An epidemiological survey was carried out in 1992 to study the dental health status of schoolchildren aged 6, 9 and 12 in Asturias, Spain. It focused on the caries prevalence, dmtf, DMFT, restoration indices and dental treatment needs of this population. A representative sample of 1839 subjects, randomly selected and proportionally assigned by age group (6, 9 and 12) with the classroom as the sample unit, was examined. Analysis of the data showed that in 6-year-old children the caries prevalence in primary teeth was 45.8%. The mean caries indices were 2.10 dmft and 0.25 DMFT. At 9 years old the prevalence of caries in primary teeth was 62.8% and in the permanent teeth 49.1%. The mean level of caries was 2.38 dmft and 1.50 DMFT. At 12 years old the caries prevalence in permanent teeth was 71% and in first molars 64.2%. The mean caries experienced was 3.30 DMFT. In all groups the D-component constituted the major part of the caries index. The results for girls were higher than for boys in almost all age groups. Surface fillings were the treatment most required in all age groups.

An epidemiological survey was carried out in 1992 researching dental caries and treatment needs in an adult population in Oviedo, Spain. A representative sample of 261 subjects, randomly obtained and stratified by age, was examined. Results show a dental decay prevalence of 99.6%; 12.5 DMFT index with 2.9, 7.5 and 2.1 mean values for D, M and F components. Women and the lower social class showed the highest DMFT index. Treatment needs reach a mean value of 12.1 teeth per person. Pontics are the most needed treatment, the mean value increases with age while the differences among age groups and social classes are statistically significant. The next most needed dental treatment is filling of one surface which decreases with age, is the same for men and women and higher among the middle social class; the differences are statistically significant among the social classes.

While breast cancer mortality rates are subsiding or beginning to decline in many western countries, in Spain they are increasing. We have studied breast cancer mortality rates in Asturias (Spain) by using the age-period-cohort model for the period of 1975-1994. There was an increase in the adjusted rates. The increase of relative risk of death in the period 1990-1994, in relation to that in 1975-1979, was 43%. There is a tendency for successive cohorts to have higher age-specific rates than previous cohorts. Trends in breast cancer mortality rates have been driven predominantly by birth cohort rate trends over the last decades in Asturias, suggesting that the changes in breast cancer mortality have been largely influenced by changes in aetiological factors.

The diversity of Salmonella serotype Virchow organisms causing human salmonellosis in a Spanish region over 1990-1996 was studied by genetic and phenotypic procedures. Isolates showing identical DNA fingerprintings (ribotypes, RAPD-, REP- and ERIC-types) were clustered into the same lineage. Eight lineages were defined, of which only one caused diseases throughout the studied period. Eleven phage types (PTs) were represented, the most frequent being PTs 8, 19, 31, throughout the study period, and PT4a only during 1994. Class I integrons with variable regions of 1000-, 1600-, and 2300-bp in size were respectively present in 24, 3 and 5 multiresistant isolates; 43.5% of isolates were susceptible to antimicrobials, the rest were grouped into 17 R-profiles, including from one up to eight resistances. Plasmids could be recovered from 71.5% of isolates and grouped into 25 plasmid profiles (with 1-7 plasmids each); a 3.6 kb cryptic-plasmid and a 60 kb virulence-plasmid were those most frequently found. Phage type, presence and size of integrons, and resistance profile were used to differentiate 39 clones. During the period studied 135 cases of Virchow salmonellosis were identified; 93 were apparently sporadic whereas the remainder were associated with four outbreaks. Infants under 1 year constituted the most frequent age group, with 30 gastroenteritis and two septicaemia episodes. In the four outbreaks, different clones falling into the prevalent lineage were implicated but each clone was involved in only one outbreak.