RESEARCH TOPICS OF THE NATIONAL
INSTITUTE OF HYGIENE OF ESSENTIAL IMPORTANCE TO PUBLIC
HEALTH
Since its foundation, the National Institute of Hygiene has been a
research center of great importance for preventive medicine. Studies on the
following illustrate this:
- blood groups and their inheritance (headed by L. Hirszfeld)
- structure of dysentery, diphtheria, streptococcal and staphylococcal
toxins, cell wall components and immunochemistry
- vitamins (headed by K. Funk)
- antigenic structure of Enterobacteriaceae
- antigenic structure of typhus fever rickettsia, antibody analysis in
patients with typhus fever and epidemiology of this infection
- problems related to DNA-included transformation within the genus
Streptococcus
- etiopathogenesis, immunopathology, and epidemiology of viral hepatitis
- antibiotic biosynthesis
- anaerobes and their toxins; the structure of their spores
- preparation and evaluation of vaccines
- controlled studies on the efficacy of vaccination against poliomyelitis,
typhoid fever and measles
- efficacy and safety of human vaccination against rabies
- occurrence of rubella and congenital rubella
- biocenosis of the tick-borne encephalitis virus
- application of potential antimetabolites, mainly analogues of nucleic
acid derivatives
- occurrence of chronic unspecific respiratory diseases, with reference to
environmental effects
- action of disinfectants on microorganisms
Also at the Institute so-called applied studies were carried out to a large
extent. Here we can mention:
- teamwork on preventive vaccination and epidemiology of infectious
diseases such as typhoid fever, typhus fever, diphtheria, tetanus,
poliomyelitis, smallpox, measles and rabies
- studies on environmental hygiene, in particular on the occurrence of
trace elements in water, the effect of trace elements on living organisms,
environmental pollution with ionizing radiation, dust in air carrying
carcinogenic substances, purity of surface waters and the effect of their
pollution (due to industrial sewage and pesticides) on health
- studies on staphylococcal enterotoxins and methods of detecting them
in food
- studies in microsomal and lysosomal enzymes as early indices of
animal cell injury
- monitoring of food impurities caused by harmful elements, pesticide
residues, antibiotics and other drugs, nitrates and nitrites
- studies on the toxicity of various chemical insecticides and resistance
of insects to insecticides
- studies on endocrinological disorders, effect of external conditions on
the development of youth, health indices at school age, morbidity and
mortality rates among school children
- studies on health education in schools and cultural centers, efficacy of
health education methods in rural areas, in public health institutions, plants,
training and methods of health education, the role of mass media
- studies on the application of statistical methods and computer
technology to medical studies
In 1975 the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare designated the
National Institute of Hygiene to coordinate studies on The Effect of
Environmental Pollution on Human Life and Health which were
carried out in Poland in the period 1976-1985.
The objective of this survey was to study the effect of environmental
factors on human health and the population of the country, and to draw up
recommendations for the optimization of environmental conditions of human
life. Partial cognitive and utilitary aims were formulated in three groups:
- development of new methods for the assay and detection of
environmental pollution
- development of methods for the assay and evaluation of the effect of
individual environmental pollution on human health
- evaluation of environmental pollution and its harmful effects on human
population
These studies were conducted in cooperation with many scientific institutes,
both home and abroad.
The scientific results obtained in the period 1976-1985 were reported in
1445 publications: 277 appeared in various scientific journals abroad and
1168 in Poland.
The report of the survey among others contributed to 20 habilitation and
43 doctoral theses submitted until 1985, a number of expertises, papers
presented at congresses and many lectures.
In the years 1986-1990 studies of the program were continued within
the framework of the Central Program for Research and Development under
the name Prevention of Undesirable Effects on Health of the
Polluted Human Environment. The principal aim of the program
was to improve health and sanitary conditions of the country by:
- elaborating methods for the identification, detection, monitoring, control
and reduction of undesirable health effects due to chemical, biological and
physical pollution of the environment
- studying effect of preventive measures with respect to the state of the
environment and health of the population
In the years 1991-1992 the Institute continued studies on the relationship
between human health and the environment. Instead of coordinating research
on the national level, cooperation was established only with those scientific
institutions interested in the same specific problems. This kind of research
project was approved by the
State Committee for Scientific Research (KBN).
In 1992 new studies were initiated under the sponsorship of the
State Committee for Scientific Research (KBN).
Legislative work was done for the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare
and also a number of expertises in areas specific to the activities
of the Institute. At the same time long-term studies started in previous
years were continued.
From this short period of research we have 176 papers published in
1991 and 208 in 1992.
