High SARS-CoV-2 Prevalence among Healthcare Workers in Cochabamba, Bolivia.

Healthcare workers (HCWs) are at increased risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection. The aim of the study was to estimate the SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence among HCWs in Cochabamba, Bolivia and to determine the potential risk factors. In January 2021, a cross-sectional SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence study was conducted in 783 volunteer clinical and non-clinical HCWs in tertiary care facilities. It was based on IgG detection using ELISA, chemiluminiscence, and seroneutralisation tests from dried blood spots. Analysis revealed a high seroprevalence (43.4%) of SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies. The combination of anosmia and ageusia (OR: 68.11; 95%-CI 24.83-186.80) was predictive of seropositivity. Belonging to the cleaning staff (OR: 1.94; 95%-CI 1.09-3.45), having more than two children in the same house (OR: 1.74; 95%-CI 1.12-2.71), and having been in contact with a close relative with COVID-19 (OR: 3.53; 95%-CI 2.24-5.58) were identified as risk factors for seropositivity in a multivariate analysis. A total of 47.5% of participants had received medication for COVID-19 treatment or prevention, and only ~50% of symptomatic subjects accessed PCR or antigenic testing. This study confirms a massive SARS-CoV-2 attack rate among HCWs in Cochabamba by the end of January 2021. The main risk factors identified are having a low-skilled job, living with children, and having been in contact with an infected relative in the household.

Engendering a constitutional moment: The quest for parity in the Chilean Constitutional Convention.

Chile is living a constitutional moment, and the achievement of parity democracy might be part of it. The constitutional roadmap includes a plebiscite where citizens will decide whether they want a new constitution. The plebiscite was to be held in April 2020 but, due to the COVID-19 emergency, it had to be rescheduled to take place in October this year. If the option for a new constitution wins, a constituent body must be elected. To ensure parity in that election, a group of feminist political scientists and a cross-party alliance of women deputies drafted a parity bill that was approved by the Chamber of Deputies in December 2019, and is now being discussed in the Senate. If the bill is passed in its current terms, the new Chilean Constitution will be the first constitution ever written by an equal number of men and women.

Criminalisation under scrutiny: how constitutional courts are changing their narrative by using public health evidence in abortion cases.

This article explains how the strategic use of public health evidence, showing that criminalisation of abortion does not result in lower abortion rates, is changing the way judges are confronting constitutional challenges to abortion regulations. The state may have a legitimate interest - and in some legal systems, a duty - to protect prenatal life. Nevertheless, courts are upholding regulations liberalising abortion and declaring criminalisation regimes unconstitutional. This is possible given that lower abortion rates are not achieved through criminalisation, but through preventive policies. In addition, courts uphold liberalisation when the infringement of women's rights resulting from criminalisation outweighs its purported benefits. This new legal narrative has been developed during the last decades by a series of court decisions in Europe and Latin America, and may prove useful for legal advocacy in some countries in Africa. The narrative combines the use of an analytical framework called the proportionality principle with an interpretation of constitutional rights that draws from gender-sensitive international human rights standards and factual evidence about the effects of criminalisation on women's lives and health.