Impact of hospital characteristics on implementation of a Pediatric Early Warning System in resource-limited cancer hospitals.

Background: Pediatric Early Warning Systems (PEWS) aid in identification of deterioration in hospitalized children with cancer but are underutilized in resource-limited settings. Proyecto EVAT is a multicenter quality improvement (QI) collaborative in Latin America to implement PEWS. This study investigates the relationship between hospital characteristics and time required for PEWS implementation. Methods: This convergent mixed-methods study included 23 Proyecto EVAT childhood cancer centers; 5 hospitals representing quick and slow implementers were selected for qualitative analysis. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 71 stakeholders involved in PEWS implementation. Interviews were recorded, transcribed and translated to English, then coded using a priori and novel codes. Thematic content analysis explored the impact of hospital characteristics and QI experience on time required for PEWS implementation and was supplemented by quantitative analysis exploring the relationship between hospital characteristics and implementation time. Results: In both quantitative and qualitative analysis, material and human resources to support PEWS significantly impacted time to implementation. Lack of resources produced various obstacles that extended time necessary for centers to achieve successful implementation. Hospital characteristics, such as funding structure and type, influenced PEWS implementation time by determining their resource-availability. Prior hospital or implementation leader experience with QI, however, helped facilitate implementation by assisting implementers predict and overcome resource-related challenges. Conclusions: Hospital characteristics impact time required to implement PEWS in resource-limited childhood cancer centers; however, prior QI experience helps anticipate and adapt to resource challenges and more quickly implement PEWS. QI training should be a component of strategies to scale-up use of evidence-based interventions like PEWS in resource-limited settings.

Cost-effectiveness analysis of introduction of rapid, alternative methods to identify multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in middle-income countries.

BACKGROUND: Resistance to commonly used antituberculosis drugs is emerging worldwide. Conventional drug-susceptibility testing (DST) methods are slow and demanding. Alternative, rapid DST methods would permit the early detection of drug resistance and, in turn, arrest tuberculosis transmission. METHODS: A cost-effectiveness analysis of 5 DST methods was performed in the context of a clinical trial that compared rapid with conventional DST methods. The methods under investigation were direct phage-replication assay (FASTPlaque-Response; Biotech), direct amplification and reverse hybridization of the rpoB gene (INNO-LiPA; Innogenetics), indirect colorimetric minimum inhibitory concentration assay (MTT; ICN Biomedicals), and direct proportion method on Löwenstein-Jensen medium. These were compared with the widely used indirect proportion method on Löwenstein-Jensen medium. RESULTS: All alternative DST methods were found to be cost-effective, compared with other health care interventions. DST methods also generate substantial cost savings in settings of high prevalence of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis. Excluding the effects of transmission, the direct proportion method on Löwenstein-Jensen medium was the most cost-effective alternative DST method for patient groups with prevalences of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis of 2%, 5%, 20%, and 50% (cost in US$2004, $94, $36, $8, and $2 per disability-adjusted life year, respectively). CONCLUSION: Alternative, rapid methods for DST are cost-effective and should be considered for use by national tuberculosis programs in middle-income countries.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains of the Beijing genotype are rarely observed in tuberculosis patients in South America.

The frequency of the Beijing genotype of Mycobacterium tuberculosis as a cause of tuberculosis (TB) in South America was determined by analyzing genotypes of strains isolated from patients that had been diagnosed with the disease between 1997 and 2003 in seven countries of the subcontinent. In total, 19 of the 1,202 (1.6%) TB cases carried Beijing isolates, including 11 of the 185 patients from Peru (5.9%), five of the 512 patients from Argentina (1.0%), two of the 252 Brazilian cases (0.8%), one of the 166 patients from Paraguay (0.6%) and none of the samples obtained from Chile (35), Colombia (36) and Ecuador (16). Except for two patients that were East Asian immigrants, all cases with Beijing strains were native South Americans. No association was found between carrying a strain with the Beijing genotype and having drug or multi-drug resistant disease. Our data show that presently transmission of M. tuberculosis strains of the Beijing genotype is not frequent in Latin America. In addition, the lack of association of drug resistant TB and infection with M. tuberculosis of the Beijing genotype observed presently demands efforts to define better the contribution of the virulence and lack of response to treatment to the growing spread of Beijing strains observed in other parts of the world.

Neurogénesis en cerebro adulto / Neurogenesis in adult brain

Resumen Las lesiones cerebrales de cualquier etiología, incluyendo traumatismos, enfermedades neurodegenerativas o accidentes cerebrovasculares, suponen alteraciones irreversibles en la función cognitiva, el sistema motor y somato sensorial, e incluso de personalidad. En la actualidad no existen tratamientos eficientes, por tanto, la búsqueda de opciones terapéuticas para aumentar la tasa de reemplazo neuronal en el sistema nervioso central es uno de las líneas de investigación más activas en la neurociencia actual. En este sentido, el descubrimiento de la reposición neuronal a partir de células madre neurales (NSC) en el sistema nervioso central (SNC) adulto ha supuesto un nuevo enfoque en el desarrollo de terapias para este tipo de lesiones cerebrales. El descubrimiento de células madre neurales (NSC) en el cerebro adulto, abrió la posibilidad del desarrollo de nuevas terapias neurorregenerativas basadas en la reposición neuronal a partir de NSC (neurogénesis). En condiciones fisiológicas, existe neurogénesis a partir de NSC en dos zonas del cerebro adulto: el hipocampo y la zona subventricular (SVZ), mientras que en el resto del cerebro adulto no existe neurogenesis o es escasa. Sin embargo, cuando hay una lesión cerebral, estas NSC son reclutadas en el perímetro donde se produjo y se puede ver como proliferan células con características de precursores neurales (NPC). En esta publicación se hace una revisión exhaustiva de los conocimientos actuales sobre la neurogénesis en cerebro adulto.

Abstract Brain injuries of any etiology including traumatic injuries, neurodegenerative diseases or strokes are very common and involve irreversible impairments in cognitive function, motor and somatosensory system, and even personality. These types of lesions lack effective curative treatments, with the search for therapeutic options being one of the most active fields of research in current neuroscience. In this sense, the discovery of neural replenishment from neural stem cells (NSC) in the adult central nervous system (CNS) has been a new approach in the development of therapies for this type of brain injury. The discovery of neural stem cells (NSCs) in the adult brain has opened up the possibility of developing new neuroregenerative therapies based on neural replenishment from neural stem cells (neurogenesis). In physiological conditions, neurogenesis exists from NSC only in two areas of the adult brain, the hippocampus and the subventricular zone (SVZ), whereas in the rest of the adult brain there is no or little neurogenesis. However, when a brain injury occurs, these NSCs are recruited into the perimeter of the lesion and cells with proliferating neural precursor (NPC) characteristics can be seen. The publication provides a comprehensive review of current knowledge on neurogenesis in adult brain.

[Molecular test Genotype® MTBDRplus, an alternative to rapid detection of multidrug resistance tuberculosis]. / Prueba molecular Genotype® MTBDRplus, una alternativa para la detección rápida de tuberculosis multidrogorresistente.

The Genotype®MTBDRplus molecular test is a method that allows identification of the most frequent mutations associated with resistance to major first-line antituberculosis drugs, Isoniazid (INH) and Rifampicin (RFP). The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of the molecular test with culture and smear- positive sputum samples. We evaluated 95 cultures and 100 sputum samples with resistance profiles previously determined by the reference method "Agar Plate Proportions" (APP). The molecular test from cultures showed a sensitivity of 100 %, 97,5 % and 96,97 % for RIF, INH and MDR respectively while from sputums the sensitivity was 95,65 %, 96,77 % and 95,24 % for RIF, INH and MDR respectively. We conclude that the molecular test Genotype®MTBDRplus is a very useful tool to detect resistance to isoniazid and rifampicin simultaneously (MDR-TB) in up to 72 hours from sputum samples or cultures.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains of the Beijing genotype are rarely observed in tuberculosis patients in South America

The frequency of the Beijing genotype of Mycobacterium tuberculosis as a cause of tuberculosis (TB) in South America was determined by analyzing genotypes of strains isolated from patients that had been diagnosed with the disease between 1997 and 2003 in seven countries of the subcontinent. In total, 19 of the 1,202 (1.6 percent) TB cases carried Beijing isolates, including 11 of the 185 patients from Peru (5.9 percent), five of the 512 patients from Argentina (1.0 percent), two of the 252 Brazilian cases (0.8 percent), one of the 166 patients from Paraguay (0.6 percent) and none of the samples obtained from Chile (35), Colombia (36) and Ecuador (16). Except for two patients that were East Asian immigrants, all cases with Beijing strains were native South Americans. No association was found between carrying a strain with the Beijing genotype and having drug or multi-drug resistant disease. Our data show that presently transmission of M. tuberculosis strains of the Beijing genotype is not frequent in Latin America. In addition, the lack of association of drug resistant TB and infection with M. tuberculosis of the Beijing genotype observed presently demands efforts to define better the contribution of the virulence and lack of response to treatment to the growing spread of Beijing strains observed in other parts of the world.