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Whiplash injury has been a continuous source of controversy due to its association with litigation. We studied the incidence of whiplash associated disorder (WAD) in two similar socioeconomic areas and carried out a retrospective study based on the hypothesis that the Spanish law 30/1995 might have an affect on the incidence and duration of cervical symptoms and the persistence of impairment. More than 10,000 patients injured in traffic accidents were studied over a period three years. Of these, only patients with an initial diagnosis of whiplash injury were included in the study. Patients with other injuries were excluded. The patients were classified into two groups: Galicia-Spain and North-Central Portugal (depending on where the accident took place and the medico-legal evaluation procedure in force). Statistical analysis was made using SPSS 13.0 and Statistix 8.0. We found a statistically significant difference between Spain and Portugal in the incidence of WAD and in the duration of symptoms. The incongruities caused by the compulsory application of Spanish law arise from the fact that evaluation on a points scale of impairment does not always reflect the functional state of the injured person.

We studied the genetic relatedness of 47 Portuguese penicillin-resistant 9V and 23F Streptococcus pneumoniae of clinical origin, using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. PFGE fingerprinting showed that 24 isolates of serotype 9V and 23 isolates of serotype 23F were variants of the Spain(9V)-3 and Spain(23F)-1 clones, respectively. Fingerprinting of pbp1a, pbp2b and pbp2x genes showed that all the penicillin-resistant clones gave similar HinfI restriction patterns. In this study, serotypes 9V and 23F have different clonal origins and identical PBP genotypes, suggesting a horizontal transfer of resistance. Visual and computer-assisted analysis of PFGE patterns correlated well (r = 0.983).