BACKGROUND Cross-country comparisons of unofficial payments in the health sector are sparse. In 2002 we conducted a social audit of the health sector of the three Baltic States. METHODS Some 10,320 household interviews from a stratified, last-stage-random, sample of 30 clusters per country, together with institutional reviews, produced preliminary results. Separate focus groups of service use...

Listeria monocytogenes is a pathogen that causes infectious diseases in animals and foodborne infection in humans. The aim of this retrospective study was to analyse L. monocytogenes caused abortions in cattle in Latvia in 2013, and to describe the potential reasons of these abortions. In total, 186 cattle abortion cases were investigated. The pathological material from aborted foetuses include...

The aims of this study were to determine and compare the differences between the regional adiposity and some indexes of central body fat distribution of women according to age group categories in the urban population in Latvia. For this purpose 373 women were anthropometrically examined during the period 2001–2005. The body height, body weight, three circumferences (chest, waist, hip) and four ...

In 2010–2012, scientists of Riga technical University have developed the hydrogeological model of Latvia (LAMO). In 2013, LAMO has been applied as a tool to implement in Latvia aims laid down by the European Union Water Framework Directive for sustainable use of water resources. The set of hydrogeological maps was prepared for updating of the water management plans for the river basin districts...

The article reports on the results of an economic and sociological study conducted by Institute Sociology Russian Academy Sciences in collaboration with Daugavpils University (Latvia) 2020—2021. aimed to identify reasons for disparity development small towns Latvia. A comprehensive approach was taken integrate territorial, spatial socio-economic analyses. By employing methodology indexing ranki...

SETTING Drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) is an important public health problem in Latvia. OBJECTIVE To document trends, characteristics and treatment outcomes of registered patients with multi-drug-resistant (MDR-) and extensively drug-resistant (XDR-) TB in Latvia from 2000 to 2010. DESIGN A retrospective national cohort study. RESULTS Of 1779 patients, 1646 (92%) had MDR- and 133 (8%) X...

BACKGROUND Tobacco is a leading cause of avoidable death in the Baltic Republics but there is, as yet, relatively little information in the public domain on who is smoking and how this is changing. This information is important for those seeking to develop effective policies to tackle this issue. OBJECTIVE To determine the pattern of smoking in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. METHODS Analys...

Introduction. With the standard treatment of chronic hepatitis C, sustained virological response (SVR) can be achieved only in half of all patients. Interleukin-28B appears to be involved in the control of HCV infection, and the genetic polymorphism of the encoding IL-28B gene may determine the efficacy of clearance of HCV. The aim of this paper was to detect IL-28B gene polymorphism in Latvia ...

INTRODUCTION It has not been established whether CHEK2 and NOD2 variants are present in Latvia and whether inherited variation in these genes influences cancer risk in this population. AIM OF THE STUDY To evaluate the role of CHEK2 and NOD2 mutations in breast and colorectal cancers in the population of Latvia. MATERIALS AND METHODS Peripheral venous blood samples were collected from 185 br...