Regional Virtual Health Libraries in Spain: where are we and where should we be going to?

In line with the technological developments and the increasing access to the Internet, and after the health competences transfer, almost all Autonomous Communities (ACs) created virtual health sciences libraries which provide access to electronic resources and offer librarian services to the professionals of the health service. The creation of the virtual libraries has not followed common patters in all ACs and today, we can appreciate different organizational designs of the virtual libraries in health sciences in the ACs. However, all of them should offer a minimum of resources and services to ensure the equity in the access to relevant information needed for clinical decision making, which will has a direct impact on the quality of health care

Regional Virtual Health Libraries in Spain: where are we and where should we be going to?

In line with the technological developments and the increasing access to the Internet, and after the health competences transfer, almost all Autonomous Communities (ACs) created virtual health sciences libraries which provide access to electronic resources and offer librarian services to the professionals of the health service. The creation of the virtual libraries has not followed common patters in all ACs and today, we can appreciate different organizational designs of the virtual libraries in health sciences in the ACs. However, all of them should offer a minimum of resources and services to ensure the equity in the access to relevant information needed for clinical decision making, which will has a direct impact on the quality of health care

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

National Health System Virtual Library Viability Project (Spain)

The ICT progress and development are making easier the set up of virtual libraries, with the consequent great advantages for users, in terms of immediate access to huge amounts of library information online resources and services. Most of the Autonomous Spanish Regions are presently working in the establishment of virtual libraries with the aim of optimizing economic resources destined to subscribe bibliographic information sources, and offering qualified documentary services to Public Health System Professionals. The Social Politics, Health Ministry, as a health matter unifying institution, issued this Project to study the National Health System Virtual Library creation viability, in order to guarantee relevant scientific information access equity