Knowledge, Perceptions, and Practices on Risks and Disasters Among Medical Students. A Multicenter Cross-Sectional Study in 9 Latin American and Caribbean Countries.

Purpose: The objective of this study was to describe the level of knowledge, perceptions, and practices in relation to risks and disasters in medical schools in Latin America and the Caribbean. Participants and Methods: Multicenter, observational, analytical, non-probabilistic convenience sample study with 2546 medical students in 9 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. An online survey was conducted between October 2020 and November 2020, using an instrument validated in each country to assess knowledge, perceptions, and practices regarding risk and disaster prevention measures. Frequencies, percentages, mean and standard deviation (SD) were used for descriptive analysis. Differences resulting from the relationship between the variables studied and the level of knowledge were obtained using the Chi-square test. P-value <0.05 was accepted as statistically significant for all analyses. Results: The highest proportion of responses came from women, third-semester students, and those studying in public universities. Students from Colombia and Honduras had the highest percentage of high levels of knowledge about disasters, while Peruvian students had the highest percentage of low levels of knowledge. Women and students from public universities showed a higher proportion of high levels of knowledge. 52.7% considered that they live in a country with a medium risk of natural disasters, while 91.2% said that Latin American and Caribbean countries are not prepared to face natural disasters. Only 43.6% believe they are prepared to help in the event of a natural disaster. Conclusion: Most of medical students from Latin America and Latin America and the Caribbean have high and medium level of knowledge in risks and disasters. However, the implementation of disaster training programs for medical students has the potential to improve the preparedness, knowledge, and skills that are important for medical personnel to improve their self-confidence, and their ability to respond, resulting in more effective systems.

Viruela símica: una revisión narrativa de la fisiopatología

La viruela símica es una enfermedad zoonótica identificada por primera vez en 1958. El virus es un miembro del género Orthopoxvirus, de la familia Poxviridae. Infecta a una amplia variedad de mamíferos, pero se desconoce su reservorio natural. El virus del brote de 2022 pertenece a los clados IIa y IIb. Es probable que la aparición del brote actual se deba a las importaciones del brote de Nigeria de 2017-2018. La propagación de persona a persona puede ocurrir a través del contacto cercano con lesiones, fluidos corporales, gotitas respiratorias y objetos contaminados. Una vez dentro del organismo, el virus infecta las mucosas, células epiteliales y células inmunitarias de los tejidos adyacentes. Luego, el virus se replica y disemina rápidamente a través del sistema hemático y linfático. Las células T desempeñan un papel importante en la regulación de la respuesta inmunitaria contra el virus. Sin embargo, los Orthopoxvirus han desarrollado varios mecanismos para la evasión de la respuesta inmunitaria. La vigilancia de la enfermedad es un factor crucial en la evaluación de riesgo del virus y del control del brote. Para esta revisión se realizó la búsqueda de los principales artículos relacionados a la patogenia del virus, publicados hasta la fecha. El artículo destaca la necesidad de nuevos estudios sobre transmisibilidad y patogenicidad de las cepas asociadas al brote de 2022.

Monkeypox is a zoonotic disease first identified in 1958. The virus is a member of the genus Orthopoxvirus, family Poxviridae. It infects a wide variety of mammals, but its natural reservoir is unknown. The virus in the 2022 outbreak belongs to clades IIa and IIb. The emergence of the current outbreak is likely to be due to importations from the 2017-2018 Nigerian outbreak. Person to person spread can occur through close contact with lesions, body fluids, respiratory droplets and contaminated objects. Once inside the body, the virus infects mucous membranes, epithelial cells and immune cells in adjacent tissues. The virus then replicates and spreads rapidly through the blood and lymphatic system. Tcells play an important role in regulating the immune response against the virus. However, Orthopoxvirus have evolved several mechanisms for evasion of the immune response. Disease surveillance is a crucial factor in virus risk assessment and outbreak control. For this review we searched for the main articles related to the pathogenesis of the virus published to date. The article highlights the need for further studies on transmissibility and pathogenicity of the strains associated with the 2022 outbreak.

Histiocitosis de células mixtas: Reporte de un caso

Introducción: Las histiocitosis son enfermedades raras, caracterizadas por la infiltración tisular de histiocitos anormales. Se dividen en cinco grupos. Son frecuentes en la población pediátrica. La combinación de la histiocitosis de células de Langerhans e histiocitosis de células no-Langerhans es fortuita. Reporte de caso: Se reporta el caso de una paciente de 66 años que debutó con un cuadro de compromiso sistémico, del que llamó la atención la presencia de masas tumorales en la cara anterior de las piernas, dolor óseo generalizado y alteraciones endocrinológicas. Se planteó el diagnóstico de histiocitosis mixta. Se sugirió tratamiento con: anticuerpos monoclonales anti BRAF V600E, interferón alfa y/o quimioterapia. Conclusión: Es posible realizar el diagnóstico de histiocitosis a partir de los antecedentes personales patológicos del paciente y los hallazgos clínicos manifiestos con el apoyo de estudios radiológicos, histológicos e inmunohistoquímicos. Finalmente, este es el primer caso de histiocitosis mixta publicado en Ecuador.

Introduction: Histiocytoses are rare diseases characterized by tissue infiltration by abnormal histiocytes. They are divided into five groups. They are frequent in the pediatric population. The combination of Langerhans cell histiocytosis and non-Langerhans cell histiocytosis is fortuitous. Case report: We report the case of a 66-year-old female patient who debuted with a history of systemic involvement, in which the presence of tumor masses on the anterior aspect of the legs, generalized bone pain and endocrinological alterations attracted our attention. The diagnosis of mixed histiocytosis was suggested. Treatment with anti BRAF V600E monoclonal antibodies, interferon alpha and/or chemotherapy was recommended. Conclusion: It is possible to make the diagnosis of histiocytosis based on the patient's personal pathological history and the clinical findings with the support of radiological, histological and immunohistochemical studies. Finally, this is the first case of mixed histiocytosis published in Ecuador.

Perceived Fatality Prior to COVID-19 Infection in 13 Latin American Countries (FAT-LAT-COVID-19): Revalidation of a Shortened Scale.

Introduction: COVID-19 has generated great repercussions for the population globally; millions of deaths have been reported worldwide. The idea of death is especially exacerbated when there are close to death experiences that remind us how close we are to fatality. This is why it is important to measure fatalistic ideas of those who have not yet been infected. Objective: To revalidate a scale that measures fatalistic perception prior to COVID-19 infection in a population of 13 Latin American countries. Methodology: We conducted an instrumental study. We used a previously validated scale in Peru, with seven items divided into two factors and with five possible Likert-type responses (from strongly disagree to strongly agree). It was administered to a large population in 13 Spanish-speaking countries in Latin America; for each of the seven questions, 886 people were surveyed. With these results, descriptive and analytical statistics were performed. Results: The mean, standard deviation, skewness, and kurtosis of the seven initial questions were adequate in most cases. In the confirmatory factor analysis, the lack of fit was improved with the indexes' modification technique, which let us delete items 1 and 6. Thus, we could obtain satisfactory goodness-of-fit indices (CFI = 0.972, TLI = 0.931, GFI = 0.990, AGFI = 0.961, RMSEA = 0.080, and RMR = 0.047). Therefore, the final two-factor structure had a fairly adequate Cronbach's α (0.72, with a 95% confidence interval = 0.70-0.73). Conclusions: The scale that measures fatalism of Latin American countries in the face of the pandemic generated by COVID-19 was revalidated and shortened.