Hygiena, 2025 (vol. 70), issue 4

Challenges and factors affecting infectious diseases in the contemporary world

Henrieta Hudečková

Hygiena 2025, 70(4):131 | DOI: 10.21101/hygiena.a1900  

Kratom use in the Czech Republic

Miroslava Skývová, Alena Fialová, Marek Malý

Hygiena 2025, 70(4):132-136 | DOI: 10.21101/hygiena.a1898  

Objective: The aim of this study was to map kratom use in the population aged 15 years and older in the Czech Republic. Kratom is a psychoactive substance whose use has been rising markedly in recent years. Methods: Data collection was carried out within the framework of the National Survey on Tobacco and Alcohol Use in the Czech Republic (NAUTA) in 2023 and 2024. A standardized interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to determine the prevalence of kratom use in the general population. The analysis is based on the overall prevalence of current kratom use, i.e., the proportion of daily and occasional users, and the daily prevalence, i.e., the...

Josef Liška – founder of Czechoslovak allergology and long-time employee of the National Institute of Public Health

Jana Kratěnová

Hygiena 2025, 70(4):137-140 | DOI: 10.21101/hygiena.a1901  

The article portrays the life and work of MUDr. Josef Liška (1907-2003), the founder of Czechoslovak allergology, who spent a significant part of his professional life working at the National Institute of Public Health (Státní zdravotní ústav). It highlights his crucial role in establishing allergological diagnostics and allergen production in Czechoslovakia, his contributions to the development of clinical care for allergic patients, and his efforts in building the specialized professional structures of the field. The article also covers his participation in vaccine development, his involvement in securing stored blood units during May 1945, and his...

Assessment of benzene emissions from the Prachovice cement plant operation – an example of using the health risk assessment method for an existing source

Jaroslav Říha

Hygiena 2025, 70(4):149-152 | DOI: 10.21101/hygiena.a1894  

In 1979, a new cement production plant was established in Prachovice near Chrudim. Between 1994 and 2001, it underwent significant modernization. Most notably, natural gas as the energy source for lime firing was replaced by coal dust and crushed or liquid waste materials. Besides limestone, socalled corrective materials were used for cement production: ferruginous (dust from steel mills) and siliceous (originally natural sands, later foundry sands). Starting in 2017, residents in surrounding municipalities began reporting occasional odour complaints. Simultaneously, the cement plant started experiencing problems complying with emission limits for...

A retrospective on information retrieval – how scientific papers used to be acquired

František Kožíšek

Hygiena 2025, 70(4):153-155 | DOI: 10.21101/hygiena.a1903  

Prior to the digital revolution, the journal Current Contents served as the fundamental bibliographic resource for tracking new publications. Published in several thematic series, it was part of the collections of the professional library of the National Institute of Public Health. Articles from journals not directly owned by the library were procured via interlibrary loan services; alternatively, researchers could solicit reprints directly from the authors. Compared to contemporary standards, the acquisition of scientific information was significantly more arduous and protracted. The modern proliferation of scholarly literature and its immediate...

On the form, content, and composition of journal articles: insights from the history of Hygiena

Jiří Havránek

Hygiena 2025, 70(4):156-159 | DOI: 10.21101/hygiena.a1904  

Results of the National survey on tobacco and alcohol use in the Czech Republic (NAUTA) for 2024

Ladislav Csémy, Zuzana Dvořáková, Alena Fialová, Marek Malý, Miroslava Skývová

Hygiena 2025, 70(4):141-143 | DOI: 10.21101/hygiena.a1890  

Every year, the National Institute of Public Health publishes the results of the National Survey on Tobacco and Alcohol Use in the Czech Republic (NAUTA). The aim of this survey is to obtain current data on tobacco, nicotine, and alcohol use among the population aged 15 and over. The results are representative in terms of gender, age, and region. Data for 2024 show that one-third of the Czech population aged 15 and over (33.8%) use nicotine from various types of products at least once a month. While smoking traditional cigarettes has declined slightly over the years, the proportion of users of alternative products such as electronic cigarettes, heated...

Confusion in evidence-based medicine – example of nicotine

Eva Králíková

Hygiena 2025, 70(4):144-146 | DOI: 10.21101/hygiena.a1892  

Evidence-based medicine, or EBM, is a concept or system that needs no explanation; we all follow it or should follow it. But what if even in reputable journals with high impact factor there are publications on the same topic with completely controversial results and conclusions? How to make sense of it? The topic of nicotine is unfortunately the most striking example so far, and biased information also has a major impact on morbidity and mortality.

Legal news in the period 3. 9. 2025 – 9. 12. 2025

Eva Nekvindová

Hygiena 2025, 70(4):147-148  

The Ignaz Semmelweis Museum in Budapest

František Kožíšek

Hygiena 2025, 70(4):148  

Method for the assessment of cement- or lime-based construction products incorporating energy by-products with respect to health and environmental impacts

Redakce

Hygiena 2025, 70(4):152  

A retrospective on my professional journey

Milena Černá

Hygiena 2025, 70(4):161-163  

In memoriam: Ing. Bohdan Rameš

Redakce

Hygiena 2025, 70(4):163-164  

Report on the 31st annual conference Living conditions and health

Ľubica Argalášová

Hygiena 2025, 70(4):164  

Recommendations for hand hygiene in community settings

Šárka Šimečková

Hygiena 2025, 70(4):160