Ten years follow-up of the largest oral Chagas disease outbreak: Cardiological prospective cohort study.

Background: Chagas disease (ChD) is the most important endemy in Latin America. Some patients, develop chronic Chagasic cardiopathy (CCC) years after the acute phase. It is unknown if patients infected by the oral route have higher risk of developing early CCC.

Improving combination therapies: targeting A2B-adenosine receptor to modulate metabolic tumor microenvironment and immunosuppression.

Background: We investigated the role of A2B-adenosine receptor in regulating immunosuppressive metabolic stress in the tumor microenvironment. Novel A2B-adenosine receptor antagonist PBF-1129 was tested for antitumor activity in mice and evaluated for safety and immunologic efficacy in a phase I clinical trial of patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

Methods: The antitumor efficacy of A2B-adenosine receptor antagonists and their impact on the metabolic and immune tumor microenvironment were evaluated in lung, melanoma, colon, breast, and epidermal growth factor receptor-inducible transgenic cancer models.

Detection of the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 in international travelers returning to Venezuela.

Background: By the end of 2021, the SARS-CoV-2 Variant of Concern (VOC) Delta was predominant in most of the world. At the end of November, the Omicron variant was first detected in South Africa. This variant was immediately classified as VOC, due to the explosive increase of cases in South Africa, and the great number of mutations exhibited by this new lineage.

Phase I Study of Taminadenant (PBF509/NIR178), an Adenosine 2A Receptor Antagonist, with or without Spartalizumab (PDR001), in Patients with Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer.

Purpose: The adenosine 2A receptor (A2AR) mediates the immunosuppressive effects of adenosine in the tumor microenvironment and is highly expressed in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Taminadenant (PBF509/NIR178) is an A2AR antagonist able to reactivate the antitumor immune response.

Patients And Methods: In this phase I/Ib, dose-escalation/expansion study, patients with advanced/metastatic NSCLC and ≥1 prior therapy received taminadenant (80-640 mg, orally, twice a day) with or without spartalizumab (anti-programmed cell death-1, 400 mg, i.

Evaluation of contraction of the split-thickness skin graft using three dermal matrices in the treatment of burn contractures: A randomised clinical trial.

Burn injuries commonly result in serious sequelae (such as skin contractures) in surviving patients, for which no single optimal solution is known. The goal of this study was to compare the late contraction of autologous skin grafts with or without dermal matrices used in the treatment of patients with burn contractures. This parallel design prospective, randomised and controlled clinical trial included patients with burn contracture treated using autologous skin grafts and dermal matrix.

Evaluation of Clinical and Biomechanical Features of Scars Resulting from the Treatment of Burn Contractures Comparing Acellular Dermal Matrices: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare clinical and biomechanical features of scars resulting from the treatment of burn contractures using different acellular dermal matrices (ADM).

Summary Background Data: Extensive burns often lead to severe sequelae, such as skin contractures, that can be treated using ADM to improve the quality of these scars.

Methods: A prospective, randomized and controlled clinical trial was performed including patients with burn contractures at least 1-year post-burn, treated using split-thickness skin graft (STSG).

Treating complex palmar-plantar wounds using a bilaminar 'trapdoor' technique: a case series.

Objective: Due to the similarities of glabrous skin, the plantar region is an excellent donor area for covering complex palmar-plantar wounds. However, taking grafts from the plantar area often results in significant morbidity at the donor site or non-integration of the graft due to the greater thickness of the plantar corneal layer.

Method: This is a prospective case series including patients with burns or wounds who have been treated with a dermal graft using the bilaminar 'trapdoor' technique.

Signatures of the Venezuelan Humanitarian Crisis in the First Wave of COVID-19: Fuel Shortages and Border Migration.

Testing and isolation have been crucial for controlling the COVID-19 pandemic. Venezuela has one of the weakest testing infrastructures in Latin America and the low number of reported cases in the country has been attributed to substantial underreporting. However, the Venezuelan epidemic seems to have lagged behind other countries in the region, with most cases occurring within the capital region and four border states.

Molecular and epidemiologic characterization of the diphtheria outbreak in Venezuela.

In 2016, Venezuela faced a large diphtheria outbreak that extended until 2019. Nasopharyngeal or oropharyngeal samples were prospectively collected from 51 suspected cases and retrospective data from 348 clinical records was retrieved from 14 hospitals between November 2017 and November 2018. Confirmed pathogenic Corynebactrium isolates were biotyped.

Investigating the utility of Google trends for Zika and Chikungunya surveillance in Venezuela.

Introduction: Chikungunya and Zika Virus are vector-borne diseases responsible for a substantial disease burden in the Americas. Between 2013 and 2016, no cases of Chikungunya or Zika Virus were reported by the Venezuelan Ministry of Health. However, peaks of undiagnosed fever cases have been observed during the same period.

Venezuela's public health crisis: a regional emergency.

The economic crisis in Venezuela has eroded the country's health-care infrastructure and threatened the public health of its people. Shortages in medications, health supplies, interruptions of basic utilities at health-care facilities, and the emigration of health-care workers have led to a progressive decline in the operational capacity of health care. The effect of the crisis on public health has been difficult to quantify since the Venezuelan Ministry of Health stopped publishing crucial public health statistics in 2016.

Resurgence of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases in Venezuela as a Regional Public Health Threat in the Americas.

Venezuela's tumbling economy and authoritarian rule have precipitated an unprecedented humanitarian crisis. Hyperinflation rates now exceed 45,000%, and Venezuela's health system is in free fall. The country is experiencing a massive exodus of biomedical scientists and qualified healthcare professionals.

PBF509, an Adenosine A Receptor Antagonist With Efficacy in Rodent Models of Movement Disorders.

Adenosine A receptor (AR) antagonists have emerged as complementary non-dopaminergic drugs to alleviate Parkinson's disease (PD) symptomatology. Here, we characterize a novel non-xhantine non-furan AR antagonist, PBF509, as a potential pro-dopaminergic drug for PD management. First, PBF509 was shown to be a highly potent ligand at the human AR, since it antagonized AR agonist-mediated cAMP accumulation and impedance responses with K values of 72.

Acute otitis externa because of negative pressure wound therapy applied over the head and ear canal for scalping treatment.

Scalping is considered a complex wound with difficult treatment, requiring early surgical intervention, reconstructive plastic surgery, and a multidisciplinary team. The reconstruction of the scalp frequently requires a combination of therapies, including temporary coverage, such as negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT). Complications of NPWT, such as bleeding, infection, and pain, have been described.

Early Application of Microsurgical Flaps in the Electric Burns of Extremities: A Two Institutional Case Series.

Some groups have avoided early microsurgical flaps in electrical burns under the pretext of injury to the microvasculature, which could increase vascular thrombosis. However, this option frequently results in amputation of the extremity. This study aims to evaluate the early application of microsurgical flaps for the treatment of electrical burns of extremities.

Google dengue trends: An indicator of epidemic behavior. The Venezuelan Case.

Introduction: Dengue Fever is a neglected increasing public health thread. Developing countries are facing surveillance system problems like delay and data loss. Lately, the access and the availability of health-related information on the internet have changed what people seek on the web.

A Novel Antagonist of the Immune Checkpoint Protein Adenosine A2a Receptor Restores Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocyte Activity in the Context of the Tumor Microenvironment.

Background: Therapeutic strategies targeting immune checkpoint proteins have led to significant responses in patients with various tumor types. The success of these studies has led to the development of various antibodies/inhibitors for the different checkpoint proteins involved in immune evasion of the tumor. Adenosine present in high concentrations in the tumor microenvironment activates the immune checkpoint adenosine A2a receptor (A2aR), leading to the suppression of antitumor responses.

Long-term comparative pharmacovigilance of orally transmitted Chagas disease: first report.

Background: Two old drugs are the only choice against Trypanosoma cruzi and little is known about their secondary effects in the acute stage of oral-transmitted Chagas disease (ChD).

Methods: A cross-sectional analytical surveillance study was conducted in a sizable cohort of patients seen during the largest acute foodborne ChD microepidemic registered so far. Individuals were treated with benznidazole (BNZ) or nifurtimox (NFX).

Reducing violence in poor urban areas of Honduras by building community resilience through community-based interventions.

Objectives: To examine the impact of a 3 year community-based violence prevention intervention on risk of violence and social capital in two poor urban communities in Honduras in 2011-2014.

Methods: A quasi-experimental design pre and post implementation of the intervention was conducted based on data from two randomly selected samples using the same structured questionnaire in 2011 and in 2014.

Results: Community members had a 42 % lower risk of violence in 2014 compared to 2011.

Chikungunya fever: Atypical and lethal cases in the Western hemisphere: A Venezuelan experience.

A large epidemic of Chikungunya fever currently affects the Caribbean, Central and South America. Despite a high number of reported cases, little is known on the occurrence of severe clinical complications. We describe four Venezuelan patients with a severe and/or lethal course who exhibit unusual manifestations of the disease.

Nasal Skin Necrosis: An Unexpected New Finding in Severe Chikungunya Fever.

Three adult Venezuelan patients with virologically confirmed Chikungunya fever, who developed extensive acute nasal skin necrosis early in the course of a life-threatening illness characterized by shock and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome, are discussed. One patient survived and fully recovered. Nasal necrosis has not previously been associated with the disease.

Large urban outbreak of orally acquired acute Chagas disease at a school in Caracas, Venezuela.

Background: Trypanosoma cruzi oral transmission is possible through food contamination by vector's feces. Little is known about the epidemiology and clinical features of microepidemics of orally acquired acute Chagas disease (CD).

Methods: A case-control, cohort-nested, epidemiological study was conducted during an outbreak of acute CD that affected a school community.