Estudio exploratorio de los perfiles profesionales de las carreras de análisis clínicos en los países miembros del MERCOSUR

Current High Education Policies highlight the issue of globalization in relation to the increased academic and professional exchange. In the field of clinical analysis professions this topic has not been addressed yet since there is not a centralized and official register of titles and programmes that provide the competences. Consequently, this situation conspires against the efficacy of titles and academic degrees recognition processes and cross-border professional practice although the existence of regional regulations in force. In this paper, findings from an exploratory research about clinical analysis graduation profiles from country members of the MERCOSUR are presented. Data has been obtained from Web sites of each respective National Ministry of Education. Data analysis has uncovered some particularities but also many coincidences amongst programmes which will facilitate core curriculum definition, common essential teaching activities identification and competences elaboration. The idea is to harmonize titles and programmes as an essential requirement to contribute to professional exchange in the Region guaranteeing the competences required to assist in the diagnostic of patients.Las políticas actuales de la Educación Superior enfatizan en la Internacionalización que se relaciona fuertemente con el intercambio académico y profesional. En el caso de las profesiones relacionadas a la práctica de Análisis Clínicos en América Latina este aspecto no ha sido abordado integralmente desde el momento en que no existe un registro centralizado de los títulos y programas que respaldan esta competencia. Dicha situación compromete la eficacia de los mecanismos de reconocimiento de títulos y grados a pesar de la existencia de reglamentaciones regionales vigentes y dificulta el tránsito de los profesionales entre los países. En esta comunicación se vuelcan los resultados de una investigación exploratoria sobre los perfiles profesionales de las carreras de Análisis Clínicos en los países miembros del Mercado Común del Sur (MERCOSUR). Los datos se obtuvieron de las páginas Web de los respectivos Ministerios de Educación. Las conclusiones tienen carácter orientador. El análisis permite establecer que, más allá de las particularidades halladas, las carreras estudiadas tienen coincidencias en su perfil profesional que facilitaría la confección de un core curriculum con contenidos, actividades y competencias similares. Esta propuesta no busca una homogenización sino que persigue una referencia flexible y respetuosa de las particularidades culturales, sociales y de mercado de cada país y región con referentes comunes para facilitar el reconocimiento de títulos, el intercambio de los graduados en la región y un consenso respecto a los contenidos básicos de la formación que resguarden la salud de la población

A global point prevalence survey of antimicrobial use in neonatal intensive care units : The no-more-antibiotics and resistance (NO-MAS-R) study

Background: Global assessment of antimicrobial agents prescribed to infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) may inform antimicrobial stewardship efforts. Methods: We conducted a one-day global point prevalence study of all antimicrobials provided to NICU infants. Demographic, clinical, and microbiologic data were obtained including NICU level, census, birth weight, gestational/chronologic age, diagnoses, antimicrobial therapy (reason for use; length of therapy), antimicrobial stewardship program (ASP), and 30-day in-hospital mortality. Findings: On July 1, 2019, 26% of infants (580/2,265; range, 0-100%; median gestational age, 33 weeks; median birth weight, 1800 g) in 84 NICUs (51, high-income; 33, low-to-middle income) from 29 countries (14, high-income; 15, low-to-middle income) in five continents received >= 1 antimicrobial agent (92%, antibacterial; 19%, antifungal; 4%, antiviral). The most common reasons for antibiotic therapy were "rule-out" sepsis (32%) and "culture-negative" sepsis (16%) with ampicillin (40%), gentamicin (35%), amikacin (19%), vancomycin (15%), and meropenem (9%) used most frequently. For definitive treatment of presumed/confirmed infection, vancomycin (26%), amikacin (20%), and meropenem (16%) were the most prescribed agents. Length of therapy for culture-positive and "culture-negative" infections was 12 days (median; IQR, 8-14) and 7 days (median; IQR, 5-10), respectively. Mortality was 6% (42%, infection-related). An NICU ASP was associated with lower rate of antibiotic utilization (p = 0.02). Interpretation: Global NICU antibiotic use was frequent and prolonged regardless of culture results. NICU-specific ASPs were associated with lower antibiotic utilization rates, suggesting the need for their implementation worldwide