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J Alonso Fernández

Publications and source records attributed to J Alonso Fernández.

7 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1997

[Alcohol consumption and adolescence: a descriptive epidemiological study].

OBJECTIVES: To determine the consumption of alcoholic drinks among adolescents in Tres Cantos and its defining characteristics. DESIGN: A descriptive, cross-sectional study. SETTING: State schools in Tres Cantos. PARTICIPANTS: All the students present (994) who had registered for the 1994-95 year. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: A self-filled anonymous questionnaire was answered in the class-rooms of the schools in Tres Cantos during May 1995. The relationship between the variables was worked out using the computer programme EPI-INFO (version 5.01). 73.1% of those polled consumed alcoholic drinks. There were no significant differences for gender. Most consumption was at the weekend. The commonest drink was wine and its combinations, followed by beer, rum or gin and coke, spirits and fizzy drinks. The CAGE test was positive in 14.1% of cases. 59.6% had got drunk on some occasion, 89.3% consumed alcohol for the first time before they were 16, which most did outside the home. There was a significant association between participating in religious activities and less alcohol consumption. CONCLUSIONS: The percentage of alcohol consumers among students is high. It is characterised by being similar in both sexes, starting at an early age and clear predominance of consumption at weekends and outside the home. Wine and its combinations is the commonest drink.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Plasma interferon-gamma, interleukin-10 and soluble markers of immune activation in infants with primary adenovirus (ADV) and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection.

Adenovirus (ADV) and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are etiological agents of acute respiratory tract infection in infants. Long-term prognosis of ADV infection includes severe lung damage, bronchiectasis and hyperlucent lung, while RSV infection is associated with development of recurrent wheezing and subsequent asthma. These differences may be related to differences in the primary immune responses elicited by these viruses. In this paper, we investigated the type of cytokine responses and the magnitude of immune activation in ADV and RSV infections in infants. We examined plasma concentrations of interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), interleukin-10 (IL-10), soluble interleukin-2 receptor (sCD25) and soluble tumor necrosis factor receptor II (sTNFR-II) in previously healthy infants during the acute phase of primary ADV infection (n = 21) and RSV infection (n = 68), and in uninfected controls (n = 44). In ADV-infected infants, IFN-gamma plasma levels were significantly higher than those observed in RSV cases and the control group (p < 0.05). RSV cases did not show any differences in IFN-gamma plasma levels compared to the other groups. sCD25 levels were significantly higher in ADV- and RSV-infected infants than in controls (p < 0.0001), and higher in ADV than in RSV cases (p < 0.05). sTNFR-II levels were significantly higher in RSV- and ADV-infected infants than in controls (p < 0.0001, p < 0.05, respectively), and higher in RSV than in ADV infection (p < 0.05). No significant differences were observed in IL-10 plasma concentrations between the three groups. These results indicate that ADV and RSV infections in infants differ significantly with regard to the magnitude of production of interferon-gamma and soluble immune activation markers sCD25 and sTNFR-II. These immunological differences may be involved in the different clinical outcomes associated with these viral infections.

Acute Disease↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Soluble interleukin-2 receptor (sCD25) and interleukin-10 plasma concentrations are associated with severity of primary respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection.

The role of the immune response in the severity of RSV infection was examined by determining plasma concentrations of interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), interleukin-10 (IL-10), interleukin-2 receptor (sCD25) and soluble tumor necrosis factor receptor II (sTNFR-II) in 196, previously healthy infants, during acute and convalescence phases of primary RSV infection. The results were analyzed separately for days 1-4 (early) and days 5-7 (late) of symptoms before sample collection and according to disease severity (105 hypoxic, 91 non-hypoxic). Significant associations between plasma levels and severity were found in early samples only. IL-10 and sCD25 concentrations were higher (p=0.01, each) in hypoxic compared with non-hypoxic infants, whereas no differences were observed in IFN-gamma and sTNFR-II levels between the groups. Early sCD25 levels correlated positively with IL-10 concentrations (p= 0.0003; r= 0,401). Amongst the hypoxic infants, the number of days of oxygen supplementation correlated positively with early IL-10 levels (p=0.009; r=0.495) and negatively with the IFN-gamma/IL-10 ratio (p=0.007; r=0.495). IFN-gamma levels were significantly higher in the acute phase than during convalescence for hypoxic and non-hypoxic infants, while IL-10 levels were significantly higher in the acute phase only in hypoxic infants for days 1-4 (early; p=0.0007). sCD25 concentrations were elevated only in hypoxic infants at days 1-4 of the acute phase (p=0.002), whereas sTNFR-II levels did not vary between acute and convalescence phases, independent of severity and time point of sampling. We found no association between plasma levels during the convalescence phase and the severity of the RSV infection.

Acute Disease↗