Positivity Rate of SARS-COV-2 Using Reverse Transcription- Polymerase Chain Reaction Among Pediatric Population Admitted in a Tertiary Hospital in Southern Philippines

Background: Positivity rate is a measure used in public health surveillance to gauge the spread of disease and may be used as a guide in creating measures to minimize its extent. This study examines the change of positivity rate with the quarantine classification of Davao City, Philippines and appreciates its effect in the pediatric population.Objectives: To determine the Positivity Rate of COVID 19 infection among the pediatric population admitted at Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) from March 2020-July 2021.Methodology: The study used a retrospective study design via chart review of all 0-18 years old admitted in SPMC as COVID 19 Confirmed from March 2020 to July 2021. Descriptive statistics was used in the analysis of the variables in this study.Results: Of the 913 patients included, majority were 12-18 years old (43.04%). Most had a known exposure to a covid-19 confirmed individual (59.46%), and were asymptomatic (38.08%) or mild (35.71%). The hospital had a positivity rate of 1.79%. The age group 12-18 years old had the highest positivity rate (1.79%). Changes in the positivity rate were noted with a change in the quarantine classification of the city. Most of confirmed cases (76.71%) were swabbed within 0-5 days from symptom onset.Conclusion: Pediatric patients are at risk for COVID-19, although most present with mild symptoms. The monthly positivity rate of SPMC changes depending on the quarantine classification of Davao City, with stricter quarantine classification showing negative percentage change. Early testing of pediatric patients with symptoms of COVID-19, ideally within 0-5 days from the onset of symptoms, is recommended for better detection and timely implementation of quarantine protocols. Keywords: Positivity rate, Pediatric COVID-19, COVID-19 DOI: 10.7176/JHMN/108-05 Publication date:May 31st 202

Reconsidering the water system of Roman Barcino (Barcelona) from supply to discharge

This paper presents the results of the ‘Roman Barcino Water Network’ Project. This study employed a series of methodologies aiming at joining and interpreting all data available on water supply, distribution, management, use and discharge in the Romancolony of Barcino (modern Barcelona). Analyses of the results substantially modified previous knowledge of Barcino’s water organization and provided one of the few examples in which the whole water system of a Roman city has been tackled. We concluded that the water supply employed a single aqueduct, which divided before entering the city and not two of them as it was previously assumed. Barcino’s water distribution system was designed according to the different uses of water and was conditioned by the city’s particular topography. The results also stress the colony’s ample water availability, which despite its small size, allowed the maintenance of multiple public and private baths as befitted an accommodated population of merchants and administrators

Death Metal: Evidence for the impact of lead poisoning on childhood health within the Roman Empire

The use of lead was ubiquitous throughout the Roman Empire, including material for water pipes, eating vessels, medicine, and even as a sweetener for wine. The toxicity of lead is well established today, resulting in long-term psychological and neurological deficits as well as metabolic diseases. Children are particularly susceptible to the effects of lead, and it is likely that the widespread use of this deadly metal among Roman populations led to a range of adverse health effects. Indeed, lead poisoning has even been implicated in the downfall of the Roman Empire. This research examines, for the first time, the direct effect of lead poisoning on the inhabitants of the Empire. It explores whether the dramatic increase in lead during this period contributed to the failure to thrive evident within the skeletal remains of Roman children. Lead concentration and paleopathological analyses were used to explore the association between lead burdens and health during the Roman period. This study includes 173 individuals (66 adults and 107 non-adults) from five sites, AD 1st–4th centuries, located throughout the Roman Empire. Results show a negative correlation between age-at-death and core tooth enamel lead concentrations. Furthermore, higher lead concentrations were observed in children with skeletal evidence of metabolic disease than those without. This study provides the first bioarcheological evidence that lead poisoning was a contributing factor to the high infant mortality and childhood morbidity rates seen within the Roman world