Latin America is experiencing an unprecedented dengue outbreak, causing an increased health burden. We document the cocirculation of dengue viruses 1-4 in Putumayo, a remote, underserved region at the border between Ecuador and Colombia. Dengue circulation in this largely unexplored territory represents a threat to public health in Putumayo and neighboring areas.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMany different animal models are in use for drug development for leishmaniasis, but a universal model does not exist. There is a plethora of models, and this review assesses their design, quality, and limitations, including the attention paid to animal welfare in the study design and execution. A systematic review was performed following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines of available literature after the year 2000 describing animal models for leishmaniasis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: The real burden of (congenital heart defects [CHD]) and the improvement after surgical correction or palliation is both reflected in the quality of life (QoL). There are few studies in Latin-America that evaluate QoL in the CHD population. The purpose of this study was to measure the QoL after corrective or palliative surgery for CHD.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDuring the late phase of the large West-African Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak, the majority of patients were cared for in designated treatment centers. However, the preexisting healthcare infrastructure was already overwhelmed by the outbreak. This had a huge impact on other, non-EVD-related diseases, causing an unprecedented increase in morbidity and mortality, which most likely exceeded the toll due to EVD directly.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Despite adequate treatment 5-30% of bone fracture patients experience delayed union. During normal fracture union, bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) induce healing through a sequential cascade of events. Improved fracture healing after BMP-2 or -7 supplementation in patients with impaired fracture union suggests a deficiency of one or more of these factors.
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