A pre-post quasi-experimental study: effect of an educational intervention on the quality of life, and coping strategies of people living with HIV (PLHIV).

INTRODUCTION: The current study provides people living with human immunodeficiency virus (PLHIV) the support to cope with this disease and to improve their quality of life, since their longevity has significantly increased. AIM: Investigating the effect of an educational intervention on PLHIV's strategies to cope with HIV. METHODOLOGY: Quasi-experimental, before-and-after study type, whose data were collected before and after educational intervention, was carried out with 75 PLHIV at a School Outpatient Clinic. The Brazilian version of the Ways of Coping Scale was herein used. It is a questionnaire comprising 4 disease-coping domains, namely: coping focused on problem, emotion and on seeking social support and religious practices. RESULTS: There was increased use of all coping-strategy domains after the educational intervention, as well as reduced standard deviation, and it pointed out that the recorded values were grouped closer to the mean therefore showing less variability. Coping focused on social support was the strategy mostly used after the educational intervention; it was followed by strategies focused on both emotion and problem. The least used strategy was the one focused on religion/fantasy. DISCUSSION: This study identified the need of introducing a new coping strategy focused on prejudice against patients with HIV.

Colonization of nursing professionals by Staphylococcus aureus.

This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the presence of Staphylococcus aureus in the saliva of the nursing team of a teaching hospital in the interior of São Paulo State. Three saliva samples were collected from 351 individuals with an interval of two months between each collection. All ethical aspects were considered. In 867 (82.3%) cultures there was no identification of Staphylococcus aureus in the saliva, in 88 (17.7%) cultures Staphylococcus aureus was isolated, 26 (2.5%) of which were resistant to methicillin. The prevalence of professionals colonized by Staphylococcus aureus was 41.0% (144/351), of which 7.1% (25/351) were characterized as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Transient carriers represented 81.2% and persistent carriers 18.8%. Resistance to mupirocin was 73.1% of MRSA and 9.3% of MSSA. The results demonstrate that it is the nurse and nursing technician that are the professional categories most susceptible to MRSA. Broader discussion on the thematic and interventions are needed.

[Detection of mecA gene in oxacillin-resistant coagulase-negative staphylococci isolated from the saliva of nursing professionals]. / Detecção do gene mecA em estafilococos coagulase negativa resistentes à oxacilina isolados da saliva de profissionais da enfermagem.

Coagulase-negative staphylococci are frequently associated with nosocomial infections, and healthcare professionals can be reservoirs and spread them in hospitals and in the community. The aim of this study was to identify species of coagulase-negative staphylococci isolated from the saliva of nursing professionals, determine the resistance profile and detect the mecA gene. One hundred coagulase-negative staphylococci were selected: 41 were identified as Staphylococcus epidermidis, 25 as Staphylococcus saprophyticus, 18 as Staphylococcus haemolyticus, eight as Staphylococcus cohnii, four as Staphylococcus lugdunenses, three as Staphylococcus capitis and one as Staphylococcus simulans. Of these, 32% presented oxacillin resistance, 84.4% mupirocin resistance and 32% cefoxitin resistance, and all were vancomycin sensitive. Among the oxacillin-resistant coagulase-negative staphylococci, 93.7% developed in oxacillin agar (6microg/ml) and the mecA gene was detected in 75%. The results indicate that higher investments should be directed towards identifying coagulase-negative staphylococcus species in healthcare institutions and in the community.