Differences in Genotype and Antimicrobial Resistance between Campylobacter spp. Isolated from Organic and Conventionally Produced Chickens in Sweden

Antibiotic resistance is a major challenge worldwide and increased resistance to quinolones in Campylobacter is being reported. Analysis of antibiotic resistance was performed on 157 Campylobacter strains (123 C. jejuni and 34 C. coli) from conventional and organic chickens produced in Sweden. Susceptibility for tetracycline, ciprofloxacin, erythromycin, nalidixic acid, streptomycin, and gentamycin was determined by microdilution. All 77 isolates from organic chickens were sensitive to all antibiotics, except two C. jejuni that were resistant to tetracycline. Of the 80 isolates from conventional chickens, 22.5% of C. jejuni and 11.1% of C. coli were resistant to quinolones and 5.6% of C. jejuni were resistant to tetracycline. Whole-genome sequencing resulted in 50 different sequence types of C. jejuni and six of C. coli. Nine sequence types were found in both organic and conventional chickens. Two of these (ST-19 and ST-257) included isolates from conventional broilers with different resistance phenotypes to the remaining isolates from conventional and organic broilers. There are management differences between the production systems, such as feed, breed, use of coccidiostats, and access to outdoor area. It is unlikely that quinolone resistance has arisen due to use of antimicrobials, since fluoroquinolones are not permitted in Swedish broiler production

Schizophrenia, social functions and quality of life

A good quality of life (QoL) can be regarded as the ultimate goal of psychiatric treatment and rehabilitation. The objective of the present thesis was to study the how the QoL of patients with schizophrenia was related to their social functions and varying social environments. Psychiatric services have undergone major changes in the last 50 years, from an asylum-based model to community psychiatry, radically changing the social environment of patients with schizophrenia. The first paper focused on the effects of deinstitutionalization on QoL, and showed that patients in four living habitats in the city of Malmö (hospital wards, treatment collectives, group homes, apartments of their own) did not differ in self-rated QoL. However, we found evidence suggesting that the patients, and in particular those with predominantly negative symptoms, were unable to assess their QoL by the measurement instrument used (QLS-100). In the second paper, we found that self-monitoring problems of schizophrenic patients was linked to cognitive impairments rather than to the presence of negative symptoms. In the third paper, we found that the social functions of even the most severely disabled patients with schizophrenia could be improved by social skills training. In paper four, data from a case-finding study of schizophrenia in the city of Malmö (population 250 000; 1344 schizophrenic patients were identified) were combined with data from a sociological study of the self-reported sense of security and social organisation in the local domicile involving 7 000 randomly selected inhabitants. The prevalence of schizophrenia was particularly high in areas with high levels of social disorganization and unsafety, which may further detract form the QoL of these patients

Dead and forgotten - postmortem time before discovery as indicator of social isolation and inadequate mental healthcare in schizophrenia.

The psychiatric care of patients with schizophrenia has changed dramatically following the "deinstitutionalization" of mental health care in many Western countries. In a study of forensic autopsies in the Swedish city of Malmö between 1952 and 2005, we found an increase over time in the number of patients with schizophrenia whose bodies were not discovered until late after death, which correlated closely with the decrease in the number of hospital beds in the psychiatric services used by this group of patients. This indicates a strong increase in the social isolation and unavailability of adequate mental health care for patients with schizophrenia

Schizophreina, Neighbourhood and Crime. The relation between social desorganisation, mental disorder and crime

Objective: This study was designed to explore the concentration of schizophrenic patients to socially disadvantaged areas in Malmö. Method: A case-finding study of schizophrenia was combined with a victimisation survey. Data was factor-analysed and visualised using geographical information system software. Results: The schizophrenic patients lived predominantly in socially disorganised areas characterised by high levels of disorder, fear of crime and victimisation. Regression analyses showed that local informal social control and concrete fear of crime explained one-third of the variance in schizophrenia prevalence. Measures of victimisation and social disorder, together with schizophrenia prevalence, were found to explain 52% of the variance of concrete fear of crime in the neighbourhood. Conclusions: Our hypothesis is that these circumstances cause vicious circles that tend to maintain or worsen an already negative situation, with detrimental effects on psychosocial functioning and on the quality of life of the persons with schizophrenia. Key words: schizophrenia, crime, fear of crime, victimisation, social disorganisatio

Differences in Genotype and Antimicrobial Resistance between Campylobacter spp. Isolated from Organic and Conventionally Produced Chickens in Sweden

Antibiotic resistance is a major challenge worldwide and increased resistance to quinolones in Campylobacter is being reported. Analysis of antibiotic resistance was performed on 157 Campylobacter strains (123 C. jejuni and 34 C. coli) from conventional and organic chickens produced in Sweden. Susceptibility for tetracycline, ciprofloxacin, erythromycin, nalidixic acid, streptomycin, and gentamycin was determined by microdilution. All 77 isolates from organic chickens were sensitive to all antibiotics, except two C. jejuni that were resistant to tetracycline. Of the 80 isolates from conventional chickens, 22.5% of C. jejuni and 11.1% of C. coli were resistant to quinolones and 5.6% of C. jejuni were resistant to tetracycline. Whole-genome sequencing resulted in 50 different sequence types of C. jejuni and six of C. coli. Nine sequence types were found in both organic and conventional chickens. Two of these (ST-19 and ST-257) included isolates from conventional broilers with different resistance phenotypes to the remaining isolates from conventional and organic broilers. There are management differences between the production systems, such as feed, breed, use of coccidiostats, and access to outdoor area. It is unlikely that quinolone resistance has arisen due to use of antimicrobials, since fluoroquinolones are not permitted in Swedish broiler production