Nematode parasite eggs in pasture soils and pigs on organic farms in Sweden

The EU regulation for organic pig production requires outdoor access to promote the animal welfare. This may increase the risk of infection of the common pig parasites, Ascaris suum and Trichuris suis, because their eggs can survive for many years in the soil. The egg contamination of these parasites in outdoor areas with different managements and the faecal egg output from the pigs was investigated on 11 Swedish organic pig farms in 2008. We found eggs of A. suum and, to a minor extent, T. suis in the soil from outdoor areas, which had previously been used for pig rearing and/or for spreading of pig manure. Piglets and their dams were turned out on pastures included in a crop rotation, and these areas had a mean of 2500 A. suum and 40 T. suis eggs per kilogram soil. When the pigs were 12-week-old, the faecal egg counts (FECs) of A. suum were positively correlated with the egg concentration in pasture soils before pig turnout. The areas used by dry sows had a mean of 11,700 A. suum and 220 T. suis eggs per kilogram soil. The highest egg concentrations in the soil were found in areas, frequently used by pigs in the most recent years. To minimise pasture contamination with parasite eggs, it is advised to have a crop rotation system and to inactivate parasite eggs in pig manure before spreading it. Parasite control needs further development to protect suckling piglets from infections due to environmental parasite egg contamination. © 2019, The Author(s).Funding details: 1904; Funding details: Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation, Yale School of Medicine, CORE; Funding text 1: The authors gratefully acknowledge the farmers for supplying data and opening up their farms for investigation and the funders for their financial support. This study comprises data from two different projects. Soil samples and crop rotation data were collected within a national project funded by the Swedish Board of Agriculture and faecal samples, and some farm data were collected within the COREPIG project (project no. 1904), one of the eight research projects selected for transnational funding by the partners of the CORE Organic ERA-net project (Sweden: Formas). We also wish to thank Sofia Wiberg for collecting samples and data within the latter project.</p

Co-morbidity and health care utilisation five years prior to diagnosis for depression. A register-based study in a Swedish population

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Depressive disorders have been associated with a number of co-morbidities, and we hypothesized that patients with a depression diagnosis would be heavy users of health care services, not only when first evaluated for depression, but also for preceding years. The aim of this study was to investigate whether increased health care utilisation and co-morbidity could be seen during five years prior to an initial diagnosis of depression.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We used a longitudinal register-based study design. The setting comprised the general population in the county of Östergötland, south-east Sweden. All 2470 patients who were 20 years or older in 2006 and who received a new diagnosis of depression (F32 according to ICD-10) in 2006, were selected and followed back to the year 2001, five years before their depression diagnosis. A control group was randomly selected among those who were aged 20 years or over in 2006 and who had received no depression diagnosis during the period 2001-2006.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Predictors of a depression diagnosis were a high number of physician visits, female gender, age below 60, age above 80 and a low socioeconomic status.</p> <p>Patients who received a diagnosis of depression used twice the amount of health care (e.g. physician visits and hospital days) during the five year period prior to diagnosis compared to the control group. A particularly strong increase in health care utilisation was seen the last year before diagnosis. These findings were supported with a high level of co-morbidity as for example musculoskeletal disorders during the whole five-year period for patients with a depression diagnosis.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Predictors of a depression diagnosis were a high number of physician visits, female gender, age below 60, age above 80 and a low socioeconomic status. To find early signs of depression in the clinical setting and to use a preventive strategy to handle these patients is important.</p

Seniority of the first-treating doctor does not influence the outcome of acute whiplash injury: a prospective cohort study

The aim of the prospective cohort study was to investigate the outcome of acute whiplash injury first treated either by junior doctors (JD) [≤3 postgraduate years (PGY)] or more experienced doctors (MED) (>3 PGY). At baseline, crash-related data and health parameters including the SF36 were evaluated in whiplash patients (WP), who fulfilled criteria for whiplash-associated disorders grade I–II and presented up to 48 h after motor vehicle accident to our Emergency Department. 81 WP were recruited and treated by either one of 14 JD (35 WP) or one of 22 MED (46 WP). The follow-up examination included the course of pain intensity [numeric rating scale (NRS) 0–10] by the use of a 28 days-pain-diary and the incidence of symptoms (standardized-telephone-interview at 1, 3, and 6 months post trauma) in terms of neck pain NRS > 2, analgesic medication, work-off, and utilization of further medical services as well as SF36 evaluated at the end of the study. Although the entry population seemed similar, all outcome parameters were comparable between the JD- and MED-group (p > 0.05). Therefore, we conclude that seniority of the first-treating physician does not influence the outcome of acute whiplash injury

Towards occupant protections for both men and women

The susceptibility of female occupants to Whiplash Associated Disorders (WADs) has been the focus over the past decades. To improve occupant protections, it is required to understand how gender differences affect the WAD injury mechanisms. The purpose of this study is to investigate the potential impact of the whole spinal alignment on the cervical vertebral kinematics and ligament elongation during a rear impact by analysing rear impact reconstruction simulations. The simulations demonstrated a potential impact of gender differences in whole spinal alignment on cervical vertebral kinematics and ligament elongations. It seems that the average female spinal alignment may expose women to larger deformation of the cervical soft tissues considered related to WAD, due to greater cervical vertebral kinematics, compared to the average male spinal alignment. The findings highlight the importance of the whole spinal alignment when developing female models to evaluate WAD countermeasures, and may thus improve occupant protection for women as well as men