scholarly journals High risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection among frontline healthcare workers in Northeast Brazil: a respondent-driven sampling approach

Author(s):  
Maria de Fatima Pessoa Militao de Albuquerque ◽  
Wayner Vieira de Souza ◽  
Ulisses Ramos Montarroyos ◽  
Cresio Romeu Pereira ◽  
Cynthia Braga ◽  
...  

Introduction: The disparities in the risk of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection among frontline health care workers (HCWs) and the unique work circumstances are poorly documented for low-and middle-income countries. Methods: We assessed the frequency of SARS-CoV-2 infection, personal protective equipment (PPE) shortages, PPE use, and accidents involving biological material among HCWs in the Recife metropolitan area, Northeast Brazil. Using respondent driven sampling, we included HCWs attending suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients from May 2020 to February 2021. Results: We analyzed 1,525 HCWs (527 physicians, 471 registered nurses, 263 nursing assistants/technicians, and 264 physical therapists). Women predominated in all categories (81.1%). Nurses were older and had more comorbidities (hypertension and overweight/obesity) than the other HCWs. The overall prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection was 61.8% after adjustment for the cluster random effect, weighted by network, and reference population size. The independent risk factors for a positive RT-PCR test were being a nursing assistant (OR adjusted: 2.56), not always using all recommended PPE in routine practice (ORadj: 2.15), and reporting a splash of biological fluid/respiratory secretion in the eyes (ORadj: 3.37). Conclusions: The high risk of infection among HCWs reflects PPE shortages and younger, possibly less experienced, frontline HCWs. There were disparities in the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection among HCWs, with nursing assistants being the most vulnerable, possibly due to their longer and frequent contact with COVID-19 patients.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria de Fatima Militao de Albuquerque ◽  
Wayner Vieira de Souza ◽  
Ulisses Ramos Montarroyos ◽  
Cresio Romeu Pereira ◽  
Cynthia Braga ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (Supplement_3) ◽  
pp. iii383-iii384
Author(s):  
Gabriela Oigman ◽  
Diana Osorio ◽  
Joseph Stanek ◽  
Jonathan Finlay ◽  
Denizar Vianna ◽  
...  

Abstract BACKGROUND Medulloblastoma (MB), the most malignant brain tumor of childhood has survival outcomes exceeding 80% for standard risk and 60% for high risk patients in high-income countries (HIC). These results have not been replicated in low-to-middle income countries (LMIC), where 80% of children with cancer live. Brazil is an upper-middle income country according to World Bank, with features of LMIC and HIC. METHODS We conducted a retrospective review of 126 children (0–18 years) diagnosed with MB from 1997 to 2016 at INCA. Data on patients, disease characteristics and treatment information were retrieved from the charts and summarized descriptively; overall survival (OS) and event-free survival (EFS) were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier Method. RESULTS The male/female ratio was 1.42 and the median age at diagnosis was 7.9 years. Headache (79%) and nausea/vomiting (75%) were the most common presenting symptoms. The median time from onset of symptoms to surgery was 50 days. The OS for standard-risk patients was 69% and 53% for high-risk patients. Patients initiating radiation therapy within 42 days after surgery (70.6% versus 59.6% p=0.016) experienced better OS. Forty-five patients (35%) had metastatic disease at admission. Lower maternal education correlated with lower OS (71.3% versus 49% p=0.025). Patients who lived >40km from INCA fared better (OS= 68.2% versus 51.1% p=0.032). Almost 20% of families lived below the Brazilian minimum wage. CONCLUSIONS These findings suggest that socioeconomic factors, education, early diagnosis and continuous data collection, besides oncological treatment must be adressed to improve the survival of children with MB.


Vaccines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 646
Author(s):  
Thiago M. Santos ◽  
Bianca O. Cata-Preta ◽  
Cesar G. Victora ◽  
Aluisio J. D. Barros

Reducing vaccination inequalities is a key goal of the Immunization Agenda 2030. Our main objective was to identify high-risk groups of children who received no vaccines (zero-dose children). A decision tree approach was used for 92 low- and middle-income countries using data from Demographic and Health Surveys and Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys, allowing the identification of groups of children aged 12–23 months at high risk of being zero dose (no doses of the four basic vaccines—BCG, polio, DPT and measles). Three high-risk groups were identified in the analysis combining all countries. The group with the highest zero-dose prevalence (42%) included 4% of all children, but almost one in every four zero-dose children in the sample. It included children whose mothers did not receive the tetanus vaccine during and before the pregnancy, who had no antenatal care visits and who did not deliver in a health facility. Separate analyses by country presented similar results. Children who have been missed by vaccination services were also left out by other primary health care interventions, especially those related to antenatal and delivery care. There is an opportunity for better integration among services in order to achieve high and equitable immunization coverage.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Luc Fellahi ◽  
Emmanuel Futier ◽  
Camille Vaisse ◽  
Olivier Collange ◽  
Olivier Huet ◽  
...  

AbstractDespite a large body of evidence, the implementation of guidelines on hemodynamic optimization and goal-directed therapy remains limited in daily routine practice. To facilitate/accelerate this implementation, a panel of experts in the field proposes an approach based on six relevant questions/answers that are frequently mentioned by clinicians, using a critical appraisal of the literature and a modified Delphi process. The mean arterial pressure is a major determinant of organ perfusion, so that the authors unanimously recommend not to tolerate absolute values below 65 mmHg during surgery to reduce the risk of postoperative organ dysfunction. Despite well-identified limitations, the authors unanimously propose the use of dynamic indices to rationalize fluid therapy in a large number of patients undergoing non-cardiac surgery, pending the implementation of a “validity criteria checklist” before applying volume expansion. The authors recommend with a good agreement mini- or non-invasive stroke volume/cardiac output monitoring in moderate to high-risk surgical patients to optimize fluid therapy on an individual basis and avoid volume overload. The authors propose to use fluids and vasoconstrictors in combination to achieve optimal blood flow and maintain perfusion pressure above the thresholds considered at risk. Although purchase of disposable sensors and stand-alone monitors will result in additional costs, the authors unanimously acknowledge that there are data strongly suggesting this may be counterbalanced by a sustained reduction in postoperative morbidity and hospital lengths of stay. Beside existing guidelines, knowledge and explicit clinical reasoning tools followed by decision algorithms are mandatory to implement individualized hemodynamic optimization strategies and reduce postoperative morbidity and duration of hospital stay in high-risk surgical patients.


2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 3-9
Author(s):  
S Chattopadhyay ◽  
A Rudra ◽  
M Ray ◽  
S Sengupta ◽  
S Goswami

Obstetric anesthesia is a particularly high-risk sub-specialty of anesthesia and may lead to serious morbidities and even mortality. Good doctor-patient relation from the time of admission till discharge is the most important factor to avert future litigations. Any procedure done or planned should be clearly documented. Documentation should start with a valid consent in the patient’s own language, and have all three components of voluntariness, capacity and knowledge. A ‘Surgical Safety’ checklist is particularly helpful in documentation and decreasing errors. Safety of the mother (and her child) is paramount. Both regional as well as general anesthesia, either inadvertently or if not administered properly may be associated with morbidities like headache, pain and emotional distress. However, deaths do occur and general anesthesia is associated with care should be routine practice and inculcated by everyone involved in patient care.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  

Clinical innovations alone do not generate public health impact. Implementation research (IR) is a powerful tool for identifying the bottlenecks impeding scale up efforts and helping to turn scientifically tested solutions into routine practice. To enhance the ability of investigators in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) to design, conduct and interpret IR, several actors, such as the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR), have sought to strengthen researchers' capacity to design and undertake IR. This report outlines the development of a new framework for IR training in LMICs to inspire thinking and discussion on how training approaches can best serve learners' needs.


2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e12555-e12555
Author(s):  
Yi Lee ◽  
Ruolin Liu ◽  
Alexis K. Bean ◽  
Madison J. Garshasebi ◽  
Qasim Jehangir ◽  
...  

e12555 Background: Oncotype DX Breast Recurrence Score (RS) is the currently used risk-assessment tool for early-stage, hormone receptor-positive, HER-2 negative, node-negative breast cancer in the US. Studies showed inconsistency in RS distribution and treatment among races. Causes may include variations in somatic mutations like Ki-67, which have been reported to express higher in African American (AA) and Asian populations than in Non-Hispanic White (NHW) population, germline mutations in BRCA and TP53, that are not in the RS algorithm, and financial burden of the testing. We analyzed data from different countries to investigate racial disparity in RS. Methods: We searched Medline, EMBASE, Web of Science, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, indexed from January 2010 to January 2021. More than 85% of studies were conducted in the pre-TAILORx study phase. To include data that are available and better represent different races, we included studies that used the previous cutoff value, low-risk ( < 18), intermediate-risk (18-30), high-risk ( > 30). Retrospective studies using Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results or National Cancer Database were excluded to avoid overlap data. A total of 17 studies, 9789 patients from seven countries (US, Japan, China, Taiwan, Kuwait, UAE, Israel) were pooled. The Odds Ratio (OR) was extracted with a 95% confidence interval (CI) for RS distribution and post-RS treatment. Both fixed-effect and random-effect meta-analysis were performed. Results: Among AA and NHW, AA were 1.7 times more likely to have high recurrence score (OR = 1.75; 95% CI = 1.46 - 2.10; P < 0.0001), with no heterogeneity among studies (I2 = 0%, heterogeneity P = 0.59). Asian were 1.59 more likely than NHW to be high-risk using a random effects model (OR = 1.59; 95% CI = 1.06 - 2.40; P = 0.0259). High-risk Asian were two times more likely to receive adjuvant chemotherapy post-RS comparing to NHW (OR: 2.31, CI: 1.07 - 4.98, fixed effect model; OR: 2.85, CI: 0.48, 17.05, random effects model), while high-risk AA were less likely to receive chemotherapy comparing to NHW (OR: 0.74, CI: 0.54-1.01, fixed effect model; OR: 0.73, CI: 0.54-0.99, random effects model). Intermediate-risk Asian and AA were more likely to receive chemotherapy compared to NHW (Asian to NHW; OR: 1.68, CI: 1.16-2.43, with fixed effect model, OR: 1.68, CI: 0.94-3.02, with random effects model; AA to NHW; OR: 1.16, CI: 0.93-1.46 with fixed effect model; OR: 1.06, CI: 0.62-1.79 with random effect model). Conclusions: We identified racial disparity in RS and post-RS treatment. Future research is required to elucidate the causes for AA and Asian receiving higher recurrence scores, a need for tailoring RS cutoffs for different races, and the utilization in adequate post-RS treatment.


Author(s):  
Saima Aftab ◽  
Lauren Schaeffer ◽  
Lian Folger ◽  
Anne CC Lee

This chapter addresses the causes, burden, and interventions for intrapartum-related events, or ‘birth asphyxia’. Intrapartum-related neonatal deaths are among the leading causes of under-five child deaths, and account for 26% of all newborn deaths. An estimated one in ten babies will need some help to start breathing at birth. Approximately 98% of intrapartum deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries, as high rates of home births and unattended deliveries remain challenges. High-risk pregnancies should be monitored closely and deliver in facilities with capacity for obstetric and neonatal management. Here we present the evidence for interventions for primary and secondary prevention (including obstetric care, neonatal resuscitation), and tertiary prevention for infants with acute complications.


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