Humanos vs micro-organismos: quem vencerá esta guerra?

Editoria

Aborto provocado na dolescência: quem o praticou na cidade de Maceió, Alagoas, Brazil

The objective if this quantitative and cross study is to characterize female teenagers, from 12 to 19 years old, that committed abortion, in a representative random sample of 2592 adolescents in Maceió, in 2005. There were found 149 abortions, where most of them (81,9%) did not have a job, (85%) lived with the parents, (85,2%) were single, (69,8%) studied in a public school and (70,5%) were in high school. The majority had one abortion 93 % , but it stands out that 8,5 % of them aborted twice and 2,6% four times, showing this data the inadequate attention to teenagers reproductive health. In order to have an abortion, 63,8% of them had support, 83,9% did not have physical complications and 89,3% did not need hospitalization. The conclusion is that the teenagers are getting pregnant and still attending school, looking for abortion as a solution for a not planned pregnancy and that the lack of need of hospitalization post abortion contributes to the statics lack. Descriptors: teenager, sexuality, pregnancy, abortion.Con el objetivo de caracterizar las adolescentes del sexo femenino, de los 12 a los 19 años, que abortaron, se estudió 2592 jóvenes, en Maceió, en 2005. Trata-se de estudio  cuantitativo, transversal, con  una muestra representativa donde fueran encontrados  149 abortos. La mayoría de las jóvenes que lo practicaran (81,9%) no trabajaba, (85%) moraba con los padres, (85,2%), era soltera, (69,8%) estudiaba en  escuela pública, el nivel medio (70,5%). La mayoría abortó una vez (93%), pero llamó la atención 8,5% de ellas que abortó dos veces y 2,6% cuatro veces,  datos que demuestran la inadecuación de la atención a la salud reproductiva del adolescente. Para abortar 63.8% recibieron ayuda, 83.9% no presentó complicación física, y 89,3% no fueron internadas. Se concluí que esas adolescentes están se embarazando, continuando a frecuentar la escuela. Buscaron el aborto como solución del embarazo no planeado y no necesitaron de internación, contribuyendo para las subestatísticas. Descriptores: adolescencia, sexualidad, embarazo, aborto.O objetivo deste estudo quantitativo, transversal foi caracterizar adolescentes do sexo feminino, dos 12 aos 19 anos de idade, que provocaram o aborto. Estudou-se uma amostra aleatória representativa de 2592 jovens, em Maceió, em 2005, encontrando-se 149 abortamentos. A maioria das jovens que abortou não trabalhava (81,9%), morava com ambos os pais (85%), era solteira (85,2%), estudava em escola pública (69,8%) e o nível médio (70,5%). A maioria delas abortou uma vez (93%), destacando se 8,5%, que abortaram duas e 2,6% quatro vezes, dados que mostram a inadequação da atenção à saúde reprodutiva da adolescente. Para abortar 63,8% delas recebeu apoio, 83,9% não apresentou complicação física, e 89,3% não se internou. Conclui-se que as adolescentes estudadas estão engravidando, continuando na escola, buscam o aborto como solução para gravidez não planejada e a não internação pós-aborto, contribuem para as subestatísticas. Descritores: adolescência, sexualidade, gravidez, aborto

Prescription errors in community pharmacies: a serious problem of public health

The aim of this study was both to analyze prescription errors involving clonazepam and suggest improvements for patient safety. A descriptive and observational study with retrospective data collection was conducted at 30 community pharmacies in Natal city, Rio Grande do Norte state, Brazil. Prescription notifications were analyzed for legible handwriting and completeness. A reviewer committee evaluated patient and purchaser’s identification, pharmaceutical form, dosing regimen, administration route, and prescription by generic name. Among the 313 collected notifications, 44.1 % were legible. A total of 55.91 % had at least one illegible item, 100 % contained incomplete information, and 97.12 % contained one or more abbreviations. The proportion of illegible handwriting related to the patient's identification was statistically significantly and greater than that related to the drug purchaser's identification. This study showed high percentages of prescribing problems, identified potential causes of them, and suggest future research about medication errors in Brazilian community pharmacies.Colegio de Farmacéuticos de la Provincia de Buenos Aire

A way to evaluate the peculiarities of drug information centers in university hospitals

The aim of this work was to identify the characteristics of the drug information provided by the Drug Information Center (DIC) of a university hospital. A cross-sectional study was conducted, identifying the profile of information requests (IRs) from January 2008 to December 2009, before and after restructuring. Several parameters were evaluated. The results revealed that this DIC showed a mean of 5.5 IR/month in 2008 and 20.3 in 2009. The majority of IRs came from medical residents (22.7 %) in 2008 and from pharmacists (32.5 %) in 2009. The most recurrent types of IRs were administration route/mode (16.8 %) in 2008 and drug stability (13.1 %) in 2009. The results revealed the importance of the DIC in the hospital, and the restructuring experience could be of help to other DICs in Brazil.Colegio de Farmacéuticos de la Provincia de Buenos Aire

How can micelle systems be rebuilt by a heating process?

The aim of this work was to evaluate how an aqueous micellar system containing Amphotericin B (AmB) and sodium deoxycholate (DOC) can be rebuilt after heating treatment. Also, a review of the literature on the physicochemical and biological properties of this new system was conducted. Heated (AmB-DOC-H) and unheated (AmB-DOC) micelles were then diluted at four different concentrations (50 mg · L−1, 5 mg · L−1, 0.5 mg · L−1, and 0.05 mg · L−1) to perform physicochemical studies and a pharmacotoxicity assay, in which two cell models were used for the in vitro experiments: red blood cells (RBC) from human donors and Candida parapsilosis (Cp). While potassium (K+) and hemoglobin leakage from RBC were the parameters used to evaluate acute and chronic toxicity, respectively, the efficacy of AmB-DOC and AmB-DOC-H were assessed by K+ leakage and cell survival rate from Cp. The spectral study revealed a slight change in the AmB-DOC aggregate peak from 327 nm to 323 nm, which is the peak for AmB-DOC-H. Although AmB-DOC and AmB-DOC-H exhibited different behavior for hemoglobin leakage, AmB-DOC produced higher leakage than AmB-DOC-H at high concentrations (from 5 mg · L−1). For K+ leakage, both AmB-DOC and AmB-DOC-H showed a similar profile for both cell models, RBC and Cp (P < 0.05). AmB-DOC-H and AmB-DOC also revealed a similar profile of activity against Cp with an equivalent survival rate. In short, AmB-DOC-H showed much less toxicity than AmB-DOC, but remained as active as AmB-DOC against fungal cells. The results highlight the importance of this new procedure as a simple, inexpensive, and safe way to produce a new kind of micelle system for the treatment of systemic fungal infections

¿Aborto inducido en la adolescencia: quien lo realizó en Maceió?

O objetivo deste estudo quantitativo, transversal foi caracterizar adolescentes do sexo feminino, dos 12 aos 19 anos de idade, que provocaram o aborto. Estudou-se uma amostra aleatória representativa de 2592 jovens, em Maceió, em 2005, encontrando-se 149 abortamentos. A maioria das jovens que abortou não trabalhava (81,9%), morava com ambos os pais (85%), era solteira (85,2%), estudava em escola pública (69,8%) e o nível médio (70,5%). A maioria delas abortou uma vez (93%), destacando se 8,5%, que abortaram duas e 2,6% quatro vezes, dados que mostram a inadequação da atenção à saúde reprodutiva da adolescente. Para abortar 63,8% delas recebeu apoio, 83,9% não apresentou complicação física, e 89,3% não se internou. Conclui-se que as adolescentes estudadas estão engravidando, continuando na escola, buscam o aborto como solução para gravidez não planejada e a não internação pós-aborto, contribuem para as subestatísticas. Descritores: adolescência, sexualidade, gravidez, aborto.The objective if this quantitative and cross study is to characterize female teenagers, from 12 to 19 years old, that committed abortion, in a representative random sample of 2592 adolescents in Maceió, in 2005. There were found 149 abortions, where most of them (81,9%) did not have a job, (85%) lived with the parents, (85,2%) were single, (69,8%) studied in a public school and (70,5%) were in high school. The majority had one abortion 93 % , but it stands out that 8,5 % of them aborted twice and 2,6% four times, showing this data the inadequate attention to teenagers reproductive health. In order to have an abortion, 63,8% of them had support, 83,9% did not have physical complications and 89,3% did not need hospitalization. The conclusion is that the teenagers are getting pregnant and still attending school, looking for abortion as a solution for a not planned pregnancy and that the lack of need of hospitalization post abortion contributes to the statics lack. Descriptors: teenager, sexuality, pregnancy, abortion.Con el objetivo de caracterizar las adolescentes del sexo femenino, de los 12 a los 19 años, que abortaron, se estudió 2592 jóvenes, en Maceió, en 2005. Trata-se de estudio  cuantitativo, transversal, con  una muestra representativa donde fueran encontrados  149 abortos. La mayoría de las jóvenes que lo practicaran (81,9%) no trabajaba, (85%) moraba con los padres, (85,2%), era soltera, (69,8%) estudiaba en  escuela pública, el nivel medio (70,5%). La mayoría abortó una vez (93%), pero llamó la atención 8,5% de ellas que abortó dos veces y 2,6% cuatro veces,  datos que demuestran la inadecuación de la atención a la salud reproductiva del adolescente. Para abortar 63.8% recibieron ayuda, 83.9% no presentó complicación física, y 89,3% no fueron internadas. Se concluí que esas adolescentes están se embarazando, continuando a frecuentar la escuela. Buscaron el aborto como solución del embarazo no planeado y no necesitaron de internación, contribuyendo para las subestatísticas. Descriptores: adolescencia, sexualidad, embarazo, aborto