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Background: Genital herpes is one of the most prevalent sexually-transmitted diseases, and accounts for a substantial morbidity. Genital herpes puts newborns at risk for very severe disease and also increases the risk of horizontal HIV transmission. It thus stands as an important public health problem. The recent availability of type-specific gG-based assays detecting IgG against HSV-1 and HSV-2 allows to establish the prevalence of each subtype. Worldwide, few data have been published regarding the seroprevalence in general populations of HSV-2, the major causative agent for genital herpes, while no data exist regarding the Swiss population. Methods: To evaluate the prevalence of IgG antibodies against HSV-1 and HSV-2 in Switzerland, we used a population-based serum repository from a health examination survey conducted in the Western and Southern area of Switzerland in 1992-93. A total of 3,120 sera were analysed by type-specific gG-based ELISA and seroprevalence was correlated with available volunteers characteristics by logistic regression. Results: Overall, seroprevalence rates were 80.0 ± 0.9% (SE, 95% CI: 78.1-81.8) for HSV-1 and 19.3 ± 0.9% (SE, 95% CI: 17.6-21.1) for HSV-2 in adults 35-64 year old. HSV-1 and HSV-2 seroprevalence increased with age, with a peak HSV-2 seroprevalence in elderly gentlemen, possibly a seroarcheological evidence of sexually transmitted disease epidemics during World War II. Risk factors for HSV-2 infection included female sex, marital status other than married, and size of town of residence larger than 1500 inhabitants. Unexpectedly and conversely to HSV-1, HSV-2 seroprevalence increased with educational level. HSV-2 infection was less prevalent among HSV-1 infected individuals when compared to HSV-1 uninfected individuals. This effect was most apparent among women at high risk for HSV-2 infection. Conclusions: Our data demonstrate that by the early nineties, HSV-2 had spread quite largely in the Swiss population. However, the epidemiology of HSV-2 in Switzerland presents paradoxical characteristics, e.g. positive correlation with education level, that have not been observed elsewhere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and purpose: Insomnia is a common and debilitating disorder that is frequently associated with important consequences for physical health and well‐being. Methods: An international expert group considered the current state of knowledge based on the most relevant publications in the previous 5 years, discussed the current challenges in the field of insomnia and identified future priorities. Results: The association of trajectories of insomnia with subsequent quality of life, health and mortality should be investigated in large populations. Prospective health economics studies by separating the costs driven specifically by insomnia and costs attributable to its long‐term effects are needed. Ignoring the heterogeneity of insomnia patients leads to inadequate diagnosis and inefficient treatment. Individualized interventions should be promoted. More data are needed on both the impact of sleep on overnight effects, such as emotion regulation, and the potential compensatory effort to counteract diurnal impairments. Another gap is the definition of neurocognitive deficits in insomnia patients compared to normal subjects after chronic sleep loss. There are also a number of key gaps related to insomnia treatment. Expert guidelines indicate cognitive–behavioural therapy for insomnia as first‐line treatment. They neglect, however, the reality of major healthcare providers. The role of combined therapy, cognitive–behavioural therapy for insomnia plus pharmacological treatment, should be evaluated more extensively. Conclusion: Whilst insomnia disorder might affect large proportions of the population, there are a number of significant gaps in the epidemiological/clinical/research studies carried out to date. In particular, the identification of different insomnia phenotypes could allow more cost‐effective and efficient therapies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Second-hand smoke increases the risk of acute myocardial infarction. Canton Ticino (CT) first introduced a smoking ban in public places in 2007. This offered the opportunity to assess the long-term impact of a smoking ban on the incidence of ST-elevation myocardial infarctions (STEMI) compared with a population where the law was not yet implemented. Methods: We assessed the incidence of STEMI hospitalizations per 100 000 inhabitants both during 3 years before and after the ban application in CT and in Canton Basel City (CBC), where this law was not yet applied. Data were obtained from the codified hospital registry (ICD-10 codes). Results: In CT, the mean incidence of STEMI admissions during the 3 pre-ban years (123.7) was significantly higher than the incidence of admissions in each of the 3 post-ban years (92.9, 101.6 and 89.6 respectively; P <.024). Analysing population subsets, a post-ban reduction was observed among ⩾65-year-old people of both sexes in each of the 3 post-ban years and in the <65-year age group during the first post-ban year (P = 0.02). Conversely, the mean incidence of STEMI hospitalizations in CBC (92.4) didn't change significantly in each of the 3 post-ban years (83.9, 83.3 and 79.5, P = NS) during the same period. However, a significant long-term reduction in STEMI admissions was observed in CBC among the male group with ⩾65 years (P<0.01). Conclusion: Our work suggests a significant impact of the smoke-free policy on the number of annual STEMI. Specific population subsets (i.e. ⩾65-year-old females) were particularly affected by the smoking ban, showing a significant reduction in STEMI hospitalizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses research on assessing impact of bibliographical support on the medical care quality in patients admitted to an internal medicine service by using the methodology of evidence-based medicine. It discusses the assessment of patients hospitalised in the internal medicine service of Regional Hospital of Lugano, Switzerland from November 2012 to February 2013. It informs that bibliographical research has an important protective effect on transfer to an intensive care unit.

Presents a letter to the editor on cholesterol screening of children in the U.S.

Abstract: The Medical Humanities go beyond bioethics, cross over multiple disciplines and represent a new way of perceiving, seeing and thinking about illness. They represent a different view that gives value to the human side of treatment, that recognizes in self-narration an authentic and living foundation. Today, the technical aspects of medicine need more than ever to be accompanied by content derived from the arts and social or human sciences that focus on other, but not less important, aspects of being sick or in health. Everyday clinical practice in a “Medical Humanities style” can change the encounter with patients and their families, as well as the relationship with one''s self and with colleagues. Adopting this wider perspective allows us to go further than contemporary biomedicine and continue to explore a unique understanding of mankind. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]