Harveysingh6477

Introduction Toxoplasma gondii is a parasite with great zoonotic potential. It can infect a broad range of warm-blooded hosts (including livestock) and causes significant losses in the industry. In humans, it has been described as a pathogen in immunosuppressed people, it affects the fetus development in congenital infections, and is associated with various behavioral disorders in healthy people. Humans can acquire T. gondii by consuming undercooked, contaminated meat. Objective To determine T. gondii positivity (currently unknown) in meat for human consumption (i.e., beef, chicken, and pork) in the city of Ibague, Colombia. Materials and methods We used conventional nested PCR and the T. gondii B1 gene sequence as amplification target. We collected samples of meat (N=186) sold in the urban area of Ibagué (62 beef, 62 chicken, and 62 pork samples) and determined the T. gondii positivity percentage for each type of meat. Results The study found an average of 18.8% positivity for all meat samples, pork having the highest percentage (22.5%; 14/62), followed by beef (19.3%; 12/62) and chicken (14.5%; 9/62). The best-amplified products were sequenced by macrogen and aligned with the B1 gene sequences in GenBank, thereby confirming their identity. Conclusions This is the first study of T. gondii prevalence in meat for human consumption carried out in the city of Ibagué and the department of Tolima. All three types of meat sampled represent a risk for local human infectionIntroduction Gestational malaria, defined as the presence of Plasmodium spp. in maternal peripheral blood or in the placenta, is considered an important public health problem in tropical and subtropical regions. Objective To determine the frequency of gestational malaria cases diagnosed in Ecuador between 2015 and 2018. Materials and methods We conducted a descriptive, retrospective, and cross-sectional study. Results There were 46 cases of gestational malaria between 2015 and 2018 25 caused by Plasmodium falciparum and 21 by Plasmodium vivax. The year with the most cases in this period was 2018. The age group most affected was 20 to 29 years old with 21 cases (46%). Prevalence was found to be highest in the second trimester of pregnancy with 17 cases (37%). A significant difference was only observed between cases per year and parasitic species. Conclusion The prevalence of gestational malaria in Ecuador increased in the last five years. Therefore, it is important to inform pregnant women about preventive measures to avoid infection given its serious consequences both for the mother and her unborn child.Introduction Personal injury forensic reports diagnose and define the damage to the body and health of a person including the stomatognathic system by injuries produced as the consequence of other people’s actions. Objective To characterize the personal injuries affecting the stomatognathic system as a result of violent actions in 266 cases evaluated at the Instituto Nacional de Medina legal y Ciencias Forenses-Regional Suroccidente (Cali, Colombia) between 2015 and 2020. Materials and methods We conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study to characterize the personal injuries affecting the stomatognathic system. The information was taken from the personal injuries forensic reports registered on the Colombian forensic registration system (Sistema de Información Forense de Clínica de Colombia, SICLICO) platform and associated with the nature of the injury including its consequences and the medico-legal incapacity issued. Results We observed a higher frequency of male aggressors (94.4%) and male victims (64.3%), especially in the age group between 21 and 30 years (32.6%). The most frequent contexts were interpersonal violence (76.3%) and intimate partner violence (19.9%). The main aggression mechanism was blunt trauma (88.0%). The lesions reported in soft tissues (83.5%) affected periodontal tissues (48.9%) and lips (28.6%) due to edema (32.7%) and wounds (22.9%) while in hard tissues (55.1%), they affected the teeth (41.4%) due to complicated fractures in the cervical third (19.2%) and avulsion (18%). Definitive disability predominated (64.7%) followed by 20-day disability (28.6%) and functional sequelae (24.1%). Conclusions Periodontal tissues and teeth were the most affected structures causing considerable disabilities, as well as functional and aesthetic sequelae that mainly affected men in productive age.Introduction The learning climate is a factor associated with the clinical resident’s engagement in work activities and the improvement of students’ well-being in the workplace through their self-determination during clinical rotation. Objective To determine the relationship between the learning climate measured with the D-RECT 35 scale and residents’ self-determination and commitment to work using the UWES 17 scale. Materials and methods We conducted a cross-sectional correlational study with residents of surgical medical specialties in clinical rotation at the practice site and who completed the measurement questionnaires. Results We evaluated 188 residents of clinical specialties. The median of the results in the learning climate scale was 3.9/5.0; in the self-determination scale, 4.86/7.0, and in the job engagement scale, 5.0/6.0. The learning climate was considered adequate and a positive relationship was found with self-determination and the residents’ attachment to their activities; these correlations were statistically significant. Conclusions Adequate learning climates are positively related to the ability to engage in work activities and the self-determination of clinical residents as they favor collaborative work and access to supervision generating greater autonomy and more enthusiasm and dedication to assigned activities. This can drive improvements in educational programs in clinical departments and translate into safer patient care.Introduction Public health risk management in Colombia is led by the Instituto Nacional de Salud. In the face of the COVID-19 emergency, response actions centered on the implementation of risk analysis rooms and the strengthening of surveillance at points of entry into the country. Objective To analyze the implementation and maintenance phases of the COVID-19 risk analysis rooms in four border departments of Colombia. Materials and methods We conducted a qualitative study of public health risk analysis rooms for COVID-19. We reviewed the documentation and data generated from March to June, 2020, in the departments of Amazonas, Vichada, Guainía, and Putumayo. We did semi-structured interviews with key actors and analyzed the answers using the NVivo plus version 11 application in three cycles open coding, identification of emerging categories, and modeling by analyzing the identified strengths and weaknesses. Results We identified the components of the incident command structure and the relationships between the public health areas. Strengths were evidenced in the integration of the areas the management of information in real time, the border surveillance and the capabilities of rapid response teams, while weaknesses appeared in planning, community surveillance, and risk communication processes. Conclusions Risk analysis rooms constitute a joint effort at the national and local levels which has promoted the articulated participation of all actors in the analysis of information and the optimization of an organized response during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Praziquantel (PZQ) is the only commercially available drug for schistosomiasis. The current shortage of alternative effective drugs and the lack of successful preventive measures enhance its value. The increase in the prevalence of PZQ resistance under sustained drug pressure is, therefore, an upcoming issue.

To overcome the tolerance to PZQ using nanotechnology after laboratory induction of a Schistosoma mansoni isolate with reduced sensitivity to the drug during the intramolluscan phase.

Shedding snails were treated with PZQ doses of 200 mg/kg twice/ week followed by an interval of one week and then repeated twice in the same manner. The success of inducing reduced sensitivity was confirmed in vitro via the reduction of cercarial response to PZQ regarding their swimming activity and death percentage at different examination times.

Oral treatment with a single PZQ dose of 500 mg/kg in mice infected with cercariae with reduced sensitivity to PZQ revealed a non-significant reduction (35.1%) of total worm burden compared to non-treated control mice. Orally inoculated PZQ-encapsulated niosomes against S. mansoni with reduced sensitivity to PZQ successfully regained the pathogen's sensitivity to PZQ as evidenced by measuring different parameters in comparison to the non-treated infected animals with parasites with reduced sensitivity to PZQ. The mean total worm load was 1.33 ± 0.52 with a statistically significant reduction of 94.09% and complete eradication of male worms. We obtained a remarkable increase in the percentage reduction of tissue egg counts in the liver and intestine (97.68% and 98.56%, respectively) associated with a massive increase in dead eggs and the complete absence of immature stages.

PZQ-encapsulated niosomes restored the drug sensitivity against laboratory-induced S. mansoni adult worms with reduced sensitivity to PZQ.

PZQ-encapsulated niosomes restored the drug sensitivity against laboratory-induced S. mansoni adult worms with reduced sensitivity to PZQ.Introduction The growing resistance to antibiotics worldwide represents a global threat to public health. The larval excretions and secretions derived from necrophagous flies from the Calliphoridae family could represent a promising source for counteracting their effects. Objective To compare the antimicrobial activity of Calliphora vicina and Sarconesiopsis magellanica (Diptera Calliphoridae) native excretions and secretions and those weighing more than 10 kDa and less. Materials and methods We used the turbidimetry technique for the bioassay; we determined the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) for excretions and secretions weighing less than 10 kDa. Results Calliphora vicina and S. magellanica native excretions and secretions and those weighing less than 10 kDa exhibited potent antibacterial activity against three Staphylococcus aureus strains and four Gram-negative bacteria; those weighing less than 10 kDa were more effective than the native ones in the two species of flies evaluated here. Furthermore, excretions and secretions weighing less than 10 kDa had the same effectiveness, except in the MIC trials where S. magellanica excretions and secretions weighing less than 10 kDa were more potent against all the bacteria evaluated, except for S. aureus ATCC 25923. Excretions and secretions weighing more than 10 kDa did not inhibit bacterial growth. Conclusions These results potentially validate these substances as an important source for isolating and characterizing antimicrobial agents.

Children under five years of age living in poor areas and with low availability of healthy food have a higher risk of undernutrition-related mortality. However, this relationship has not been well established among older adults.

To analyse socioeconomic inequality trends related to undernutrition mortality in children under five years of age and adults over 60 in Colombian municipalities during 2003-2009 and 2010-2016.

We conducted an ecological study of trends between 2003 and 2016. The study population consisted of children under five years of age and adults over 60 residing in the Colombian municipalities during the study period. We estimated smoothed and standardized mortality rates by fitting a hierarchical Bayesian model and explored their relationship with five socioeconomic area-level variables.

In most of the municipalities, undernutrition-related mortality was three times higher in older adults compared to children. Moreover, the difference in the risk of undernutrition-related mortality between municipalities showed a marked reduction.