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Background: Tuberculosis is a chronic infectious disease caused by acid-fast mycobacteria from the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex group. The disease spreads when people with pulmonary tuberculosis excrete bacteria when they cough, sneeze, laugh or speak. Prisons are often called reservoirs of patients with tuberculosis, posing a great threat to their staff. Longer working hours in prison and penitentiary facilities aid latent contamination among the prison staff. So far, there have been few works discussing latent tuberculosis infection issues among the prisoners and prison staff., Material and Methods: A total of 84 employees of penitentiary facilities located in the Lublin Voivodship were examined using the QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-Tube (QFT-GIT) test which was approved for use in 2005 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as an aid in the diagnosis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis . The material for the research included blood samples collected using the QFT-GIT., Results: Positive test results of latent tuberculosis infections were found in 16.6% of officers. The highest percentage with positive results of tuberculosis infections was found among the surveyed single women aged 36-57, working in penitentiary facilities. There have been no statistically significant differences between the position of officers and the risk factors increasing the chance of the latent tuberculosis infection. Work experience and contact with inmates were found to have an impact on tuberculosis infection., Conclusions: The obtained results partially confirm other authors' observations concerning the influence of the risk factors of latent tuberculosis infections in prisons. Work experience and contact with inmates have an impact on tuberculosis infections among the prison staff in the Lublin Voivodeship. Med Pr. 2021;72(4):415-22., (This work is available in Open Access model and licensed under a CC BY-NC 3.0 PL license.)

Background: This study is aimed at evaluating the awareness among hunters and foresters concerning the activities undertaken for the prevention of Borrelia burgdorferi infections., Material and Methods: The study group included 236 hunters from Poland and 339 foresters from Ukraine. The study was based on an original questionnaire including questions which concerned the applied methods of removing ticks attached to the skin, the kind of preventive measures undertaken to avoid tick bites, the evaluation of knowledge concerning the prevention of tick-borne diseases, as well as the participants' willingness to be educated on this issue., Results: Removing a tick with a pair of tweezers by a simple vertical move was more frequently practiced by the hunters (16.5%). Spreading an oily substance over a tick to make it go out on its own was more often applied by the foresters (18.8%). The occurrence of erythema migrans was more frequently reported by the foresters (47.2%). Among the persons declaring no knowledge of the prevention of tick-borne diseases, 77.8% of the hunters and 61.5% of the foresters were willing to gain such knowledge, and 11.1% of the hunters and 21.2% of the foresters did not want any education on this issue. The hunters more often than the foresters applied repellents and checked their body after returning from green areas., Conclusions: Education is needed in certain groups undertaking hobby or vocational activities in forest areas of Poland and Ukraine. It seems reasonable to undertake research on the preferences concerning the choice of repellents among the groups at risk of tick bites. Med Pr. 2020;71(1):59-68., (This work is available in Open Access model and licensed under a CC BY-NC 3.0 PL license.)

Background: The presence of co-infections induced by tick-borne pathogens in humans is an important epidemiological phenomenon. This issue has attracted growing attention of doctors and people working under conditions of an increased risk of being exposed to tick bites., Material and Methods: The research group consisted of 93 individuals with current anti-immunoglobulin M/G (IgM/ IgG) Borrelia burgdorferi or IgG anti-Anaplasma phagocytophilum. The respondents were identified during the screening survey in a group of farmers and foresters occupationally exposed to tick bites. The aim of the work was to analyse the frequency of antibodies to specific antigens of B. burgdorferi and the levels of cytokines in forestry workers and farmers with B. burgdorferi monoinfections and B. burgdorferi / A. phagocytophilum co-infections. Statistical analysis was performed using the Chi2, Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis tests., Results: There is a stronger generation of IgG antibodies to B. burgdorferi antigens in patients with B. burgdorferi / A. phagocytophilum co-infections, such as variable major protein-like sequence expressed (VlsE) (p < 0.05), p19 (p < 0.02), p17 (p < 0.05) and complement regulator-acquiring surface protein 3 (CRASP3) (p < 0.02) compared to persons with B. burgdorferi monoinfections. The discrepancies in the synthesis of cytokines interleukin 6 (IL-6), IL-10, and tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) have not been found in persons with B. burgdorferi monoinfections and B. burgdorferi / A. phagocytophilum co-infection., Conclusions: The immune response directed against B. burgdorferi is stronger in patients co-infected with B. burgdorferi and A. phagocytophilum than in those with monoinfection., (This work is available in Open Access model and licensed under a CC BY-NC 3.0 PL license.)