Convalescent Plasma Therapy in Severe COVID-19: A Pilot Study at the Beginning of the Pandemic Outbreak in Southern Chile.

Unlabelled: Convalescent Plasma (CP) from patients who recovered from COVID-19 may present neutralizing antibodies against viral protein S of SARS-CoV-2 and emerged as a potential therapeutic alternative for patients with severe infection at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic breakout. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the effect and safety of CP treatment in patients with severe COVID-19.

Methods: We designed a quasi-experimental study that included 156 patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection confirmed by RT-qPCR and severe symptoms who received CP.

Standardization of the PCR Technique for the Detection of the Toxoplasma gondii B1 Gene in Meat and Water Samples and Cloning of the Product for Use as Control.

Introduction: Toxoplasmosis is caused by the parasite Toxoplasma gondii. The infection is generally asymptomatic and the most severe cases occur in immunosuppressed patients. The main route of transmission is the ingestion of water or food contaminated with cysts of the parasite.

Infant Feeding and Information Sources in Chilean Families Who Reported Baby-Led Weaning as a Complementary Feeding Method.

Baby-Led Weaning (BLW) is a new and emerging method of introducing complementary feeding in solid consistency, without the use of a spoon and entirely guided by the baby. This study aims to analyze the implementation of the BLW approach in relation to compliance with basic components and sources of information in Chilean families. Using a cross-sectional design, we assessed early nutrition, including breastfeeding and foods offered, maternal/child characteristics and sources of information on BLW among a non-probabilistic sample of mothers of children <24 months who reported practicing BLW ( = 261, median age = 28 years) in Chile.

Feasibility of Multilevel Pregnancy Tests for Telemedicine Abortion Service Follow-Up: A Pilot Study.

Context: Telemedicine clients wishing to confirm a successful medication abortion outside of a clinic setting are commonly instructed to use high-sensitivity urine pregnancy tests, which can take up to four weeks to yield accurate results. Multilevel urine pregnancy tests (MLPTs), which provide accurate results in one week, are a promising alternative, but their use has not been evaluated within telemedicine services.

Methods: From November 2017 to May 2018, 165 eligible and consenting pregnant people who contacted safe2choose-an organization providing telemedicine abortion services internationally-for medication abortion were enrolled in a pilot study and mailed a package containing medication abortion drugs, two MLPTs and instructions.