Trastornos menstruales en tripulantes de cabina de pasajeros (TCP) / Menstrual disorders in flight attendants

INTRODUCCIÓN:El objetivo de este estudio es determinar la incidencia de alteraciones en el ciclo menstrual de las azafatas de una compañía aérea y su relación con factores propios del medio aeronaútico tales como, la exposición mantenida a un medio hipobárico y a un determinado ambiente de cabina, duración y recorrido de vuelos y otros factores como, ambiente de trabajo (estrés, cambios horarios...), edad, patología médico y/o ginecológica y toma de fármacos. MATERIAL Y MÉTODO: Realizamos un estudio mediante un cuestionario anónimo y voluntario entre las azafatas que pertenencían a la plantilla de la compañía Iberia. RESULTADOS: Respondieron a la encuesta 614 azafatas con edades comprendidas entre los 20 y 58 años siendo la media de 37,38 años. Del total de la muestra un 44,1 por ciento referían alteraciones menstruales. Encontramos una relación estadística significativa entre la presencia de transtornos menstruales y la edad, los años efectivos de vuelo y otros factores tales como el vuelo en aviones que realizan trayectos intercontinentales y continentales. Según los resultados obtenido la edad juega un papel fundamental en la presencia de estos trastornos (AU)

INTRODUCTlON: The aim of this study is to analyze the incidence of changes and disturbances in the menstrual cycle in a group of flight attendants (FA) in relation to aviation environmental factors such hipobaria exposure, cabin pressure, length and route of flight and other factors such occupational stress, age, medical, gynecological disturbances and use of medication. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We carried out a survey by voluntary and anonymous questionnaire among flight attendants currently assigned to the fleet of lBERIA Airlines. RESULTS: 614 FA answered the questionnaire. The average age of the FA was 37,38 (range 20-58). Of the 614 FA surveyed 44,1% reported menstrual disorders. We found a relation statistically significant between the presence of menstrual disorders and age, flying time, intercontinental and continental flights. The age is un important factor in menstrual disorders in night attendants (AU)

Serodiagnosis of African swine fever using the recombinant protein p30 expressed in insect larvae.

African swine fever (ASF) has a substantial economic impact in many African developing countries and its eradication is based only on an efficient diagnosis program because of the absence of an available vaccine. Previous data suggested the convenience of using the highly antigenic virus protein p30 as ELISA antigen for serological diagnosis of this disease. A simple and efficient method is described for producing the recombinant protein p30 from ASF virus in Trichoplusia ni larvae (cabbage looper) in order to facilitate the large-scale production of this recombinant protein in the absence of fermentation procedures. A baculovirus encoding the virus protein p30 was used to infect insect larvae, showing that recombinant protein production had a sharp optimal peak with a time of occurrence dependent on the initial virus dose inoculated to the larvae. Crude lysates of infected larvae were used without further purification as coating antigen in ELISA to analyse a limited number of sera from natural or experimentally ASF virus infected pigs. Remarkably, the recombinant protein obtained from a single infected larva was sufficient for serological diagnosis of at least 3750 serum samples. Recombinant p30 obtained by this procedure was also used in a confirmatory immunoblotting, reacting with all positive sera tested previously by ELISA. In conclusion, production of the recombinant ASF virus protein p30 in larvae should be applicable to large-scale production of diagnostic reagents for this disease in developing countries, eliminating the need for specialised facilities for tissue culture.