[The evolution of the incidence of tuberculosis in the La Coruña health area]. / Evolución de la incidencia de enfermedad tuberculosa en el área sanitaria de La Coruña.

BACKGROUND: Tuberculosis represents a major public health problem. In Spain, the incidence of tuberculosis is among the highest in the European Community, and shows an increasing trend. The aim of this study is to determine the incidence and temporal trends of tuberculosis in the catchment area of the "Hospital Juan Canalejo" (La Coruña, Spain), between 1982 and 1991. METHODS: Revision of all case records of tuberculosis with positive bacteriology and detected by the Epidemiological Vigilance System of the Preventive Medicine Unit of the "Hospital Juan Canalejo", diagnosed between January 1982 and December 1991. The incidence of tuberculosis as a function of age, sex, period, and county, was modeled with Poisson regression. RESULTS: 1120 cases were studied. The relative risk of tuberculosis in females with respect to males was 0.50 (95% confidence interval 0.44 to 0.56; p < 0.001) with a peak of increased risk between 15 and 35 years of age in both genders. With respect to temporal trends, the risk of tuberculosis increased from 1986 in females and from 1987 in males. CONCLUSIONS: Over the last decade, the incidence of tuberculosis has increased in the study area, with higher risk in males and young adults.

HLA and Behçet's disease in northern Spain: their lack of correlation with arthritis pattern.

We have studied the characteristics of arthritis present in 32 patients with Behçet's disease (BD), and how this arthritis is related to the HLA markers class I. 84% of the patients presented arthritis, the most common being mono-arthritis as the initial presentation, and oligoarthritis in subsequent episodes. In 63% of the cases, the development was in episodes of acute/subacute arthritis. We found statistically significant association between antigens B-5 and B-51, and the group with BD, with a relative risk of 3.89 and 4.71 respectively. The attempt to relate markers B-5, B-51 and B-27 to the presence of arthritis as well as to its manifestation and further development was not conclusive.

[Epidemiological study of Reiter's syndrome in a health service area]. / Estudio epidemiológico del Síndrome de Reiter en un área sanitaria.

A higher incidence of Reiter's Syndrome (RS) is observed among young white men. We have conducted an epidemiological study of RS cases from our current health area and diagnosed in our hospital between 1975 and 1989. Twenty-four patients were included in this study, with a relation between men and women of 12:1 and an average age of 33.4 years. The annual incidence rate was 2.66 for men and 0.65 for women per 100,000 population during the study period. We have observed a tendency towards younger ages in the recent years and we have detected the presence of the HLA B-27 marker in 79% of patients.

[In vitro activity of mupirocin, a new topical agent against Staphylococcus aureus]. / Actividad in vitro de mupirocina, un nuevo agente tópico frente a Staphylococcus aureus.

The in vitro activity of mupirocin (pseudomonic acid), a new topic antibiotic, was evaluated against 70 S. aureus strains from health care staff of our hospital. The activity of the antibiotic was excellent, with a HIC90 of 0.25 mg/l. Mupirocin activity was higher than that of cloxacillin and bacitracin and similar to that neomycin.