COVID-19: instruments for the allocation of mechanical ventilators—a narrative review

Abstract After the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 to be a pandemic, the elaboration of comprehensive and preventive public policies became important in order to stop the spread of the disease. However, insufficient or ineffective measures may have placed health professionals and services in the position of having to allocate mechanical ventilators. This study aimed to identify instruments, analyze their structures, and present the main criteria used in the screening protocols, in order to help the development of guidelines and policies for the allocation of mechanical ventilators in the COVID-19 pandemic. The instruments have a low level of scientific evidence, and, in general, are structured by various clinical, non-clinical, and tiebreaker criteria that contain ethical aspects. Few instruments included public participation in their construction or validation. We believe that the elaboration of these guidelines cannot be restricted to specialists as this question involves ethical considerations which make the participation of the population necessary. Finally, we propose seventeen elements that can support the construction of screening protocols in the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Recomendações de equipamentos de proteção individual no combate ao COVID-19

Revista Recien - Revista Científica de Enfermagem ◽

10.24276/rrecien2020.10.31.87-95 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (31) ◽

pp. 87-95

Author(s):

Nicole Maria Miyamoto Bettini ◽

Fabiana Tomé Ramos ◽

Priscila Masquetto Vieira de Almeida

Keyword(s):

World Health Organization ◽

Personal Protective Equipment ◽

Health Professionals ◽

Health Personnel ◽

Healthcare Professionals ◽

World Health ◽

Protective Equipment ◽

Effective Strategy ◽

The World ◽

Health Organization

A Organização Mundial da Saúde - OMS confirmou a circulação internacional do novo Coronavírus em janeiro de 2020, nomeando-o como COVID-19 e, declarando uma pandemia. É de extrema importância que durante a pandemia, os profissionais de saúde tenham acesso e conhecimento sobre o uso correto dos Equipamentos de Proteção Individual (EPIs) e suas indicações, tomando assim, as devidas precauções na prevenção de infecções. O presente estudo buscou identificar a padronização mundial quanto ao uso dos EPIs utilizados no atendimento a pacientes suspeitos e/ou confirmados de COVID-19 no Brasil, EUA, China, Espanha, Itália e demais países europeus. Os guidelines apresentam a padronização quanto ao uso dos EPIs utilizados no atendimento a suspeitos e/ou confirmados de COVID-19, indo ao encontro das recomendações fornecidas pela OMS. Até o momento, o uso de EPIs é sem dúvida a estratégia mais importante e eficaz para proteger os profissionais de saúde durante a assistência ao paciente com COVID-19.Descritores: Infecções por Coronavírus, Equipamento de Proteção Individual, Pessoal de Saúde, Enfermagem. Recommendations for personal protective equipment to combat COVID-19Abstract: The World Health Organization - WHO confirmed the international circulation of the new Coronavirus in January 2020, naming it as COVID-19 and declaring a pandemic. It is extremely important that during the pandemic, health professionals have access and knowledge about the correct use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and its indications, thus taking appropriate precautions to prevent infections. The present study sought to identify the worldwide standardization regarding the use of PPE utilized to take care of suspected and confirmed patients with COVID-19 in Brazil, USA, China, Spain, Italy and other European countries. The guidelines present a standardization regarding the use of PPE utilized to take care of suspected and confirmed with COVID-19, in line with the recommendations provided by WHO. To date, the use of PPE is undoubtedly the most important and effective strategy to protect healthcare professionals during care for patients with COVID-19.Descriptors: Coronavirus Infections, Personal Protective Equipment, Health Personnel, Nursing. Recomendaciones para el equipo de protección personal para combatir COVID-19Resumen: La Organización Mundial de la Salud - La OMS confirmó la circulación internacional del nuevo Coronavirus en enero de 2020, nombrándolo COVID-19 y declarando una pandemia. Es extremadamente importante que durante la pandemia, los profesionales de la salud tengan acceso y conocimiento sobre el uso correcto del Equipo de Protección Personal (EPP) y sus indicaciones, tomando así las precauciones adecuadas para prevenir infecciones. El presente estudio buscó identificar la estandarización mundial con respecto al uso de EPP utilizado para atender a pacientes sospechosos y/o confirmados con COVID-19 en Brasil, Estados Unidos, China, España, Italia y otros países europeos. Las pautas presentan la estandarización con respecto al uso de EPP utilizado para cuidar COVID-19 sospechoso y/o confirmado, de acuerdo con las recomendaciones proporcionadas por la OMS. Hasta la fecha, el uso de EPP es, sin duda, la estrategia más importante y efectiva para proteger a los profesionales de la salud durante la atención de pacientes con COVID-19.Descriptores: Infecciones por Coronavirus, Equipo de Protección Personal, Personal de Salud, Enfermería.

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Scientific Certainty in a Time of Uncertainty: Predicting Vulnerability of Canada's First Nations to Pandemic H1N1/09

International Indigenous Policy Journal ◽

10.18584/iipj.2010.1.1.1 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Nicholas Spence ◽

Jerry P. White

Keyword(s):

World Health Organization ◽

First Nations ◽

Influenza Pandemic ◽

Scientific Evidence ◽

Indigenous Populations ◽

World Health ◽

Director General ◽

Pandemic H1n1 ◽

The World ◽

Health Organization

On June 11, 2009, the Director General of the World Health Organization, Dr. Margaret Chan, announced that the scientific evidence indicated that the criteria for an influenza pandemic had been met: pandemic H1N1/09 virus, the first in nearly 40 years, was officially upon us. The World Health Organization has estimated that as many as 2 billion or between 15 and 45 percent of the population globally will be infected by the H1N1/09 virus. Scientists and governments have been careful to walk a line between causing mass public fear and ensuring people take the risks seriously. The latest information indicates that the majority of individuals infected with the H1N1/09 virus thus far have suffered mild illness, although very severe and fatal illness have been observed in a small number of cases, even in young and healthy people (World Health Organization 2009c). There is no evidence to date that the virus has mutated to a more virulent or lethal form; however, as we enter the second wave of the pandemic, a significant number of people in countries across the world are susceptible to infection. Most importantly, certain subgroups have been categorized as high risk given the clinical evidence to date. One of these subgroups is Indigenous populations (World Health Organization 2009c).

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Optimizing the use of cesarean section in Argentina: design and methodology of a formative research for the development of interventions

Reproductive Health ◽

10.1186/s12978-021-01080-4 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Silvina Ramos ◽

Mariana Romero ◽

Carla Perrotta ◽

Yanina Sguassero ◽

Cecilia Straw ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Information System ◽

Cesarean Section ◽

World Health Organization ◽

Health Professionals ◽

Formative Research ◽

World Health ◽

Cesarean Section Rate ◽

The World ◽

Health Organization ◽

Type Of Delivery

Abstract Background While cesarean section is an essential life-saving strategy for women and newborns, its current overuse constitutes a global problem. The aim of this formative research is to collect information from hospitals, health professionals and women regarding the use of cesarean section in Argentina. This article describes the methodology of the study, the characteristics of the hospitals and the profile of the participants. Methods This formative research is a mixed-method study that will be conducted in seven provinces of Argentina. The eligibility criteria for the hospitals are (a) use of the Perinatal Information System, (b) cesarean section rate higher than 27% in 2016, (c) ≥ 1000 deliveries per year. Quantitative and qualitative research techniques will be used for data collection and analysis. The main inquiry points are the determining factors for the use of cesarean section, the potential interventions to optimize the use of cesarean section and, in the case of women, their preferred type of delivery. Discussion It is expected that the findings will provide a situation diagnosis to help a context-sensitive implementation of the interventions recommended by the World Health Organization to optimize cesarean section use. Trial registration IS002316 Plain English Summary Cesarean section is an essential medical tool for mothers and their children, but nowadays its overuse is a problem worldwide. Our purpose is to get information from hospitals, health professionals and women about how cesarean section is used in Argentina. In this protocol we describe how we will carry out the study and the characteristics of the hospitals and participants. We will implement this study in seven provinces of Argentina, in hospitals that have more than 1,000 births each year, had a cesarean section rate higher than 27% in 2016 and use the Perinatal Information System. We will gather information using forms, surveys and interviews. We want to identify the factors that decide the use of a cesarean section, the potential interventions that can improve the use of cesarean section and, in the case of women, the type of delivery they prefer. We expect that this study will give us a diagnosis of how cesarean section is used in Argentina, and that this will help to apply the interventions that the World Health Organization recommends to optimize the use of cesarean section in our specific context.

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Counterfeit drugs as a global threat to health

Medicinski pregled ◽

10.2298/mpns1106285g ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 64 (5-6) ◽

pp. 285-290 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Svetlana Golocorbin-Kon ◽

Momir Mikov

Keyword(s):

World Health Organization ◽

Health Professionals ◽

World Health ◽

Sources Of Information ◽

Counterfeit Drugs ◽

Counterfeit Medicines ◽

The World ◽

Health Organization ◽

Global Threat ◽

Many Sources

According to the World Health Organization, counterfeit medicines are medicines that are mislabeled deliberately and fraudulently regarding their identity and/or source. All kinds of medicines have been counterfeited, both branded and generic ones. Counterfeit medicines may include products containing correct or wrong ingredients; without active or with insufficiently or over-active ingredients, or with fake packaging. Many sources of information have been explored, including reports from the national medicine regulatory authorities, pharmaceutical companies and literature data. Since the time counterfeit drugs first appeared, they have become more sophisticated and more difficult to be detected. The World Health Organization estimate is that up to 1% of medicines available in the developed world are likely to be counterfeit. This figure rises to 10% globally, although in some developing countries it is 50%. The World Health Organization estimate is that 50% of medicines available via the internet are counterfeit. The knowledge about counterfeit drugs should be used to educate students of pharmacy and medicine, health professionals and patients. The most important players in campaign against counterfeit medicines are health professionals. Pharmacists and doctors should stay vigilant and report suspicious products, and consider counterfeits as a possible cause of adverse reactions or therapeutic failure. Patients should inform their pharmacists and doctors if they suspect any irregularity concerning their medication, if they experience side effects or a decrease in beneficial effect. The crucial step in the prevention of counterfeit medicines is to get supplied from reliable sources, i.e. licensed pharmacies.

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Ethical Aspects of Genetic Screening in Israel

Science in Context ◽

10.1017/s0269889700003112 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 11 (3-4) ◽

pp. 419-429 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Michal Sagi

Keyword(s):

World Health Organization ◽

Genetic Screening ◽

Genetic Diseases ◽

Genetic Research ◽

Carrier Screening ◽

World Health ◽

Ethical Aspects ◽

The World ◽

Health Organization

The ArgumentAdvances in genetic research make it possible to identify carriers of a growing number of genetic diseases. The World Health Organization (WHO) published several preconditions for community carrier screening. This paper aims to present some of the dilemmas about screening in Israel and the difficulties in following the WHO's helpful criteria.

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Gaining the upper hand on COVID-19 misinformation

STEM Fellowship Journal ◽

10.17975/sfj-2021-009 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-5

Author(s):

Alex Cen ◽

Lara Parlatan

Keyword(s):

World Health Organization ◽

Health Professionals ◽

World Health ◽

Factual Information ◽

False Information ◽

The World ◽

Health Organization

As the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic evolved, information about the virus also accumulated. However, accompanied by the quick emergence of factual information was an even greater abundance of false information. For example, by March 2020, videos containing non-factual information on COVID-19 accounted for over one-quarter of the most viewed videos on YouTube — greatly exceeding the popularity of factual videos released by governments and health professionals [1]. The World Health Organization declared this massive flux of misinformation surrounding COVID-19 an “infodemic”, where it is hard to distinguish between factual and non-factual information [2].

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Review of the scientific evidence used for establishing US policies on added sugars

Nutrition Reviews ◽

10.1093/nutrit/nuz014 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 77 (9) ◽

pp. 646-661 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Paula R Trumbo

Keyword(s):

World Health Organization ◽

Drug Administration ◽

Scientific Evidence ◽

Dietary Guidelines ◽

World Health ◽

Added Sugars ◽

The Us ◽

The World ◽

Dietary Guidelines For Americans ◽

Health Organization

AbstractThe 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans Advisory Committee has set recommendations to limit added sugars. This action was based on the association between dietary pattern quality scores and chronic disease risk, the results of meta-analyses conducted for the World Health Organization, and data from modeling of dietary patterns for establishing the US Department of Agriculture’s Healthy US-Style Eating Patterns. Recommendations provided by the 2015–2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans were used by the US Food and Drug Administration to establish, for the first time, the mandatory declaration of added sugars and a Daily Value of added sugars for the Nutrition Facts label. This review provides an overview of the scientific evidence considered by the World Health Organization, the 2015–2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, and the US Food and Drug Administration for setting recent polices and regulations on added sugars and highlights important issues and inconsistencies in the evaluations and interpretations of the evidence.

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Intestinal microbiota in children with obesity. Role of probiotics

Medical Council ◽

10.21518/2079-701x-2020-10-134-142 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 134-142

Author(s):

I. N. Zakharova ◽

I. V. Berezhnaya ◽

E. V. Skorobogatova ◽

M. R. Aysanova ◽

T. I. Bocharova

Keyword(s):

World Health Organization ◽

Intestinal Microbiota ◽

Metabolic Activity ◽

Scientific Evidence ◽

World Health ◽

Obese People ◽

Beneficial Effects ◽

Control Factors ◽

The World ◽

Health Organization

Obesity is a global problem of modern healthcare. In 2016, the World Health Organization estimated that 39% of people over 18 were overweight, and the number of obese people worldwide almost tripled over the period from 1975 to 2016. The number of overweight and obese children is growing at an alarming rate, with the World Health Organization estimating that in 2016 the number of overweight children under the age of 5 will exceed 41 million. Scientific evidence supports the hypothesis that the development of obesity is closely related to changes in both the function and composition of the intestinal microbiota, which plays a significant role in controlling energy metabolism and changes in body mass index. The main therapy for obesity and associated metabolic disorders to date has been a corrected diet combined with physical activity. The new therapeutic strategy for the treatment and prevention of obesity is based on changing the metabolic activity of the intestinal microbiota using probiotics. Studies on changes in metabolic activity and obesity in rodents have shown encouraging results. The beneficial effects of probiotics on human health today no longer require proof. Probiotics have an integrated effect on the physical, biochemical and metabolic parameters associated with obesity, combined with adequate nutrition and lifestyle correction. Probiotics in the presence of prebiotics have more pronounced metabolic functions, help stabilize the intestinal microbiota, maintain a healthy body weight and control factors associated with fat accumulation and chronic inflammation.

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Epidemiology, Transmission Methods, Clinical Manifestations, Radiological Symptoms, Prognosis and Treatment of COVID-19 in Children

Journal of Arak University of Medical Sciences ◽

10.32598/jams.23.cov.5936.2 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 23 (5) ◽

pp. 656-665

Author(s):

Mozhgan Hashemieh ◽

Keyword(s):

World Health Organization ◽

Clinical Symptoms ◽

Antiviral Drug ◽

Clinical Manifestations ◽

Ethics Committee ◽

World Health ◽

Ethical Considerations ◽

Related Information ◽

The World ◽

Health Organization

Background and Aim: In December 2019, the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was first identified in Wuhan, China, and then spread rapidly around the world, such that the World Health Organization reported it as a pandemic. This study aims to review the epidemiological findings, transmission methods, clinical manifestations, radiological symptoms, prognosis and treatment of COVID-19 in children, as well as the differences caused by the virus between children and adults. Methods & Materials: The search was conducted in databases such as PubMod, Scopus, ScienceDirect and Google Scholar using the keywords “COVID-19”, “Coronavirus”, “Children”, and “Pandemic”. Ethical Considerations: Ethical principles have been observed in accordance with the guidelines of the National Ethics Committee and the COPE regulations. Results: Most of the data related to COVID-19 are related to the course of this disease in adults and related information for children is limited. Most findings suggested that the course of the disease is milder in children and the infection caused by the virus has a better prognosis in children. Due to the mild clinical symptoms in children, many of them are not diagnosed in the early stages of the infection. With the increase in the number of cases worldwide, the prevalence of this disease in children is certainly increasing. Conclusion: COVID-19 has milder clinical symptoms and a better prognosis in children. Today, no vaccine or antiviral drug has been developed for this disease; hence, prevention is the best solution.

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