Conocimientos, actitudes y prácticas sobre la COVID-19 en adultos de la República Dominicana / Knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding COVID-19 in adults from the Dominican Republic

Introducción: Con la aparición del nuevo miembro de la familia coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, la humanidad inició una batalla contra una enfermedad hasta el momento desconocida, la COVID-19. Objetivo: Determinar los conocimientos, actitudes y prácticas sobre la COVID-19 al inicio del estado de emergencia en la población adulta dominicana. Métodos: Se realizó un estudio de corte transversal, entre el 3 y el 17 de abril de 2020. El instrumento de recolección fue un cuestionario en línea con 4 secciones; características sociodemográficas, conocimientos, actitudes y prácticas sobre la COVID-19. La muestra estuvo integrada por 1861 participantes. Resultados: El 45,7 por ciento de los integrantes conocía que en ausencia de fiebre un infectado puede transmitir el virus a otro, 27,7 por ciento consideró suficiente la información circulante en la población dominicana, 32,2 por ciento confiaba que el gobierno dominicano controlaría la pandemia, 91,7 por ciento usaba mascarillas en multitudes. Conclusiones: Los resultados revelan un alto nivel de conocimiento, actitudes optimistas y prácticas adecuadas sobre la COVID-19 durante el brote inicial de la enfermedad en el país. República Dominicana enfrenta un gran desafío para controlar la transmisión del virus, pero a diferencia de otros países, una proporción significativa de los participantes no confían en las capacidades de las instituciones gubernamentales para su control. Aunque se deben realizar otros estudios a nivel comunitario en niveles socioeconómicos más bajos(AU)

Introduction: With the appearance of a new member in the coronavirus family, SARS-CoV-2, humanity started a battle against a hitherto unknown disease, COVID-19. Objective: To determine the knowledge, attitudes and practices concerning COVID-19 at the beginning of the emergency in the Dominican adult population. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted between April 3 and 17, 2020. The data collection instrument was an online questionnaire with four sections: sociodemographic characteristics, knowledge, attitudes and practices concerning COVID-19. The sample consisted of 1861 participants. Results: 45.7 percent of the members knew that, in the absence of fever, an infected person can transmit the virus to another person. 27.7 percent considered the information circulating in the Dominican population as sufficient. 32.2 percent trusted that the Dominican government would control the pandemic. 91.7 percent wore face masks in crowded places. Conclusions: The results reveal a high level of knowledge, optimistic attitudes and appropriate practices concerning COVID-19 during the initial outbreak of the disease in the country. The Dominican Republic faces a great challenge to control the transmission of the virus; but, unlike other countries, a significant proportion of the participants do not trust the capacities of government institutions to control it. However, other studies should be carried out at the community or at lower socioeconomic levels(AU)

In vitro toxicity assessment of zinc and nickel ferrite nanoparticles in human erythrocytes and peripheral blood mononuclear cell.

Ferrite nanoparticles (NPs) have gained attention in biomedicine due to their many potential applications, such as targeted drug delivery, their use as contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging and oncological treatments. The information about the risk effects of ferrite NPs in human blood cells is, however, scarce. To assess their potential toxicity, in vitro studies were carried out with magnetite and zinc, nickel and nickel­zinc ferrites NPs at different concentrations (50, 100 and 200 µg·ml-1). The toxicity of the ferrite NPs was evaluated in humans by determining red blood hemolysis, by measuring the content of total proteins, and by assaying catalase and glutathione-S-transferase activities. Our results show that nickel­zinc ferrite lead to hemolysis, and that magnetite, zinc and nickel­zinc ferrites increase glutathione-S-transferase activity. No significant changes in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells viability were observed after the treatment with the four different ferrite NPs in vitro.