Toxoplasmosis is a zoonotic disease with severe manifestations in HIV-positive human patients. In 1978 the overall sero-prevalence of toxoplasmosis in human patients in South Africa was found to be 20%. Toxoplasmosis in immunocompromised patients is known to be a cause of sometimes fatal complications, such as encephalomyelitis and ocular lesions. According to the literature, mutton infected with the cysts of Toxoplasma gondii is an important route of transmission to humans who ingest under-cooked meat, or eat with unwashed hands after working with meat. There is no data on the sero-prevalence in sheep in South Africa, although this is available for most other countries, including Zimbabwe. The aim of this study was to estimate the sero-prevalence of T.gondii in sheep in South Africa and to discuss the zoonotic aspects related to the prevalence of toxoplasmosis in humans. Three-stage cluster sampling was done where five different provinces randomly chosen from all the provinces in South Africa were the primary units: Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Free State, Eastern Cape and Western Cape. Two sheep abattoirs and one rural location per province, selected randomly from a list supplied by the provincial Departments of Agriculture, were the secondary units. A total of 677 serum samples from these sheep were tested for IgG using the Indirect Fluorescent Antibody (IFA) test (Diagnostic&Technical Services CC, Randburg, South Africa) and the commercial Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent-Assay (ELISA) kit. Informal interviews were conducted with doctors (n=5), doctors regarded as experts (n=17) were selected for an expert opinion survey and National Laboratories (n=3) supplied data on human serum tested for toxoplasmosis in different provinces. The sero-prevalence in sheep, per province, was found to be: Gauteng 6%, Eastern Cape 7.8%, Western Cape 6%, KwaZulu-Natal 6.3% and Free State 2.7% when tested with the IFA test. The results obtained with the ELISA test were: Gauteng 6%, Eastern Cape 5.4%, Western Cape 4%, KwaZulu-Natal 3.6% and Free State 2.7%. Overall prevalences of 5.6% (IFA) and 4.3% (ELISA) were obtained. From the results it appears that toxoplasmosis in sheep has a lower sero-prevalence in South Africa than in other countries. Zimbabwe has an average sero-prevalence in sheep of 67.9%, there is a 80% sero-prevalence in sheep in France and 20-30% in different states in the USA. There was no significant difference between the levels in rural and commercial sheep at the 95% confidence level in South Africa, although there was a significantly higher prevalence in intensively farmed sheep in contrast to those farmed extensively. The informal interviews with the medical doctors indicated that they do not consider toxoplasmosis as an important disease. In contrast to these findings, the experts regard toxoplasmosis as a significant disease and the data obtained from the National Laboratories substantiated this opinion. The seroprevalence in humans was found to be between 14 and 32 % in the three provinces from which data were obtained. It can be concluded that the lower sero-prevalence of toxoplasmosis in sheep in South Africa, as compared with international levels, was probably due to more extensive methods of sheep farming and the relatively low rainfall in southern Africa. It must be noted, however, that comparison of sero- prevalence in different countries is made difficult by the many different tests and end-titres used in both humans and animals. Standardisation is recommended. The presence of toxoplasmosis in sheep in South Africa should be considered as significant because in this country we have a high consumption of mutton. Medical practitioners underestimate the importance of toxoplasmosis in humans. It was recommended that a pamphlet for education of veterinarians, doctors, health workers and patients be produced to increase the knowledge and understanding of this disease and its prevention in South Africa. / Dissertation (MSc (Veterinary Science))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Paraclinical Sciences / MSc / unrestricted

This thesis titled "The Relevance of Medical Opinion at the Commencement and Termination of Employment" deals with the need and use of medical opinions in employment relations issues. The introductory chapter briefly describes the employer's duty to take care of his employees' health as it is a part of Occupational Health and Safety rules. The following part is dedicated to the general legislation on company health care services, mainly to the Specific Health care Services Act (373/2011 Sb.). The chapters describe the system of relations between the employer and the company health care services provider which is a business relation. Then the author describes company medical examinations, specifically entrance and extraordinary medical examinations. Also formal requirements of medical opinions and their issue terms can be found it this part. The final chapter of the first part is dedicated to the possibility of medical opinions to be reviewed at administrative procedure or others; important case law is presented. The second part of the thesis is dedicated to medical opinions at commencement of employment and their relevance. The opening chapter of this second part deals with the legal situation as it was effective until October 31st , 2017 when the law required to undergo the entrance medical...

Company health care services Abstract The thesis deals with the legal regulation of the company health care services. The thesis' aim is to describe and evaluate the current legislation of the basic institutes of the company health care services and to point out the changes brought by the amendment to the Act on Specific Health Services, which became effective on 1st November 2017. The main chapters of this work are dedicated to the parties of the company health care services and medical documentation/patients' summaries. The thesis is divided into five chapters. The first chapter provides a brief overview of the legislation, which governs the area of company health care services. This legislation includes not only the national legislation but also the international and European law. The second chapter explains the term of health care services. It further divides company health care services into expert care, advisory and supervisory activities. The third chapter deals with the parties of the company health care services, which are the company health care services provider, the employer and the employee, and also points out their rights and obligations in the provision of company health care services. The largest part of this chapter is devoted to the company health care services provider, who has an...

This thesis deals with a topic of the legal significance of a medical opinion. The aim of the work is to analyse the current legal regulation of medical opinions, create a comprehensive interpretation and evaluate the sufficiency and unambiguity of their legal regulation. The topic connects two important and indispensable fields - law and medicine. In addition to the importance and practicality of the topic, the author also chose it because she had participated in a research within the project: "Medical opinions of occupational health service providers and their importance for ensuring safety and health at work of employees", identification sheet No. V11- S4. At the end of the work there is a brief summary of the information obtained in the research. The work is divided into four chapters, which follow each other in both content and logic. The introductory chapter introduces the legal framework of the issue of medical opinions. It does so by mentioning relevant national, international and European legislation. Chapter two marginally describes occupational health services, health care providers, occupational health examinations and a contract for the provision of occupational health services. The main subject of the medical opinions is comprised I chapters there and four. First of all, there is a...