A total of 181 samples of irrigation water from the farmlands of Granada were examined for the presence of Salmonella spp. At the same time 849 samples of the crops from these farmlands and of vegetables sold in city market-places were studied. Sampling was done regularly over the period of study which ran from March 1981 to February 1983. Isolates from these sources were compared with 93 salmonellas isolated from human pathological material at various hospitals of the city of Granada from 1979-80, and again from 1981-3. The most commonly isolated serotypes of human origin were S. typhimurium and S. enteritidis. In irrigation waters and in crops, S. typhimurium, S. kapemba, S. london and S. blockley were found to be the most common. The results indicate a close relationship between the isolates from the irrigation waters and those from the vegetables, but their relationship to prevalent human infections is less clear.

Physicians should be alert to new cancer symptoms in patients with previous neoplasms during the follow-up period to improve early MC diagnosis. Survival in MC patients is acceptable, and it largely depends on the location and stage of the cancer involved, but also upon the strategy of treatment.

To determine the prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms in the general population and the use of health services of rural and urban population of Asturias, Spain, questionnaires and clinical exploration of 702 subjects were applied. The response rate was 75.6%; 44.9% had presented symptoms related to the locomotor system in the preceding 12 months. The lumbar spine was the most prevalent localisation. The presence of symptoms was related to age, sex, and a lower educational level. The use of health services for rheumatic symptoms was 22.5% of the total sample. The degree of pain was the variable which had greatest influence on the use of health services, whereas the existence of anxiety, depression or difficulties in carrying out daily activities, were not influential in the use of health services. The symptoms referred to the locomotor system in a 12 month period, are present in almost 50% of the general population, and are associated with certain demographic variables. The use of health services for rheumatic symptoms depends fundamentally on the degree of pain of the patients.

To analyse the frequency of the cause of death in the mortality statistical Bulletin, a study of a representative sample of the 1988 mortality statistical Bulletin (n = 595) of Asturias was conducted. The mean and the mode of the number of causes and also the complexity and density according to age and sex was analyzed. The mode of the total number of causes in Bulletins for both sexes was 3, and the mean was 3.14. The three lines (complexity) were occupied in almost 50% of the Bulletins analysed. With respect to the density of lines, line IIb (initial cause) was the one occupied most of the time (10.7%), this showing more than one diagnosis when it was the last line used. Both values, complexity and density of the last line used, increased proportionally with the age at death. This analysis was also carried out excluding the causes coded as Cardiac and Respiratory Arrest (ICD-9 = 427.5; 799.1). With these results, it was possible to confirm the usefulness of the coding of multiple causes of death in Asturias, Spain.

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