Federal State Of Saxony-Anhalt Research Articles

Cardiovascular prevention in Saxony-Anhalt : Necessity and new perspectives

Cardiovascular risk factors (high blood pressure, smoking, overweight, type2 diabetes, dyslipidemia, physical inactivity) substantially rise with increasing age, particularly after middle age, whereby women are affected to amuch greater extent. In the population of Saxony-Anhalt the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors is clearly increased and the population structure in Saxony-Anhalt is particularly characterized by ahigh average age as well as high morbidity and mortality rates due to cardiovascular diseases. Saxony-Anhalt therefore provides amodel character for the demographic development in Europe. This review article discusses strategies for the implementation of target group-specific cardiovascular preventive strategies in the Federal State of Saxony-Anhalt with special consideration of age and sex. When preventive medicine facilities are established and innovative treatment possibilities for patients with cardiovascular risks are created, prevention should also become available in rural areas.

Germany-wide citizen science study reveals spread of Babesia canis-infected Dermacentor reticulatus ticks by dogs travelling within the country

The ornate dog tick Dermacentor reticulatus, vector of Babesia canis, has shown a considerable range expansion in several European countries. Previously, only few areas in Germany were recognised as endemic for B. canis, but a marked increase in autochthonous canine babesiosis cases and spread to new areas has been noted recently. To better assess the current risk for dogs, the present study screened 5913 specimens of D. reticulatus from all over Germany, collected in the frame of a Citizen Science study during 2019–2023. Moreover, 343 Dermacentor marginatus ticks were also included. Babesia detection was achieved by quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR). Positive samples were confirmed by sequencing. Moreover, a MGB-probe-based triplex qPCR was established to detect and distinguish between the canine Babesia spp. relevant in Europe, i.e. B. canis, Babesia vogeli and Babesia gibsoni. Overall, B. canis DNA was detected in five D. reticulatus specimens (0.08%). Two of the B. canis-positive ticks originated from areas previously known as endemic for canine babesiosis, namely from the area of Freiburg im Breisgau, federal state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, and from the district St. Wendel, federal state of Saarland. Three further B. canis-positive ticks were detected in districts not yet recognised as endemic, one each in the district of Mansfeld-Suedharz, federal state of Saxony-Anhalt, the district of Ravensburg, federal state of Baden-Wuerttemberg and in the city of Fürth, federal state of Bavaria. However, the tick in Fürth was found on a dog who had returned from a trip to the Breisgau region on the previous day, indicating translocation of the specimen out of this well-known endemic focus. The geographical distribution of the positive samples shows that B. canis is currently spreading in Germany, particularly via dogs travelling within the country, increasing the infection risk throughout the country. Important measures to contain a further spread of the pathogen include comprehensive year-round tick prophylaxis with licensed acaricides, not only to protect the individual pet, but also the entire dog population. Moreover, screening of dogs entering Germany from B. canis-endemic countries is required and any treatment should aim at pathogen elimination by use of appropriate imidocarb dosages.

First Evidence of West Nile Virus Overwintering in Mosquitoes in Germany.

Mosquitoes collected from mid-December 2020 to early March 2021 from hibernacula in northeastern Germany, a region of West Nile virus (WNV) activity since 2018, were examined for WNV-RNA. Among the 6101 mosquitoes tested in 722 pools of up to 12 specimens, one pool of 10 Culex pipiens complex mosquitoes collected in early March 2021 in the cellar of a medieval castle in Rosslau, federal state of Saxony-Anhalt, tested positive. Subsequent mosquito DNA analysis produced Culex pipiens biotype pipiens. The pool homogenate remaining after nucleic acid extraction failed to grow the virus on Vero and C6/36 cells. Sequencing of the viral NS2B-NS3 coding region, however, demonstrated high homology with virus strains previously collected in Germany, e.g., from humans, birds, and mosquitoes, which have been designated the East German WNV clade. The finding confirms the expectation that WNV can overwinter in mosquitoes in Germany, facilitating an early start to the natural transmission season in the subsequent year. On the other hand, the calculated low infection prevalence of 0.016–0.20%, depending on whether one or twelve of the mosquitoes in the positive pool was/were infected, indicates a slow epidemic progress and mirrors the still-hypoendemic situation in Germany. In any case, local overwintering of the virus in mosquitoes suggests its long-term persistence and an enduring public health issue.

Uncertainties in land use data may have substantial effects on environmental planning recommendations: A plea for careful consideration.

A key challenge of environmental planning is to craft recommendations for future sustainable spatial development amid ubiquitous uncertainties. This paper aims to explore how different data uncertainties, usually unknown to the planner, may influence environmental planning recommendations. We apply a case study-based approach, in which we provide three illustrative examples of how data with different kinds and levels of uncertainty affect environmental assessments and, by that, the decision-support provided by environmental planning. The cases stem from different spatial levels in Germany and consider 'Regional soil-based climate change mitigation' in the region of Hannover, 'State-wide habitat conservation siting' in the federal state of Saxony-Anhalt, and 'National renewable energy planning'. Based on the three examples, we discuss implications for planning practice and derive recommendations for further research. The three cases studies illustrate the substantial effects of data uncertainty on environmental assessments and planning recommendations derived from those results. We identify four problem constellations of dealing with data uncertainty in environmental planning that relate to the severeness of uncertainty impacts, the responsibility of the decision-maker, and the kinds of impacts that wrong decisions may have. We close with recommendations for further research, among others to develop robust and pragmatic methods for identifying the uncertainty levels in environmental data and assessment results.

Beyond fish eDNA metabarcoding: Field replicates disproportionately improve the detection of stream-associated vertebrate species

Fast, reliable, and comprehensive biodiversity monitoring data are needed for environmental decision making and management. Recent work on fish environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding shows that aquatic diversity can be captured fast, reliably, and non-invasively at moderate costs. Because freshwater ecosystems act as sinks in the landscape, they also collect traces of terrestrial species via surface runoff or when specimens come into direct contact with water (e.g., for drinking purposes). Thus, fish eDNA metabarcoding data can provide information on fish but also on other, even terrestrial vertebrate species that live in riparian habitats. This data become available and may offer a much more comprehensive approach for assessing vertebrate diversity at no additional costs. Studies on how the sampling strategy affects species detection especially of stream-associated communities, however, are scarce. We therefore performed an analysis on the effects of biological replication on both fish as well as (semi-)terrestrial species detection. Along a 2-km stretch of the river Mulde (Germany), we collected 18 1L water samples and analyzed the relation of detected species richness and quantity of biological replicates taken. We detected 58 vertebrate species, of which 25 were fish and lamprey, 18 mammals, and 15 birds, which account for 50%, 24% and 7% of all native species to the German federal state of Saxony-Anhalt. However, while increasing the number of biological replicates resulted in only 25 % more detected fish and lamprey species, mammal and bird species richness increased disproportionately by 69 % and 84 %, respectively. Contrary, PCR replicates showed little stochasticity. We thus emphasize to increase the number of biological replicates when the aim is to improve general species detections. This holds especially true, when the focus is on rare aquatic taxa or on (semi-)terrestrial species, the so-called ‘bycatch’. As a clear advantage, this information can be obtained without any additional sampling or laboratory effort when the sampling strategy regarding biological replication is chosen carefully. With the consideration of frequent eDNA metabarcoding as part of national biomonitoring programs, the additional information provided by the bycatch can be used to further investigate the state of the environment and its biodiversity on a much broader scale.

Seed mixture strongly affects species-richness and quality of perennial flower strips on fertile soil

Within the frame of the EU Common Agricultural Policy, most countries subsidise the establishment and maintenance of perennial flower strips on arable land within Agri-Environmental Schemes to provide foraging habitats and refuges for wildlife.In a replicated field experiment, we studied the effects of different types of seed mixtures on the establishment and maintenance of perennial flower strips on fertile arable land in the federal state of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany over seven years. The seed mixtures were commonly applied within recent Common Agricultural Policy funding periods: (1) a low-diversity cultivar standard seed mixture (CULTIVAR), (2) a high-diversity cultivar and native plant mixture (MIX), and (3) a high-diversity native plant mixture (WILDFLOWER). All plots were mulched every year in March and at the beginning of August.The low success of CULTIVAR triggered the massive encroachment of spontaneously established perennial grasses. In MIX, too, cultivars have disappeared after the first year. Both wildflower variants were successful in maintaining a high cover of sown perennial native forbs and a high ratio of established sown species, even after seven years. WILDFLOWER always tended to show better values than MIX. Furthermore, spontaneously establishing species began to spread their cover in MIX in the fifth year, with a very strongly increasing tendency, whereas in WILDFLOWER cover of spontaneously immigrating species stayed satisfyingly low.Using native wildflowers to establish perennial wildflower strips was very effective in maintaining high species diversity within the Agri-Environmental Schemes funding period of five years and beyond. WILDFLOWER was especially successful. On the other hand, CULTIVAR failed completely. On fertile soils in regions with rather low yearly precipitation, mulching twice a year supported the maintenance of perennial wildflower strips.

The Efficiency of Local Public-Service Production: The Effect of Political Institutions

Reforms replacing municipal cooperations by centralized municipalities often aim at increasing municipal efficiency. Empirical evidence supporting this aim, however, is ambiguous. Our paper analyzes the effect of institutions on municipal efficiency. In particular, we distinguish two archetypal institutional settings, a centralized and a confederal one, and argue that bureaucrats in a centralized setting are able to increase the fiscal residual. Our empirical test case is the German federal state of Saxony-Anhalt. We test the effect of the institutional setup using the bootstrap approach suggested by Simar and Wilson (2007), concluding that a decentralized institutional setting improves the efficiency of municipal production.

Prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection among blood donors in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany - a region at intermediate risk for gastric cancer.

Background In the federal state of Saxony-Anhalt, gastric cancer (GC) incidence ranks among the highest in Germany. Helicobacter pylori prevalence is a surrogate marker for GC risk in a given population. In 2010 we reported an H. pylori seroprevalence of 44.4 % in patients at the emergency ward of the University Hospital of Magdeburg, the capital of Saxony-Anhalt. Our aim is to update these findings in a cohort of healthy blood donors from the same region. Materials and methods The sera of 516 consecutive blood donors (40.1 ± 14.1 years; 286 males and 230 females) were tested for antibodies against H. pylori and CagA. Data on demographics and previous H. pylori eradication therapy were obtained by means of a structured questionnaire. Blood donors with positive serology for H. pylori or CagA and/or history of eradication therapy were classified as H. pylori-positive. Results Overall, 28.9 % of the study cohort were H. pylori-positive. The prevalence was higher in older generations (9 % in 18 - 20 years up to 47 % in 61 - 70 years). In 44.4 % of H. pylori IgG-positive donors, CagA serology was also positive. This proportion was not age-dependent. Study participants with siblings were by trend more often H. pylori-positive (p = 0.066). Conclusion Compared to our previous study in patients at the emergency ward, we found by trend lower age-related H.pylori prevalence rates. In our cohort of healthy blood donors, we confirmed a lower H. pylori prevalence in younger generations.

Determination of the Geogenic Metal Background in Surface Water: Benchmarking Methodology for the Rivers of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany

Geogenic concentrations are defined as those concentrations that represent the natural background without any anthropogenic influence. The paper describes a statistical method for determining geogenic metal concentrations in rivers based on the concept of “aggregated riverine landscapes” (ARLs), which applies to all rivers in the Federal State of Saxony-Anhalt (Germany). The methodology includes the pre-selection of existing data by eliminating all sampling locations from the database which have anthropogenic influence, the GIS-based allocation of the sampling locations with respect to the respective ARL being the evaluation units, and the assessment of the geogenic background by statistical calculation of the 90th percentile. After validation of the methodology, the existing database was complemented by additional measurements for regions with data gaps. About 85,000 records of water samples, 1400 records of sediment samples, and 920 records of suspended particulate samples were used for the determination of the geogenic metal concentrations in the rivers of Saxony-Anhalt. The investigation included the parameters Al, Ag, As, B, Ba, Be, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Se, Ti, U, V, and Zn. The investigation results offer the determination of regions with increased background levels for certain metals or metalloids in Saxony-Anhalt.

The RHESA-CARE study: an extended baseline survey of the regional myocardial infarction registry of Saxony-Anhalt (RHESA) design and objectives

BackgroundCardiovascular disease (CVD) is a leading cause of death in Europe. In Germany, a declining mortality rate from acute myocardial infarction (AMI) has been observed in the last decades. Nevertheless, there are large differences between the federal states when looking at the mortality and morbidity of AMI. Saxony-Anhalt is one of the federal states with the highest mortality rates for AMI in Germany. In 2012, the regional myocardial infarction registry of Saxony-Anhalt (RHESA) was established to investigate the individual, infrastructural, and health care factors with respect to an urban (city of Halle) and rural (region of Altmark) population. For detailed observation the RHESA-CARE study was conducted in 2014. RHESA-CARE focuses on the symptoms during infarction, the behaviour of patients while alerting for infarction, the use of rehabilitation possibilities, and long-term care.Methods/DesignRHESA-CARE is an extended baseline survey of AMI patients registered in RHESA who are aged 25 or more, and inhabitants of the city of Halle (Saale) or the district of Altmark in the federal state of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Detailed information was collected on classical and psychosocial cardiovascular risk factors as well as factors of alerting behaviour, first aid, and utilization of medical and rehabilitation services. High data quality is ensured by a detailed system of quality control.DiscussionRHESA-CARE has the main objective to investigate factors that influence morbidity and mortality rates due to AMI. Another purpose is the comparison of a rural and urban patient population. It provides an opportunity to serve as a base for improvement of patients’ behaviour and health care as well as further research.

A case of autochthonous human Dirofilaria infection, Germany, March 2014

In March 2014, an infection with the nematode Dirofilaria repens was diagnosed in a German citizen in the federal state of Saxony-Anhalt. The patient had developed an itching subcutaneous nodule containing a female worm, which was identified as D. repens by 12S ribosomal ribonucleic acid (rRNA) gene sequencing. Autochthonous human D. repens infections have not been described in Germany so far, but this finding is consistent with the recent detection of D. repens in mosquitoes from east Germany.

Untersuchungen zu einem familiären Cluster von Infektionen durch Influenza A/H1N1 in Deutschland, 2009

On May 3, 2009, a first case of influenza A/H1N1 infection occurred in the federal state of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. In order to stop the possible spread of the virus and to study the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of the infection, an investigation was launched by the local health authorities and the RKI. Standardised questionnaires were used to assess demographic and clinical data. Specimens were collected from case patients and close contacts and were analysed for influenza A/H1N1 using real-time PCR. The index patient showed fever and coughing 3.5 days after returning from a holiday in Mexico. The local health authorities were informed on May 3, and measures were rapidly implemented. These measures included a trace-back of possible contact persons, isolation of the case and close contacts, prophylactic treatment with Oseltamivir. Virological investigations showed that the case shedded viral genome up until the last day of antiviral therapy. Viral genome was also detected in the spouse and the son of the patient. Both showed no symptoms under a prophylactic treatment with antiviral medication. No viral genome was detected in three other family members, and in six other contact persons outside of the family. The spread of the virus was contained due to the fast response of the local health authorities. Two secondary cases occurred in the family. These cases remained asymptomatic, possibly due to antiviral prophylaxis. Epidemiological and virological results suggest that the influenza A/H1N1 virus has a longer incubation period and that viral shedding may probably be prolonged when compared with seasonal influenza.

Knowledge among young people about folic acid and its importance during pregnancy: a survey in the Federal State of Saxony-Anhalt (Germany)

Periconceptional folic acid supplementation is recommended to prevent congenital malformations, mainly neural tube defects, but only 7% of pregnant women in Saxony-Anhalt (Germany) take folic acid at least 4 weeks before conception and in the first 3 months of pregnancy. From March to June 2004, we sent standardized questionnaires about folic acid and its importance during pregnancy to 33 schools in the Federal State of Saxony-Anhalt. A total of 4332 young people aged 1521 years completed the questionnaire, of which 2632 were girls (61%) and 1685 were boys (39%). The majority of them (61%) had heard about folic acid, but only 5% knew that it is a vitamin and 0.7% were aware of the physiological functions of folic acid. Only 22% of the young people answered that folic acid should be taken before and during pregnancy, whereas almost all respondents knew other precautions during pregnancy, e.g. "no smoking" and "no alcohol". Our survey shows that the level of awareness of the importance of folic acid at schools is very low. We suggest that the problem of folic acid should be included in the curricula of biology classes at schools to spread the knowledge of this subject among young people.

Prevention of congenital malformations by means of folic acid - insurmountable problems due to the German penal code and German drug legislation when preparing a preconceptional model in Saxony-Anhalt

For the last 20 years the prophylactic effect of the vitamin folic acid against the occurrence of neural tube defects has been known but in Germany this fact has not been realized by the public. The recommendations by medical institutions fail, among other reasons, because a folic acid prescription by gynaecologists comes too late in the course of events, i.e., women go to the gynaecologist when pregnancy has already set in and it is too late for preventive measures. An effective folic acid prophylaxis must take place before the onset of pregnancy. Data from the regional surveillance of congenital anomalies of the German Federal State of Saxony-Anhalt and interviews with women in maternity, as well as gynaecologists, indicate that there is a substantial knowledge deficit concerning folic acid prophylaxis. In 1998, therefore, a working group was set up in Saxony-Anhalt. It comprises representatives from interested institutions and has the goal of rectifying the knowledge deficit of women of childbearing age by way of a broad-based campaign while making use of the results of regional congenital anomalies monitoring. A pharmaceutical company was enlisted for cost-free distribution of its folic acid product. Legal problems with the prescription drug laws, the law against unfair competitive practices, the advertising of medicaments law and the SGB V (social code) made it impossible to procure multivitamins containing folic acid free of charge for women wanting a child. A highly differentiated legislation has hitherto prevented an elementary improvement in prevention.