Las vacunas de la malaria y su potencial aportación para el control y eliminación de la enfermedad

A pesarde que la malaria se puede prevenir y tratar, sigue ejerciendo efectos devastadores en la salud y el modo de vida de las personas a nivel mundial. La comunidad internacional lleva décadas realizando esfuerzos conjuntos para la eliminación del paludismo, lo que ha supuesto importantes cambios en las estrategias de salud pública adoptadas por los países en la lucha contra esta enfermedad.La vacunación es una de las estrategias fundamentales para el control de las enfermedades infecciosas, sin embargo, no siempre se puede lograr de manera sencilla. Por suerte la vacunología es uno de los campos donde más se ha avanzado en las últimas décadas y existen varios ensayos clínicos en desarrollo de los que se esperan buenos resultados. La disponibilidad de vacunas seguras que proporcionen una protección duradera contra la malaria puede suponer un importante avance en la lucha contra la enfermedad, y debe ser estudiada en el contexto de la aplicación de otras intervenciones efectivas, como son el uso de mosquiteros tratados con insecticida y el acceso a diagnóstico y tratamientos combinados con artemisinina.Despite the fact that malaria can be prevented and treated, it still produces devastating effects on health and wellbeing of millions worldwide. Due to global, national and local efforts towards malaria control and elimination, the landscape of public health strategies in the endemic countries is changing rapidly.Malaria vaccines are being developed and has reached a stage where they have been taken to phase III and phase IV trials. Vaccination is an essential strategyfor infectious disease control. However, the integration of new vaccines in an existing vaccination plan is not an easy endeavour. The availability of safe vaccines that produce long-lasting protection can be a considerable move in the fight against malaria worldwide. This should be studied in context where other effective public health interventions, such as long-lasting insecticide nets and access to rapid diagnosis and malaria combined treatment, are being applied

Talleres de propuestas y sugerencias de alumnos de Grado para la mejora del Programa Docentia

El Proyecto tiene como objetivo la implementacion de una Cultura de Calidad en los alumnos de grados de diferentes Grados de Ciencias de la Salud. Y el estudio de posibles vias y mecanismos para aumentar la implicacion de los alumnos de la UCM en el Programa Docentia

Predicting the next pandemic: VACCELERATE ranking of the World Health Organization's Blueprint for Action to Prevent Epidemics

Introduction: The World Health Organization (WHO)'s Research and Development (R&D) Blueprint for Action to Prevent Epidemics, a plan of action, highlighted several infectious diseases as crucial targets for prevention. These infections were selected based on a thorough assessment of factors such as transmissibility, infectivity, severity, and evolutionary potential. In line with this blueprint, the VACCELERATE Site Network approached infectious disease experts to rank the diseases listed in the WHO R&D Blueprint according to their perceived risk of triggering a pandemic. VACCELERATE is an EU-funded collaborative European network of clinical trial sites, established to respond to emerging pandemics and enhance vaccine development capabilities. Methods: Between February and June 2023, a survey was conducted using an online form to collect data from members of the VACCELERATE Site Network and infectious disease experts worldwide. Participants were asked to rank various pathogens based on their perceived risk of causing a pandemic, including those listed in the WHO R&D Blueprint and additional pathogens. Results: A total of 187 responses were obtained from infectious disease experts representing 57 countries, with Germany, Spain, and Italy providing the highest number of replies. Influenza viruses received the highest rankings among the pathogens, with 79 % of participants including them in their top rankings. Disease X, SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV, and Ebola virus were also ranked highly. Hantavirus, Lassa virus, Nipah virus, and henipavirus were among the bottom-ranked pathogens in terms of pandemic potential. Conclusion: Influenza, SARS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2, and Ebola virus were found to be the most concerning pathogens with pandemic potential, characterised by transmissibility through respiratory droplets and a reported history of epidemic or pandemic outbreaks

Spatiotemporal Characteristics of the Largest HIV-1 CRF02_AG Outbreak in Spain: Evidence for Onward Transmissions

Background and Aim: The circulating recombinant form 02_AG (CRF02_AG) is the predominant clade among the human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) non-Bs with a prevalence of 5.97% (95% Confidence Interval-CI: 5.41–6.57%) across Spain. Our aim was to estimate the levels of regional clustering for CRF02_AG and the spatiotemporal characteristics of the largest CRF02_AG subepidemic in Spain.Methods: We studied 396 CRF02_AG sequences obtained from HIV-1 diagnosed patients during 2000–2014 from 10 autonomous communities of Spain. Phylogenetic analysis was performed on the 391 CRF02_AG sequences along with all globally sampled CRF02_AG sequences (N = 3,302) as references. Phylodynamic and phylogeographic analysis was performed to the largest CRF02_AG monophyletic cluster by a Bayesian method in BEAST v1.8.0 and by reconstructing ancestral states using the criterion of parsimony in Mesquite v3.4, respectively.Results: The HIV-1 CRF02_AG prevalence differed across Spanish autonomous communities we sampled from (p < 0.001). Phylogenetic analysis revealed that 52.7% of the CRF02_AG sequences formed 56 monophyletic clusters, with a range of 2–79 sequences. The CRF02_AG regional dispersal differed across Spain (p = 0.003), as suggested by monophyletic clustering. For the largest monophyletic cluster (subepidemic) (N = 79), 49.4% of the clustered sequences originated from Madrid, while most sequences (51.9%) had been obtained from men having sex with men (MSM). Molecular clock analysis suggested that the origin (tMRCA) of the CRF02_AG subepidemic was in 2002 (median estimate; 95% Highest Posterior Density-HPD interval: 1999–2004). Additionally, we found significant clustering within the CRF02_AG subepidemic according to the ethnic origin.Conclusion: CRF02_AG has been introduced as a result of multiple introductions in Spain, following regional dispersal in several cases. We showed that CRF02_AG transmissions were mostly due to regional dispersal in Spain. The hot-spot for the largest CRF02_AG regional subepidemic in Spain was in Madrid associated with MSM transmission risk group. The existence of subepidemics suggest that several spillovers occurred from Madrid to other areas. CRF02_AG sequences from Hispanics were clustered in a separate subclade suggesting no linkage between the local and Hispanic subepidemics

Surveillance of Chagas disease in pregnant women in Madrid, Spain, from 2008 to 2010

One of the most important modes of transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi infection in areas where it is not endemic is vertical transmission: from mother to child. The objective of this report is to assess the efficacy of different programmes of serological screening to monitor infection with T. cruzi in pregnant Latin American women living in Madrid (Spain). To achieve this, a retrospective study was undertaken from January 2008 to December 2010 in seven hospitals in the Autonomous Community of Madrid. Serological screening programmes were classified in two main strategies: a selective one (pregnant women from Bolivia) and a universal one (pregnant women from Latin America). A total of 3,839 pregnant women were tested and the overall prevalence was 3.96%. The rate of congenital transmission was 2.6%. The current monitoring programmes have variable coverage ranging between 26% (selective screening) and 100% (universal screening). Monitoring of pregnant women from Latin America only reaches full coverage if universal screening of pregnant women is carried out at any moment of pregnancy, including at delivery. A common national regulation is necessary in order to ensure homogenous implementation of screening.MD Flores-Chavez is supported by Red de Investigación de Enfermedades Tropicales (RETIC-RICET, RD06/ 0021/0009)S

Decentralization of health systems in low and middle income countries : a systematic review

A substantial number of low and middle income countries (LMICs) have implemented health sector reforms in the last 40 years, and the majority of them have included some degree of decentralization of the health system as part of the wider reform. This review will provide an updated and comprehensive assessment of the effects of decentralization in LMICs.; We conducted a systematic review of published and grey literature till May 2015, following standard methods.; 54 qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods studies conducted in 26 countries were included in the review. We found positive and negative effects of decentralization of health systems in LMICs. Whereas decentralization of governance, financing and service delivery, have been shown to have positive effects on the system; decentralization of resource management has been challenging in several settings.; Overall, lessons learned from LMICs suggest that factors such as adequate mix of technical skills at the local level to perform decentralized tasks, effective decentralization of decision-making to the periphery, and political leadership are key factors for a successful decentralization

Dolor dorsolumbar y adenopatías supraclaviculares en un varón de 67 años

Sin financiación0.116 SJR (2007) Q3, 33/54 RheumatologyUE

Congenital transmission of Chagas disease in a non-endemic area, is an early diagnosis possible?

BackgroundChagas disease (CD) is an emergent disease in Europe, due to immigration. The aims of this study are to describe the epidemiological characteristics of a cohort of Chagas infected pregnant women in Spain, to assess the vertical transmission (VT) rate and evaluate the usefulness of the PCR in the diagnosis of congenital infection in the first months of life.MethodsA descriptive, retrospective study including Chagas seropositive pregnant women who were attended at three tertiary hospitals in Madrid, from January 2012 to September 2016. Infants were examined by PCR at birth and 1 month later and serologically studied at 9 months or later. Children were considered infected when the parasite was detected by PCR at any age or when serology remained positive without decline over the age of 9 months.ResultsWe included 122 seropositive-infected pregnant women, 81% were from Bolivia and only 8.2% had been treated before. 125 newborns were studied and finally 109 were included (12.8% lost the follow-up before performing the last serology). The VT rate was 2.75% (95% CI: 0,57-8,8%). Infected infants had positive PCR at birth and 1 month later. All of them were treated successfully with benznidazole (PCR and serology became negative later on). All non-infected children presented negative PCR. The mean age at which uninfected patients had negative serology was 10.5 months.ConclusionsThe VT rate is in keeping with literature and confirms the need to carry out a screening in pregnant women coming from endemic areas. PCR seems to be a useful tool to provide early diagnosis of congenital CD

Historia ilustrada de la bioética

Fundación TejerinaInstituto de Ética Clínica Francisco VallesUniversidad EuropeaNo data (2015)UE