Análisis Costo-Beneficio de la Fluoración del Agua Potable en Niños de 12 años de la Región del Biobío, Chile.

Fluoridation has been shown to be an effective measure against caries in children. The present study evaluates the cost-benefit of the fluoridated water program for the reduction of dental caries in 12-year-old children in the Biobío Region, the only region in Chile that has not implemented this program. An economic cost-benefit evaluation was carried out, comparing two alternative interventions: non-fluoridated drinking water versus fluoridated drinking water. The prevalence of caries, direct and indirect costs of the treatments, the cost of implementing the programs and the benefits of both interventions were estimated. From this study it is concluded that the savings in oral health costs in 12-year-old children when using fluoridating drinking water in the Biobío region is significantly higher than the cost involved in implementing the water fluoridation program, resulting in total savings for the Chilean state of $129,861,645 (USD$ 152,833) as well as an estimated reduction of 15% in the history of caries in the study population.Se ha demostrado que la fluoración es una medida efectiva contra disminución de la caries en la población infantil. La presente investigación buscó evaluar cual es el costo-beneficio del programa del agua fluorada para la disminución de caries dental en niños de 12 años de la Región del Biobío, única región de Chile que no adhiere a este programa. Se realizó una evaluación económica de costo-beneficio, comparando dos intervenciones alternativas: agua potable no fluorada versus agua potable fluorada. Para tal fin se estimó la prevalencia de caries, costos directos e indirectos de los tratamientos, el costo de implementación de los programas y el beneficio de ambas intervenciones . De este estudio se concluye que el ahorro en costos de salud bucal en niños de 12 años al fluorar el agua potable en la región del Biobío, es significativamente mayor al costo que implica la implementación del programa de fluoración de aguas, lográndose un ahorro total para el Estado de $129.861.645 (USD$152.833) así como una estimación de reducción del 15% en la historia de caries en la población de estudio

The health and economic burden of smoking in 12 Latin American countries and the potential effect of increasing tobacco taxes: an economic modelling study

Background: Worldwide, smoking tobacco causes 7 million deaths annually, and this toll is expected to increase, especially in low-income and middle-income countries. In Latin America, smoking is a leading risk factor for death and disability, contributes to poverty, and imposes an economic burden on health systems. Despite being one of the most effective measures to reduce smoking, tobacco taxation is underused and cigarettes are more affordable in Latin America than in other regions. Our aim was to estimate the tobacco-attributable burden on mortality, disease incidence, quality of life lost, and medical costs in 12 Latin American countries, and the expected health and economic effects of increasing tobacco taxes. Methods: In this modelling study, we developed a Markov probabilistic microsimulation economic model of the natural history, medical costs, and quality-of-life losses associated with the most common tobacco-related diseases in 12 countries in Latin America. Data inputs were obtained through a literature review, vital statistics, and hospital databases from each country: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Honduras, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay. The main outcomes of the model are life-years, quality-adjusted life-years, disease events, hospitalisations, disease incidence, disease cost, and healthy years of life lost. We estimated direct medical costs for each tobacco-related disease included in the model using a common costing methodology for each country. The disease burden was estimated as the difference in disease events, deaths, and associated costs between the results predicted by the model for current smoking prevalence and a hypothetical cohort of people in each country who had never smoked. The model estimates the health and financial effects of a price increase of cigarettes through taxes, in terms of disease and health-care costs averted, and increased tax revenues. Findings: In the 12 Latin American countries analysed, we estimated that smoking is responsible for approximately 345 000 (12%) of the total 2 860 921 adult deaths, 2·21 million disease events, 8·77 million healthy years of life lost, and $26·9 billion in direct medical costs annually. Health-care costs attributable to smoking were estimated to represent 6·9$26·7 billion in health-care costs in the next 10 years, with a total economic benefit of $43·7 billion. Interpretation: Smoking represents a substantial health and economic burden in these 12 countries of Latin America. Tobacco tax increases could successfully avert deaths and disability, reduce health-care spending, and increase tax revenues, resulting in large net economic benefits.Fil: Pichón-riviere, Andres. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Centro de Investigaciones en Epidemiología y Salud Pública. Instituto de Efectividad Clínica y Sanitaria. Centro de Investigaciones en Epidemiología y Salud Pública; ArgentinaFil: Alcaraz, Andrea. Instituto de Efectividad Clínica y Sanitaria; ArgentinaFil: Palacios, Alfredo. Instituto de Efectividad Clínica y Sanitaria; ArgentinaFil: Rodríguez, Belén. Instituto de Efectividad Clínica y Sanitaria; ArgentinaFil: Reynales Shigematsu, Luz Myriam. Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública; MéxicoFil: Pinto, Márcia. Fundación Oswaldo Cruz; BrasilFil: Castillo Riquelme, Marianela. Ministerio de Salud; ChileFil: Peña Torres, Esperanza. Instituto de Evaluación Tecnológica En Salud; ColombiaFil: Osorio, Diana Isabel. Instituto de Evaluación Tecnológica en Salud; ColombiaFil: Huayanay, Leandro. Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia; PerúFil: Loza Munarriz, Cesar. Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia; PerúFil: Sáenz de Miera-Juárez, Belén. Universidad Autónoma de Baja California Sur; MéxicoFil: Gallegos Rivero, Verónica. Centro Nacional de Excelencia Tecnológica en Salud; MéxicoFil: De La Puente, Catherine. Universidad de La Frontera; ChileFil: Navia Bueno, María del Pilar. Universidad Mayor de San Andrés; BoliviaFil: Caporale, Joaquín. Instituto de Efectividad Clínica y Sanitaria; ArgentinaFil: Roberti, Javier Eugenio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Centro de Investigaciones en Epidemiología y Salud Pública. Instituto de Efectividad Clínica y Sanitaria. Centro de Investigaciones en Epidemiología y Salud Pública; ArgentinaFil: Virgilio, Sacha Alexis. Instituto de Efectividad Clínica y Sanitaria; ArgentinaFil: Augustovski, Federico Ariel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Centro de Investigaciones en Epidemiología y Salud Pública. Instituto de Efectividad Clínica y Sanitaria. Centro de Investigaciones en Epidemiología y Salud Pública; ArgentinaFil: Bardach, Ariel Esteban. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Centro de Investigaciones en Epidemiología y Salud Pública. Instituto de Efectividad Clínica y Sanitaria. Centro de Investigaciones en Epidemiología y Salud Pública; Argentin

A Non-Coding RNA Within the Rasgrf1 Locus in Mouse Is Imprinted and Regulated by Its Homologous Chromosome in Trans

BACKGROUND: Rasgrf1 is imprinted in mouse, displaying paternal allele specific expression in neonatal brain. Paternal expression is accompanied by paternal-specific DNA methylation at a differentially methylated domain (DMD) within the locus. The cis-acting elements necessary for Rasgrf1 imprinting are known. A series of tandem DNA repeats control methylation of the adjacent DMD, which is a methylation sensitive enhancer-blocking element. These two sequences constitute a binary switch that controls imprinting and represents the Imprinting Control Region (ICR). One paternally transmitted mutation, which helped define the ICR, induced paramutation, in trans, on the maternal allele. Like many imprinted genes, Rasgrf1 lies within an imprinted cluster. One of four noncoding transcripts in the cluster, AK015891, is known to be imprinted. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Here we demonstrate that an additional noncoding RNA, AK029869, is imprinted and paternally expressed in brain throughout development. Intriguingly, any of several maternally inherited ICR mutations affected expression of the paternal AK029869 transcript in trans. Furthermore, we found that the ICR mutations exert different trans effects on AK029869 at different developmental times. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Few trans effects have been defined in mammals and, those that exist, do not show the great variation seen at the Rasgrf1 imprinted domain, either in terms of the large number of mutations that produce the effects or the range of phenotypes that emerge when they are seen. These results suggest that trans regulation of gene expression may be more common than originally appreciated and that where trans regulation occurs it can change dynamically during development

Geographical and temporal distribution of SARS-CoV-2 clades in the WHO European Region, January to June 2020

We show the distribution of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) genetic clades over time and between countries and outline potential genomic surveillance objectives. We applied three genomic nomenclature systems to all sequence data from the World Health Organization European Region available until 10 July 2020. We highlight the importance of real-time sequencing and data dissemination in a pandemic situation, compare the nomenclatures and lay a foundation for future European genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2

Socializing One Health: an innovative strategy to investigate social and behavioral risks of emerging viral threats

In an effort to strengthen global capacity to prevent, detect, and control infectious diseases in animals and people, the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Emerging Pandemic Threats (EPT) PREDICT project funded development of regional, national, and local One Health capacities for early disease detection, rapid response, disease control, and risk reduction. From the outset, the EPT approach was inclusive of social science research methods designed to understand the contexts and behaviors of communities living and working at human-animal-environment interfaces considered high-risk for virus emergence. Using qualitative and quantitative approaches, PREDICT behavioral research aimed to identify and assess a range of socio-cultural behaviors that could be influential in zoonotic disease emergence, amplification, and transmission. This broad approach to behavioral risk characterization enabled us to identify and characterize human activities that could be linked to the transmission dynamics of new and emerging viruses. This paper provides a discussion of implementation of a social science approach within a zoonotic surveillance framework. We conducted in-depth ethnographic interviews and focus groups to better understand the individual- and community-level knowledge, attitudes, and practices that potentially put participants at risk for zoonotic disease transmission from the animals they live and work with, across 6 interface domains. When we asked highly-exposed individuals (ie. bushmeat hunters, wildlife or guano farmers) about the risk they perceived in their occupational activities, most did not perceive it to be risky, whether because it was normalized by years (or generations) of doing such an activity, or due to lack of information about potential risks. Integrating the social sciences allows investigations of the specific human activities that are hypothesized to drive disease emergence, amplification, and transmission, in order to better substantiate behavioral disease drivers, along with the social dimensions of infection and transmission dynamics. Understanding these dynamics is critical to achieving health security--the protection from threats to health-- which requires investments in both collective and individual health security. Involving behavioral sciences into zoonotic disease surveillance allowed us to push toward fuller community integration and engagement and toward dialogue and implementation of recommendations for disease prevention and improved health security

Retrospective evaluation of whole exome and genome mutation calls in 746 cancer samples

Funder: NCI U24CA211006Abstract: The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) curated consensus somatic mutation calls using whole exome sequencing (WES) and whole genome sequencing (WGS), respectively. Here, as part of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium, which aggregated whole genome sequencing data from 2,658 cancers across 38 tumour types, we compare WES and WGS side-by-side from 746 TCGA samples, finding that ~80% of mutations overlap in covered exonic regions. We estimate that low variant allele fraction (VAF < 15%) and clonal heterogeneity contribute up to 68% of private WGS mutations and 71% of private WES mutations. We observe that ~30% of private WGS mutations trace to mutations identified by a single variant caller in WES consensus efforts. WGS captures both ~50% more variation in exonic regions and un-observed mutations in loci with variable GC-content. Together, our analysis highlights technological divergences between two reproducible somatic variant detection efforts

Cost-Benefit Analysis of Drinking Water Fluoridation in 12-year-old Children in the Biobío Region, Chile

Fluoridation has been shown to be an effective measure against caries in children. The present study evaluates the cost-benefit of the fluoridated water program for the reduction of dental caries in 12-year-old children in the Biobío Region, the only region in Chile that has not implemented this program. An economic cost-benefit evaluation was carried out, comparing two alternative interventions: non-fluoridated drinking water versus fluoridated drinking water. The prevalence of caries, direct and indirect costs of the treatments, the cost of implementing the programs and the benefits of both interventions were estimated. From this study it is concluded that the savings in oral health costs in 12-year-old children when using fluoridating drinking water in the Biobío region is significantly higher than the cost involved in implementing the water fluoridation program, resulting in total savings for the Chilean state of $129,861,645 (USD$ 152,833) as well as an estimated reduction of 15% in the history of caries in the study population.Se ha demostrado que la fluoración es una medida efectiva contra disminución de la caries en la población infantil. La presente investigación buscó evaluar cual es el costo-beneficio del programa del agua fluorada para la disminución de caries dental en niños de 12 años de la Región del Biobío, única región de Chile que no adhiere a este programa. Se realizó una evaluación económica de costo-beneficio, comparando dos intervenciones alternativas: agua potable no fluorada versus agua potable fluorada. Para tal fin se estimó la prevalencia de caries, costos directos e indirectos de los tratamientos, el costo de implementación de los programas y el beneficio de ambas intervenciones . De este estudio se concluye que el ahorro en costos de salud bucal en niños de 12 años al fluorar el agua potable en la región del Biobío, es significativamente mayor al costo que implica la implementación del programa de fluoración de aguas, lográndose un ahorro total para el Estado de $129.861.645 (USD$152.833) así como una estimación de reducción del 15% en la historia de caries en la población de estudio

Principales aspectos metodológicos en la Evaluación de Tecnologías Sanitarias

This article reviews the most relevant methodological aspects involved in Health Technology Assessment (HTA). Firstly, it addresses the process of defining the research problem (or scoping). Then it explains some specific aspects of systematic reviews of evidence, as well as indirect and mixed comparisons of the effectiveness of interventions. It covers also the methods for economic evaluation in healthcare and the budget impact analysis of interventions. Finally, the paper provides an empirical insight on the methodological emphasis used by HTA agencies around the world, and reflects on the available capacities in our country in the topics discussed

Helicobacter pylori from Peruvian amerindians : traces of human migrations in strains from remote Amazon, and genome sequence of an Amerind strain

BACKGROUND: The gastric pathogen Helicobacter pylori is extraordinary in its genetic diversity, the differences between strains from well-separated human populations, and the range of diseases that infection promotes. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Housekeeping gene sequences from H. pylori from residents of an Amerindian village in the Peruvian Amazon, Shimaa, were related to, but not intermingled with, those from Asia. This suggests descent of Shimaa strains from H. pylori that had infected the people who migrated from Asia into The Americas some 15,000+ years ago. In contrast, European type sequences predominated in strains from Amerindian Lima shantytown residents, but with some 12% Amerindian or East Asian-like admixture, which indicates displacement of ancestral purely Amerindian strains by those of hybrid or European ancestry. The genome of one Shimaa village strain, Shi470, was sequenced completely. Its SNP pattern was more Asian- than European-like genome-wide, indicating a purely Amerind ancestry. Among its unusual features were two cagA virulence genes, each distinct from those known from elsewhere; and a novel allele of gene hp0519, whose encoded protein is postulated to interact with host tissue. More generally, however, the Shi470 genome is similar in gene content and organization to those of strains from industrialized countries. CONCLUSIONS: Our data indicate that Shimaa village H. pylori descend from Asian strains brought to The Americas many millennia ago; and that Amerind strains are less fit than, and were substantially displaced by, hybrid or European strains in less isolated communities. Genome comparisons of H. pylori from Amerindian and other communities should help elucidate evolutionary forces that have shaped pathogen populations in The Americas and worldwide