Infection and mortality of nursing personnel in Brazil from COVID-19: A cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Health care personnel (HCP) worldwide are at-risk for contracting the novel Coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Among health care personnel, nurses are at a particularly high risk due to the physical proximity and duration of time spent providing direct care. Documenting accurate rates of COVID-19 infection and deaths among nurses worldwide has been problematic, and many countries such as the USA have no systematic mechanism for collecting this information. Brazil is unique in that it prioritized the implementation of a dedicated database, the Nursing Observatory to collect accurate and timely data regarding COVID-19 and Brazilian nursing personnel. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to analyze COVID-19 infections and deaths among nurses registered in the centralized and dedicated Brazilian database called the Nursing Observatory. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study using secondary data from the Brazilian Nursing Observatory was conducted. PARTICIPANTS: Data are reported for two occupational categories: professional Nurse and technical nurse by country regions. All cases or deaths of professional Nurse and technical nurse registered between the 12th and 31st epidemiological weeks of 2020 were included. METHODS: From a unique numerical identification, the appropriate records of nursing personnel affected by COVID-19 were entered by the Technical Responsible Nurse for each service, according to the condition regarding COVID-19. All suspected, confirmed or unconfirmed infections were considered "cases", and all confirmed or unconfirmed deceased as "deaths". Cases and deaths were analyzed according to the variables: 1. region of the country where the case occurred, 2. nursing category and 3. epidemiological week. Universal protocols for collecting and cleaning data were used throughout the country. Infection and mortality rates (per 100,000) were obtained from the relationship between deaths registered and the population of nursing personnel by category and region. RESULTS: Nursing personnel in the Northern, Northeast and Southeast Regions of Brazil had the highest number of COVID-19 infections and deaths overall with an ascending curve occurring mainly after Epidemiological Week 19. COVID-19 infections and deaths spread later to the Midwest and Southern regions also showing an ascending curve, although the total numbers were less. CONCLUSIONS: All occupational categories of nursing personnel showed higher than expected rates of infection and death. Inequalities and a lack of adequate healthcare resources, hospital beds and Personal Protective Equipment varied by region in Brazil. The politicization of COVID-19 and the lack of a coherent national pandemic plan is a factor to be taken into account. Tweetable abstract: This cross-sectional study shows the evolution of cases and deaths of Brazilian nursing personnel over the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Economic burden of colorectal and breast cancers attributable to lack of physical activity in Brazil.

BACKGROUND: The increasing number of cancer patients has an escalating economic impact to public health systems (approximately, International dollars- Int$ 60 billion annually in Brazil). Physical activity is widely recognized as one important modifiable risk factor for cancer. Herein, we estimated the economic costs of colon and post-menopausal breast cancers in the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS) attributable to lack of physical activity. METHODS: Population attributable fractions were calculated using prevalence data from 57,962 adults who answered a physical activity questionnaire in the Brazilian National Health Survey, and relative risks of colon and breast cancer from a meta-analysis. Annual costs (1 Int$ = 2.1 reais) with hospitalization, chemotherapy and radiotherapy were obtained from the Hospital and Ambulatory Information Systems of the Brazilian SUS. Two counterfactual scenarios were considered: theoretical minimum risk exposure level (≥8000 MET-min/week) and physical activity guidelines (≥600 MET-min/week). RESULTS: Annually, the Brazilian SUS expended Int$ 4.5 billion in direct costs related to cancer treatment, of which Int$ 553 million due to colon and breast cancers. Direct costs related to colon and breast cancers attributable to lack of physical activity were Int$ 23.4 million and Int$ 26.9 million, respectively. Achieving at least the physical activity guidelines would save Int$ 10.3 mi (colon, Int$ 6.4 mi; breast, Int$ 3.9 mi). CONCLUSIONS: Lack of physical activity accounts for Int$ 50.3 million annually in direct costs related to colon and post-menopausal breast cancers. Population-wide interventions aiming to promote physical activity are needed to reduce the economic burden of cancer in Brazil.