Integration of Migrant Populations into Health Monitoring in Germany: Results from a Feasibility Study

Background: Persons with migrant backgrounds (PMB) are considered ‘hard to reach’. To sustainably integrate migrant populations into health monitoring in Germany, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) has launched the project Improving Health Monitoring in Migrant Populations (IMIRA), providing results on response rates, sample composition and the effectiveness of sequential interventions. Method: A multilingual feasibility study had been conducted in two German federal states, utilizing data from the residents’ registry. The target populations were persons with Turkish, Polish, Romanian, Syrian and Croatian citizenship living in Germany (n=9,068). Different modes of administration and interventions (study hotline, home visits) were used sequentially. To evaluate their usability, an experimental design was applied for Turkish and Syrian migrants. Results: Besides the overall response rate of 15.9%, there were different response rates by citizenship, ranging from 8.6% in the Turkish group to 24.3% in the Syrian group. Whereas the online mode, telephone mode and the study hotline showed little differences between the groups, the home visits led to an remarkable increase (+5.4% in the Turkish group; +7.3% in the Syrian group). Conclusion: The offer of multilingual survey modes and materials is strongly advised. Furthermore, the response rates of some PMB can be increased by tailored interventions, such as home visits and multilingual face-to-face interviews

Cellular reactions to long-term volatile organic compound (VOC) exposures

Investigations of cellular processes initiated by volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are limited when modelling realistic long-term exposure scenarios at low concentrations. Exposure to indoor VOCs is associated with a range of adverse effects, but data on molecular changes at regulatory threshold limits are lacking. Activity analysis of VOC in vitro can be a valuable complement to inhalation toxicological evaluations. We developed an exposure platform that generates a stable VOC atmosphere and allows the exposure of cells for longer periods. Using formaldehyde as a model analyte, air-liquid interface cultured A549 lung epithelial cells were exposed to critical concentrations of 0.1 and 0.5 ppm for 3 days. Owing to the lack of known exposure biomarkers, we applied a genome-wide transcriptional analysis to investigate cellular responses at these sublethal concentrations. We demonstrate a minor overlap of differentially expressed transcripts for both treatment concentrations, which can be further analyzed for their use as exposure biomarkers. Moreover, distinct expression patterns emerge for 0.1 and 0.5 ppm formaldehyde exposure, which is reflected in significant enrichment of distinct biological processes. More specifically, metabolism of specific compound classes, lipid biosynthesis and lung-associated functions are affected by lower exposure levels and processes affecting proliferation and apoptosis dominate the higher exposure levels

Ad hoc surveys at the Robert Koch Institute

The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) regularly conducts nationally representative cross-sectional studies (KiGGS, DEGS and GEDA) as part of the nationwide health monitoring system. In addition to these health surveys, data is collected in telephone interviews either on specific thematic fields (such as diabetes) or specific groups (such as medical staff) that were not or only insufficiently covered by the larger health surveys. As they are flexible and fast, ad hoc surveys conducted via telephone interviews can respond to specific epidemiological and health political questions. This article describes the procedures applied in ad hoc telephone interview surveys, which were newly introduced as a standardised method in 2017 and are applied by the Laboratory for Health Surveys at the RKI. The article presents the stages of project management such as concept development, establishment of a concept for data protection, questionnaire development, pre-test and field phase, calculation of weighting factors and provision of the final data set. The aim is to describe the process and shed light on the standardised procedures, the reported quality indicators and the breadth of possible scenarios of application.Peer Reviewe

molecular sexing molecular fish ID hard part analysis

data based on cormorant pellets collected in the field; excel file constisting of 2 tables: Table 1 has four parts providing per pellt: 1. molecular sexing of the pellets including peak heigth in capillary electrophoresis (RFU); females with 2 peaks, males with one peak; 2. molecular fish identification from pellets (presence absence data); fish species as column headers; 3. morphological analysis (count data) of fish hard parts identifiable to species level and measurable i.e. suitable for fish-length regression analysis; 4. morphological analysis: all hard parts including non-measurable ones and not to species identifiable; Table 2 contains per pellet the mean fish length (mm) per fish specie

Alignment CHD1 cormorant

Sequence alignment with male (CHD1Z) and female (CHD1W) sequences of the chromodomain-helicase-DNA-binding protein 1 (CHD1) in 5’ – 3’ direction, including reference sequences from GenBank (two for CHD1Z and CHD1W each). sequences were obtained from DNA extracts of either muscle tissue of shot cormorants (K-samples) or regurgitate pellet samples collected between 29th March and 10th May 2012 at Chiemsee (S-samples)

Data from: Molecular prey identification in Central European piscivores

Diet analysis is an important aspect when investigating the ecology of fish-eating animals and essential for assessing their functional role in food webs across aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. The identification of fish remains in dietary samples, however, can be time-consuming and unsatisfying using conventional morphological analysis of prey remains. Here, we present a two-step multiplex PCR system, comprised of six assays, allowing for rapid, sensitive and specific detection of fish DNA in dietary samples. This approach encompasses 78 fish and lamprey species native to Central European freshwaters and enables the identification of 31 species, six genera, two families, two orders and two fish family clusters. All targeted taxa were successfully amplified from 25 template molecules, and each assay was specific when tested against a wide range of invertebrates and vertebrates inhabiting aquatic environments. The applicability of the multiplex PCR system was evaluated in a feeding trial, wherein it outperformed morphological prey analysis regarding species-specific prey identification in faeces of Eurasian otters. Additionally, a wide spectrum of fish species was detected in field-collected faecal samples and regurgitated pellets of Common Kingfishers and Great Cormorants, demonstrating the broad applicability of the approach. In conclusion, this multiplex PCR system provides an efficient, easy to use and cost-effective tool for assessing the trophic ecology of piscivores in Central Europe. Furthermore, the multiplex PCRs and the primers described therein will be applicable wherever DNA of the targeted fish species needs to be detected at high sensitivity and specificity

Ad-hoc-Studien im Robert Koch-Institut

Das Robert Koch-Institut (RKI) führt in regelmäßigen Abständen bevölkerungsrepräsentative Gesundheitsstudien (KiGGS, DEGS, GEDA) im Rahmen des bundesweiten Gesundheitsmonitorings durch. Zusätzlich zu diesen Gesundheitsstudien werden telefonisch Daten zu speziellen Themen (z. B. Diabetes) oder mit bestimmten Befragungsgruppen (z. B. medizinisches Fachpersonal) erhoben, welche in den großen Gesundheitsstudien nicht oder nur unzureichend abgebildet werden konnten. Die telefonischen Ad-hoc-Studien bieten die Möglichkeit, flexibel und kurzfristig Aussagen zu speziellen epidemiologischen und gesundheitspolitischen Themen zu treffen. Der vorliegende Beitrag beschreibt das seit 2017 neu eingeführte und standardisierte Verfahren der telefonischen Ad-hoc-Studien, welches im RKI durch das Labor für Gesundheitsbefragungen betreut wird. Es werden die unterschiedlichen Schritte des Projektmanagements wie Konzeptentwicklung, Erstellung eines Datenschutzkonzepts, Fragebogenerstellung, Pretest, Feldphase, Erstellung von Gewichtungsvariablen und die Bereitstellung des finalen Datensatzes beschrieben. Die Ziele dieses Beitrags sind, eine Prozessbeschreibung und einen Einblick in die standardisierten Abläufe, in die berichteten Qualitätsindikatoren und in die möglichen Anwendungsszenarien zu geben.Peer Reviewe

Eurasian otter feeding trial

This are data from a fish feeding trial on Eurasian Otters. The animals were fed a different fish species every day; 5 otter spraints were collected per evening; these were analyzed molecularely for fish DNA and morphologically for fishbones

COI alignment of sequences for genbank

This BioEdit file provides an alignment of the COI sequences uploaded to genbank for this publication. Please note, that for GenBank publication sequences were cropped to achieve clear and identical sequences from forward and reverse direction reads

kingfisher and cormorant molecular screening

The data show the results of a molecular screening (multiplex PCR) of field collected feces of the Common Kingfisher and the Great Cormorant, as well as regurgitated pellets of the latter. readme is included in the fil