OBJECTIVES: Imposing taxes on unhealthy goods can generate income, raise people's health awareness, and eventually decrease the prevalence of chronic diseases. Our aim was to assess the impact of Hungary's public health product tax (PHPT) since its implementation in September 2011. Differences in purchasing habits between households with different income statuses were also compared. METHODS: A retrospective, descriptive analysis of tax bases and income was carried out, and an interrupted time series analysis using the generalised least squares method was performed to examine the changes in trends regarding the purchase of taxable products before and after the implementation of the tax. The amount of tax base (in kilograms or litres), income (in HUF and EUR), and annual purchased quantity of food and beverage groups per household were assessed. Data were derived from the National Tax and Customs Administration of Hungary and the Hungarian Household Budget and Living Conditions Surveys. The study sample was composed of households who participated in the surveys (mean = 8,359, SD = 1,146) between 2006 and 2018. RESULTS: The households' tax bases and incomes increased constantly (with a few exceptions). The total revenue was 19.49 billion HUF (67.37 million EUR) in 2012 and 59.19 billion HUF (168.55 million EUR) in 2020. However, the households' purchasing habits did not change as expected. A significant short-term decrease (between 2012 and 2013) in purchasing unhealthy goods was observed for three groups: soft drinks (p = 0.009), jams (p = 0.047), and fruit juices (p = 0.038). Only soft drinks showed a significant decreasing trend in the post-intervention period between 2012 and 2018 (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: We concluded that the PHPT did not decrease households' unhealthy food purchasing trend, although it has a positive effect as it can create revenue for health care and health-promoting programmes.

• Klíčová slova
• Hungary, food and beverages, public health, taxation,
• MeSH
• analýza přerušované časové série MeSH
• daně * MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• nápoje MeSH
• obchod MeSH
• retrospektivní studie MeSH
• veřejné zdravotnictví * MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Geografické názvy
• Maďarsko MeSH

BACKGROUND: Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, and Neisseria meningitidis, which are typically transmitted via respiratory droplets, are leading causes of invasive diseases, including bacteraemic pneumonia and meningitis, and of secondary infections subsequent to post-viral respiratory disease. The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence of invasive disease due to these pathogens during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: In this prospective analysis of surveillance data, laboratories in 26 countries and territories across six continents submitted data on cases of invasive disease due to S pneumoniae, H influenzae, and N meningitidis from Jan 1, 2018, to May, 31, 2020, as part of the Invasive Respiratory Infection Surveillance (IRIS) Initiative. Numbers of weekly cases in 2020 were compared with corresponding data for 2018 and 2019. Data for invasive disease due to Streptococcus agalactiae, a non-respiratory pathogen, were collected from nine laboratories for comparison. The stringency of COVID-19 containment measures was quantified using the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker. Changes in population movements were assessed using Google COVID-19 Community Mobility Reports. Interrupted time-series modelling quantified changes in the incidence of invasive disease due to S pneumoniae, H influenzae, and N meningitidis in 2020 relative to when containment measures were imposed. FINDINGS: 27 laboratories from 26 countries and territories submitted data to the IRIS Initiative for S pneumoniae (62 837 total cases), 24 laboratories from 24 countries submitted data for H influenzae (7796 total cases), and 21 laboratories from 21 countries submitted data for N meningitidis (5877 total cases). All countries and territories had experienced a significant and sustained reduction in invasive diseases due to S pneumoniae, H influenzae, and N meningitidis in early 2020 (Jan 1 to May 31, 2020), coinciding with the introduction of COVID-19 containment measures in each country. By contrast, no significant changes in the incidence of invasive S agalactiae infections were observed. Similar trends were observed across most countries and territories despite differing stringency in COVID-19 control policies. The incidence of reported S pneumoniae infections decreased by 68% at 4 weeks (incidence rate ratio 0·32 [95% CI 0·27-0·37]) and 82% at 8 weeks (0·18 [0·14-0·23]) following the week in which significant changes in population movements were recorded. INTERPRETATION: The introduction of COVID-19 containment policies and public information campaigns likely reduced transmission of S pneumoniae, H influenzae, and N meningitidis, leading to a significant reduction in life-threatening invasive diseases in many countries worldwide. FUNDING: Wellcome Trust (UK), Robert Koch Institute (Germany), Federal Ministry of Health (Germany), Pfizer, Merck, Health Protection Surveillance Centre (Ireland), SpID-Net project (Ireland), European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (European Union), Horizon 2020 (European Commission), Ministry of Health (Poland), National Programme of Antibiotic Protection (Poland), Ministry of Science and Higher Education (Poland), Agencia de Salut Pública de Catalunya (Spain), Sant Joan de Deu Foundation (Spain), Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation (Sweden), Swedish Research Council (Sweden), Region Stockholm (Sweden), Federal Office of Public Health of Switzerland (Switzerland), and French Public Health Agency (France).

• MeSH
• analýza přerušované časové série MeSH
• bakteriální infekce epidemiologie   přenos   MeSH
• COVID-19 * prevence a kontrola   MeSH
• Haemophilus influenzae MeSH
• incidence MeSH
• infekce dýchací soustavy epidemiologie   MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• Neisseria meningitidis MeSH
• prospektivní studie MeSH
• Streptococcus agalactiae MeSH
• Streptococcus pneumoniae MeSH
• surveillance populace MeSH
• veřejné zdravotnictví - praxe MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH

Anomalies in the radon (222Rn) releases in underground environments are one of the phenomena that can be observed before earthquake occurrence. Continuous measurements of radon activity concentration, and of meteorological parameters that influence the gas emission, were performed in three Slovak and Czech caves during 1-y period (1 July 2016-30 June 2017). The radon activity concentration in caves shows seasonal variations, with maxima reached during summer months. The anomalies in the radon time series are identified using a combination of three mathematical methods: multiple linear regression, empirical mode decomposition and support vector regression. The radon anomaly periods were compared with earthquake occurrences in Europe. Coincidences between both phenomena were found, since all monitored caves reflect contemporaneous local tectonic changes. The results indicate that radon continuous monitoring could assist a better understanding of radon emissions, along active tectonic structures, during seismic events.

• MeSH
• analýza přerušované časové série MeSH
• jeskyně * MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• monitorování radiace metody   MeSH
• plyny analýza   MeSH
• radioaktivní látky znečišťující půdu analýza   MeSH
• radon analýza   MeSH
• roční období MeSH
• zemětřesení statistika a číselné údaje   MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Geografické názvy
• Česká republika MeSH
• Slovenská republika MeSH
• Názvy látek
• plyny MeSH
• radioaktivní látky znečišťující půdu MeSH
• Radon-222 MeSH Prohlížeč
• radon MeSH

Unfavorable health trends among the lowly educated have recently been reported from the United States. We analyzed health trends by education in European countries, paying particular attention to the possibility of recent trend interruptions, including interruptions related to the impact of the 2008 financial crisis. We collected and harmonized data on mortality from ca 1980 to ca 2014 for 17 countries covering 9.8 million deaths and data on self-reported morbidity from ca 2002 to ca 2014 for 27 countries covering 350,000 survey respondents. We used interrupted time-series analyses to study changes over time and country-fixed effects analyses to study the impact of crisis-related economic conditions on health outcomes. Recent trends were more favorable than in previous decades, particularly in Eastern Europe, where mortality started to decline among lowly educated men and where the decline in less-than-good self-assessed health accelerated, resulting in some narrowing of health inequalities. In Western Europe, mortality has continued to decline among the lowly and highly educated, and although the decline of less-than-good self-assessed health slowed in countries severely hit by the financial crisis, this affected lowly and highly educated equally. Crisis-related economic conditions were not associated with widening health inequalities. Our results show that the unfavorable trends observed in the United States are not found in Europe. There has also been no discernible short-term impact of the crisis on health inequalities at the population level. Both findings suggest that European countries have been successful in avoiding an aggravation of health inequalities.

• Klíčová slova
• Europe, financial crisis, health inequalities, morbidity, mortality,
• MeSH
• analýza přerušované časové série statistika a číselné údaje   MeSH
• disparity zdravotní péče ekonomika   statistika a číselné údaje   MeSH
• disparity zdravotního stavu MeSH
• dospělí MeSH
• ekonomická recese statistika a číselné údaje   MeSH
• lidé středního věku MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• sebezhodnocení (psychologie) MeSH
• senioři MeSH
• socioekonomické faktory MeSH
• zpráva o sobě MeSH
• Check Tag
• dospělí MeSH
• lidé středního věku MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mužské pohlaví MeSH
• senioři MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• Geografické názvy
• Evropa MeSH

In the year 2010 a continual radon measurement was established at Mladeč Caves in the Czech Republic using a continual radon monitor RADIM3A. In order to model radon time series in the years 2010-15, the Box-Jenkins Methodology, often used in econometrics, was applied. Because of the behavior of radon concentrations (RCs), a seasonal integrated, autoregressive moving averages model with exogenous variables (SARIMAX) has been chosen to model the measured time series. This model uses the time series seasonality, previously acquired values and delayed atmospheric parameters, to forecast RC. The developed model for RC time series is called regARIMA(5,1,3). Model residuals could be retrospectively compared with seismic evidence of local or global earthquakes, which occurred during the RCs measurement. This technique enables us to asses if continuously measured RC could serve an earthquake precursor.

• MeSH
• analýza přerušované časové série MeSH
• jeskyně MeSH
• monitorování radiace metody   MeSH
• prediktivní hodnota testů MeSH
• radioaktivní látky znečišťující půdu analýza   MeSH
• radon analýza   MeSH
• roční období MeSH
• zemětřesení * MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Geografické názvy
• Česká republika MeSH
• Názvy látek
• radioaktivní látky znečišťující půdu MeSH
• radon MeSH

BACKGROUND AND AIM: The city of Ostrava and its surroundings belong to the most long-therm polluted areas in the Czech Republic and Europe. For identification of health risk, the World Health Organization recommends a theoretical estimation of increased short-term PM10 concentrations effect on hospital admissions for cardiac complaints based on a 0.6% increase per 10 µg.m-3 PM10 and 1.14% increase for respiratory causes. The goal of the present study is to verify the percentage increase of morbidity due to cardiovascular and respiratory causes, as per WHO recommendations for health risk assessment, in the population of Ostrava. METHOD: The input data include data on PM10 air pollution, meteorological data, the absolute number of hospital admissions for acute cardiovascular and respiratory diseases in the period 2010-2012. To examine the association between air pollution and health outcomes the time series Poisson regression adjusted for covariates was used. RESULTS: A significant relationship was found between the cardiovascular hospital admissions (percentage increase of 1.24% per 10 µg.m-3) and values of PM10 less than 150 µg.m-3 in the basic model, although after adjustment for other factors, this relationship was no longer significant. A significant relationship was also observed for respiratory causes of hospital admissions in the basic model. Contrary to cardiovascular hospitalization, the relationship between respiratory hospital admissions and PM10 values below 150 µg.m-3 (percentage increase of 1.52%) remained statistically significant after adjustment for other factors. CONCLUSIONS: The observed significant relationship between hospital admissions for respiratory causes was consistent with the results of large European and American studies.

• Klíčová slova
• health risk assessment, hospital admissions, particulate matter, time series,
• MeSH
• akutní nemoc MeSH
• analýza přerušované časové série MeSH
• dítě MeSH
• dospělí MeSH
• hospitalizace statistika a číselné údaje   MeSH
• kardiovaskulární nemoci epidemiologie   MeSH
• kojenec MeSH
• látky znečišťující vzduch škodlivé účinky   MeSH
• lidé středního věku MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mladiství MeSH
• nemoci dýchací soustavy epidemiologie   MeSH
• novorozenec MeSH
• pevné částice škodlivé účinky   MeSH
• počasí MeSH
• předškolní dítě MeSH
• průmysl MeSH
• senioři nad 80 let MeSH
• senioři MeSH
• vystavení vlivu životního prostředí škodlivé účinky   MeSH
• znečištění ovzduší škodlivé účinky   MeSH
• Check Tag
• dítě MeSH
• dospělí MeSH
• kojenec MeSH
• lidé středního věku MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mladiství MeSH
• mužské pohlaví MeSH
• novorozenec MeSH
• předškolní dítě MeSH
• senioři nad 80 let MeSH
• senioři MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Geografické názvy
• Česká republika epidemiologie   MeSH
• Názvy látek
• látky znečišťující vzduch MeSH
• pevné částice MeSH