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Lyme borreliosis is a multisystem infectious disease that can occur from bites by infected ticks. It can appear at persons exposed professionally for staying in tick feeding environment as well as persons staying in such an environment occasionally. For a few years the Lyme disease is taking the leading place amongst occupational diseases and first amongst infectious occupational diseases. Lyme disease is a major problem especially in wooded areas of Poland however it can occur throughout the country. The variety of clinical and serological pictures is creating everyday diagnostic problems. The aim of this publication is to collect, methodize and remind the medical knowledge about pathogenesis, symptoms, diagnostics, prevention and medical certification of this disease. Disease symptoms were specified to appearing in various organs and systems in order to clarify this difficult to diagnose disease. Diagnostics of Lyme disease was divided into standard and highly specialized, performed in special cases.

The paper reviews the etiology of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), its clinical symptoms and diagnostic procedures. Forasmuch the fatigue is the main symptom of CFS and it may appear in many somatic and mental disorders. The principles of differential diagnostics are reviewed and the methods of management and treatment are presented. The knowledge of CFS is needed among occupational medicine physicians, especially from the point of view of health protection.

Objectives: A changing character of lead exposure has been observed over many years. However, construction workers involved in the renovation of painted steel structures are still severely exposed to lead and its compounds. In 2004, we observed an outbreak of lead poisoning in high voltage tower conservators working abroad.Materials and Methods: As many as 27 male workers with suspected lead poisoning were hospitalized in the Department of Occupational Disease, Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine, Lódź, Poland. They were involved in removing an old lead-containing paint from high voltage towers.Results: On admission to the department, 70% of treated workers showed laboratory signs of anemia in their blood count. After treatment the signs persisted in 25% of patients. Also alkaline dotting in erythrocytes was present in 13 subjects. Sub-acute lead poisoning manifested by abdominal cramps with coexisting anemia and increased lead absorption symptoms was most frequently diagnosed.Conclusions: The high lead exposure of the examined high voltage tower cleaners was due to specific working conditions. In such cases overprotection of the environment may lead to severe health effects in humans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reports on the 10th National Congress of the Polish Association of Occupational Medicine that took place on September 26 to 29, 2004. Number of attendees; Lecturers; Subjects of the panel and poster sessions.