Non-vaccination of dogs is linked to uncompleted COVID-19 vaccination protocols of owners.

Despite the known importance of vaccines as one of the greatest achievements in medical science, vaccine hesitancy has been increasing in the last decade and has become a major threat to global health. The growth of vaccine hesitancy worldwide became more evident with the onset of COVID-19 and raised the fear that this hesitancy would also impact companion animal vaccination. This study aimed to characterize vaccine-hesitant groups regarding companion animals and human vaccinations, as well as to explore the possible association between vaccine hesitancy in pets and their owners. An anonymous online survey containing 27 closed questions was conducted, including questions about dog health, such as vaccination, neutering, and homeopathy use, as well as questions about the COVID-19 vaccination status of the owner and motivations for vaccinating or not vaccinating their pets. Most participants (81.5 %) reported receiving three or more doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. Not vaccinating against COVID-19 or having an incomplete vaccination protocol was associated with an increase in the age range of participants (odds ratio [OR] = 1.43), not having higher education (OR = 7.70), and being in extreme income ranges (less than two minimum wages [OR = 7.57] and more than 10 [OR = 5.20]). The use of homeopathy in humans (OR = 3.24) and dogs (OR = 3.74) was associated with non-vaccination against COVID-19. Owners who were not fully vaccinated against COVID-19 were almost six times more likely to not vaccinate their dogs (OR = 5.94). Non-vaccination of dogs was also associated with non-neutering (OR = 3.56), keeping the dog in contact with other dogs (OR = 2.09), and an increase in the number of dogs in the house increased the chance of not vaccinating the animals (OR = 1.30). The present study revealed a strong association between non-vaccination against COVID-19 and non-vaccination in companion dogs, raising the hypothesis that vaccination hesitancy is a growing challenge in veterinary medicine. In addition, the characteristics of Brazilians who are reluctant to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or immunize their companion animals are described here for the first time.

2022 Annual Report of the National Poison Data System® (NPDS) from America's Poison Centers®: 40th Annual Report.

INTRODUCTION: This is the 40th Annual Report of America's Poison Centers National Poison Data System (NPDS). As of 1 January, 2022, all 55 of the nation's poison centers (PCs) uploaded case data automatically to NPDS. The upload interval was 4.72 [4.40, 9.27] (median [25%, 75%]) minutes, effectuating a near real-time national exposure and information database and surveillance system. METHODS: We analyzed the case data tabulating specific indices from NPDS. The methodology was similar to that of previous years. Where changes were introduced, the differences are identified. Cases with medical outcomes of death were evaluated by a team of medical and clinical toxicologist reviewers using an ordinal scale of 1-6 to assess the Relative Contribution to Fatality (RCF) of the exposure. RESULTS: In 2022, 2,483,183 closed encounters were logged by NPDS: 2,064,875 human exposures, 50,381 animal exposures, 363,099 information requests, 4,790 human confirmed nonexposures, and 38 animal confirmed nonexposures. Total encounters showed a 12.9% decrease from 2021, and human exposure cases decreased by 0.771%, while health care facility (HCF) human exposure cases increased by 0.214%. All information requests decreased by 48.4%, medication identification (Drug ID) requests decreased by 21.2%, and medical information requests showed a 76.92% decrease, although these remain twice the median number before the COVID-19 pandemic. Drug Information requests showed a 52.4% decrease, due to declining COVID-19 vaccine calls to PCs but still comprised 5.55% of all information contacts. Human exposures with less serious outcomes have decreased 1.70% per year since 2008, while those with more serious outcomes (moderate, major or death) have increased 4.41% per year since 2000.Consistent with the previous year, the top 4 substance classes most frequently involved in all human exposures were analgesics (11.5%), household cleaning substances (7.23%), antidepressants (5.61%), and cosmetics/personal care products (5.23%). Antihistamines (4.81%) replaced sedatives/hypnotics/antipsychotics as the 5th substance class. As a class, analgesic exposures increased most rapidly, by 1,514 cases/year (3.26%/year) over the past 10 years for cases with more serious outcomes.The top 5 most common exposures in children age 5 years or less were household cleaning substances (10.3%), analgesics (9.54%), cosmetics/personal care products (9.49%), dietary supplements/herbals/homeopathic (6.65%), and foreign bodies/toys/miscellaneous (6.61%). NPDS documented 3,255 human exposures resulting in death; 2,622 (80.6%) of these were judged as related (RCF of 1-Undoubtedly responsible, 2-Probably responsible, or 3-Contributory). CONCLUSIONS: These data support the continued value of PC expertise and the need for specialized medical toxicology information to manage the increasing number of more serious exposures. Unintentional and intentional exposures continue to be a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in the US. The near real-time status of NPDS represents a national public health resource to collect and monitor US exposure cases and information requests. The continuing mission of NPDS is to provide a nationwide infrastructure for surveillance for all types of exposures (e.g., foreign body, infectious, venomous, chemical agent, or commercial product), and the identification and tracking of significant public health events. NPDS is a model system for the near real-time surveillance of national and global public health.

"Early Treatment", Anti-Vaccination, and Denialism: who are the Doctors for Life in the COVID-19 pandemic context in Brazil? / "Tratamento precoce", antivacinação e negacionismo: quem são os Médicos pela Vida no contexto da pandemia de COVID-19 no Brasil?

The article aims to identify who the "Doctors for Life" are, their academic and professional information, which assumptions have been mobilized for the defense of "early treatment" and the denial of vaccines for COVID-19, and the representativeness of their discourses in the medical practice context in Brazil. The analysis is based on a list of 276 doctors' names, cataloged from their website, and on academic and professional information obtained through research on the Federal Medical Conseil website and the Scientific and Technological Development Nacional Council platform. The content analysis points to the centrality of the medical specialties of homeopathy and acupuncture in the population of Doctors for Life when compared to the set of specialist doctors in Brazil. The significant accession of homeopaths and acupuncturists to the Doctors for Life movement can clarify the understanding of specific medical rationalities, allowing us to distinguish which categories and ideas about the health-disease process are in dispute. It is concluded that, more than describing the problem, it is needed to establish its correlations with a group of events, practices, political decisions, economic linkages, shared beliefs, and a chain of processes that configure its undeniably social characteristics.

O artigo pretende identificar quem são os "Médicos pela Vida" (MPV), suas informações acadêmicas e profissionais, quais as premissas utilizadas para a defesa do "tratamento precoce" e da negação das vacinas contra COVID-19 e qual a representatividade de seus discursos no contexto da prática médica no Brasil. A análise baseia-se na lista de 276 profissionais médicos catalogados no site dos MPV e em informações acadêmicas e profissionais coletadas nos sites do Conselho Federal de Medicina e da Plataforma Lattes, do Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico. A análise do conteúdo aponta para a centralidade das especialidades da Homeopatia e Acupuntura na população de MPV quando comparada ao conjunto dos especialistas do Brasil. A adesão significativa de homeopatas e acupunturistas ao movimento dos MPV pode iluminar a compreensão sobre racionalidades médicas específicas, permitindo distinguir quais categorias e ideias acerca dos processos de saúde e doença estão em disputa. Conclui-se que, para além de descrever a problemática, é preciso estabelecer suas correlações com um conjunto de acontecimentos, práticas, decisões políticas, encadeamentos econômicos, compartilhamento de crenças e uma corrente de processos que configuram seu caráter inegavelmente social.

2021 Annual Report of the National Poison Data System© (NPDS) from America's Poison Centers: 39th Annual Report.

ABSTRACTINTRODUCTION: This is the 39th Annual Report of America's Poison Centers' National Poison Data System (NPDS). As of 1 January, 2021, all 55 of the nation's poison centers (PCs) uploaded case data automatically to NPDS. The upload interval was 4.87 [4.38, 8.62] (median [25%, 75%]) minutes, effectuating a near real-time national exposure and information database and surveillance system. METHODS: We analyzed the case data tabulating specific indices from NPDS. The methodology was similar to that of previous years. Where changes were introduced, the differences are identified. Cases with medical outcomes of death were evaluated by a team of medical and clinical toxicologist reviewers using an ordinal scale of 1-6 to assess the Relative Contribution to Fatality (RCF) of the exposure. RESULTS: In 2021, 2,851,166 closed encounters were logged by NPDS: 2,080,917 human exposures, 62,189 animal exposures, 703,086 information requests, 4,920 human confirmed nonexposures, and 54 animal confirmed nonexposures. Total encounters showed a 14.0% decrease from 2020, and human exposure cases decreased by 2.22%, while health care facility (HCF) human exposure cases increased by 7.20%. All information requests decreased by 37.0%, medication identification (Drug ID) requests decreased by 20.8%, and medical information requests showed a 61.1% decrease, although these remain about 13-fold higher than before the COVID-19 pandemic. Drug Information requests showed a 146% increase, reflecting COVID-19 vaccine calls to PCs. Human exposures with less serious outcomes have decreased 1.80% per year since 2008, while those with more serious outcomes (moderate, major or death) have increased 4.56% per year since 2000.Consistent with the previous year, the top 5 substance classes most frequently involved in all human exposures were analgesics (11.2%), household cleaning substances (7.49%), cosmetics/personal care products (5.88%), antidepressants (5.61%), and sedatives/hypnotics/antipsychotics (4.73%). As a class, antidepressant exposures increased most rapidly, by 1,663 cases/year (5.30%/year) over the past 10 years for cases with more serious outcomes.The top 5 most common exposures in children age 5 years or less were cosmetics/personal care products (10.8%), household cleaning substances (10.7%), analgesics (8.16%), dietary supplements/herbals/homeopathic (7.00%), and foreign bodies/toys/miscellaneous (6.51%). Drug identification requests comprised 3.64% of all information contacts. NPDS documented 4,497 human exposures resulting in death; 3,809 (84.7%) of these were judged as related (RCF of 1-Undoubtedly responsible, 2-Probably responsible, or 3-Contributory). CONCLUSIONS: These data support the continued value of PC expertise and the need for specialized medical toxicology information to manage more serious exposures. Unintentional and intentional exposures continue to be a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in the US. The near real-time status of NPDS represents a national public health resource to collect and monitor US exposure cases and information contacts. The continuing mission of NPDS is to provide a nationwide infrastructure for surveillance for all types of exposures (e.g., foreign body, infectious, venomous, chemical agent, or commercial product), and the identification and tracking of significant public health events. NPDS is a model system for the near real-time surveillance of national and global public health.

Homeopatía unida, más allá de la COVID-19 / United homeopathy, beyond COVID-19

Durante todo el 2020, el tema relativo al coronavirus ocupó la atención de la población mundial. Los titulares de los diferentes medios de información no cesaron de hablar de la pandemia, y no es para menos, sobre todo ahora que se encuentran listas las diferentes vacunas en contra del SARS-CoV-2. Vale la pena recordar que el pasado 27 de marzo de 2020 se publicó en el Diario Oficial de la Federación el acuerdo relacionado con las acciones extraordinarias para atender la emergencia sanitaria generada por el virus SARS-CoV-2. Ante esta situación, diversas organizaciones académicas y gremiales, entre las que destacan la Escuela Nacional de Medicina y Homeopatía (ENMH), perteneciente al Instituto Politécnico Nacional; Homeopatía de México, A.C; el Instituto de Estudios Superiores de Puebla; la Escuela Libre de Homeopatía de México, I.A.P., y el Colegio de Médicos Homeópatas del Centro, A.C., entre otras, conformaron una asociación denominada Homeopatía Unida, la cual nació con la intención de cumplir los siguientes objetivos: • Difundir entre la sociedad mexicana los alcances que puede tener el tratamiento médico homeopático en las diferentes fases de la pandemia por covid-19. • Recomendar el tratamiento homeopático con fines profilácticos por parte de un médico homeópata calificado. • Atención médica de pacientes sospechosos de infección por covid-19, que, de ser necesario, deberán ser canalizados a las instancias correspondientes. • Informar ampliamente de los inconvenientes de la automedicación y alertar acerca de tratamientos homeopáticos prescritos por personal ajeno a la profesión médico homeopática.