children and parent pairs agreed to participate in the survey. The FS prevalence determined was 4.8% (boys, 5.2%; girls, 4.3%, p>0.05). It was found that 28.5% of the children experienced their first FS between the ages of 18 months and three years old and most of them had an upper respiratory tract infection. The most common practice by parents during the seizure was admission to the nearest emergency room. The recurrence rate for FS was 33.0%.Conclusions:The FS prevalence determined in our study is lower than previous studies in Turkey. It was thought that the advancing healthcare systems in our country might have decreased the FS prevalence within the last eight years in Izmir

"Belonging” in the gentrified Golden Horn/Halic neighbourhoods of Istanbul

Mainstream gentrification research predominantly examines experiences and motivations of the middle-class gentrifier groups, while overlooking experiences of non-gentrifying groups including the impact of in situ local processes on gentrification itself. In this paper, I discuss gentrification, neighbourhood belonging and spatial distribution of class in Istanbul by examining patterns of belonging both of gentrifiers and non-gentrifying groups in historic neighbourhoods of the Golden Horn/Halic. I use multiple correspondence analysis (MCA), a methodology rarely used in gentrification research, to explore social and symbolic borders between these two groups. I show how gentrification leads to spatial clustering by creating exclusionary practices and eroding social cohesion, and illuminate divisions that are inscribed into the physical space of the neighbourhood

Immunological non-inferiority of a new fully liquid presentation of the MenACWY-CRM vaccine to the licensed vaccine : results from a randomized, controlled, observer-blind study in adolescents and young adult

A fully liquid MenACWY-CRM vaccine presentation has been developed, modifying the meningococcal serogroup A (MenA) component from lyophilized to liquid. The safety and immunogenicity of the liquid presentation at the end of the intended shelf-life (aged for 24 or 30 months) were compared to the licensed lyophilized/liquid presentation. This multicenter, randomized (1:1), observer-blind, phase 2b study (NCT03433482) enrolled adolescents and young adults (age 10-40 years). In part 1, 844 participants received one dose of liquid presentation stored for approximately 24 months or licensed presentation. In part 2, 846 participants received one dose of liquid presentation stored for approximately 30 months or licensed presentation. After storage, the MenA free saccharide (FS) level was approximately 25% and O-acetylation was approximately 45%. The primary objective was to demonstrate non-inferiority of the liquid presentation to licensed presentation, as measured by human serum bactericidal assay (hSBA) geometric mean titers (GMTs) against MenA, 1-month post-vaccination. Immune responses against each vaccine serogroup were similar between groups. Between-group ratios of hSBA GMTs for MenA were 1.21 (part 1) and 1.11 (part 2), with two-sided 95% confidence interval lower limits (0.94 and 0.87, respectively) greater than the prespecified non-inferiority margin (0.5), thus meeting the primary study objective. No safety concerns were identified. Despite reduced O-acetylation of MenA and increased FS content, serogroup-specific immune responses induced by the fully liquid presentation were similar to those induced by the licensed MenACWY-CRM vaccine, with non-inferior anti-MenA responses. The safety profiles of the vaccine presentations were similar.GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals SAhttps://www.tandfonline.com/journals/KHVIMedical Microbiolog

ELECTROMAGNETIC POLLUTION

Teknolojinin gelişmesiyle kullanımı artan cihazların, radyo ve televizyon vericilerin, radarların, telsizlerin, mikrodalga fırınların, tıbbi cihazların, cep telefonların ve daha birçoklarının sayesinde, yaşayan hemen herkes sürekli olarak elektromanyetik alan ve dalgalara maruz kalmaktadır. Bu tez çalışmasında özellikle Ankara ilinde radyo ve TV vericileri ile baz istasyonlarının bulunduğu bölgelerde 100 kHz - 3 GHz frekans bölgesinde çalışan EMR 300 cihazıyla ölçümler yapılmış ve Ankara ili üzerinde oluşan ortam hakkında bilgi sahibi olunulmuştur. Ölçümler sonucunda radyo ve TV vericilerinin yoğun olarak bulunduğu bölgelerde elektromanyetik alan değerleri normal yaşam alanlarında ölçülen değerlerden yüksek çıkmıştır. Fakat bu alanlarda yaşayan birçok kişinin olması, nasıl bir ortamda yaşadıkları bilgisine sahip olup olmadıkları sorusunu akla getirmektedir. Çevremizdeki elektromanyetik kirlilik hakkında bilgi sahibi olmamıza yardımcı olan bir program da teze eklenmiştir. Tezimde elektromanyetik alanlara karşı korunma yolları ve alınacak önlemlerden de bahsedilmiştir.Today, everybody is under the constant exposure of electromagnetic fields and waves, due to the wide range usage of equipments, radio and television transmitters, radars, radios, microwave ovens, medical equipments, cellular phones and many more...Within the framework of this thesis, the measurements were made with an EMR 300 device, that operates within the 100 kHz-3 GHz frequency region, especially in the regions of Ankara, where there is an intense presence of radio and television transmitters and base stations.By this way, it was possible to collect information about the atmosphere over Ankara. As a result of the measurements, in the regions where there is an intense presence of radio and TV transmitters, the electromagnetic field values are much higher than those measured in normal living areas.However, since those regions are highly accomodated areas, it is necessary to ask if they have any knowledge about the environment that they live in. The program which informs us about the elctromagnetic pollution in our environment, is also enclosed within this thesis. What is more, my thesis also covers the ways of protection and precautions against electromagnetic fields