Factors associated with vitamin D deficiency in health care workers exposed to SARS-CoV-2: a cross-sectional study.

Introduction: Globally, up to 76.6% of the population may be affected by vitamin D (VD) deficiency, which has been linked to increased morbidity and mortality from COVID-19. This underscores the importance of further research into VD supplementation, particularly for health care workers, who are at higher risk due to indoor work environments and dietary challenges associated with shift schedules.

Healthcare-Associated Ventriculitis in Children during COVID-19 Pandemic: Clinical Characteristics and Outcome of a First Infection.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, patients in need of neurosurgical care suffered. Elective procedures were postponed, and emergency care visits decreased. Healthcare-associated ventriculitis (HAV) is a serious problem in children, with poor outcomes and frequent relapses.

[Aswer to "Comment on article "Bibliometric analysis of scientific publications on COVID-19 elaborated by staff of the Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social""].

We thank the group headed by Jorge Valencia Alonso for taking the time to review in detail and prepare the letter about our article entitled: " Bibliometric analysis of scientific publications on COVID-19 elaborated by staff of the Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social", which has recently been published in the Medical Journal of the Mexican Social Security Institute. Based on your observations and comments, we allow ourselves to make the following clarifications following the same sequence of your letter to the Editor.

Intraspinal and Intracranial Neurotuberculosis, Clinical and Imaging Characteristics and Outcomes in Hospitalized Patients: A Cohort Study (2000-2022).

Neurotuberculosis (neuroTB) is a devastating disease, and is difficult to diagnose. The aim of this study was to analyze the clinical and imaging characteristics, and outcomes of a retrospective cohort (2000-2022) of hospitalized patients diagnosed with intraspinal and intracranial neuroTB. This work was designed through clinical, laboratory and imaging findings.

The Real Practice Prescribing Antibiotics in Outpatients: A Failed Control Case Assessed through the Simulated Patient Method.

The first level of medical care provides the largest number of consultations for the most frequent diseases at the community level, including acute pharyngitis (AP), acute diarrhoea (AD) and uncomplicated acute urinary tract infections (UAUTIs). The inappropriate use of antibiotics in these diseases represents a high risk for the generation of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in bacteria causing community infections. To evaluate the patterns of medical prescription for these diseases in medical offices adjacent to pharmacies, we used an adult simulated patient (SP) method representing the three diseases, AP, AD and UAUTI.

[Bibliometric analysis of scientific publications on COVID-19 elaborated by staff of the Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social].

Background: Since the beginning of the pandemic, new knowledge about COVID-19 obtained by research has been disseminated in medical and scientific journals, but the large number of publications that have been generated in such a short time has been impressive.

Objective: To perform a bibliometric analysis of the published articles in medical-scientific journals carried-out by the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) personnel on COVID-19.

Material And Methods: Systematic review of the literature, identifying the publications included in the PubMed and EMBASE databases, up to September 2022.

It is time to define an organizational model for the prevention and management of infections along the surgical pathway: a worldwide cross-sectional survey.

Background: The objectives of the study were to investigate the organizational characteristics of acute care facilities worldwide in preventing and managing infections in surgery; assess participants' perception regarding infection prevention and control (IPC) measures, antibiotic prescribing practices, and source control; describe awareness about the global burden of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and IPC measures; and determine the role of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 pandemic on said awareness.

Methods: A cross-sectional web-based survey was conducted contacting 1432 health care workers (HCWs) belonging to a mailing list provided by the Global Alliance for Infections in Surgery. The self-administered questionnaire was developed by a multidisciplinary team.

Screening for COVID-19 in Children Undergoing Elective Invasive Procedures.

Objective: To report the frequency of asymptomatic infection with SARS-CoV-2 in pediatric patients undergoing invasive medical procedures in a tertiary pediatric hospital.

Methods: From June to October 2020, a SARS-CoV-2 real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) test was performed for all pediatric patients scheduled to undergo an elective invasive procedure. None of the patients was symptomatic.

International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC) report, data summary of 45 countries for 2013-2018, Adult and Pediatric Units, Device-associated Module.

Background: We report the results of INICC surveillance study from 2013 to 2018, in 664 intensive care units (ICUs) in 133 cities, of 45 countries, from Latin-America, Europe, Africa, Eastern-Mediterranean, Southeast-Asia, and Western-Pacific.

Methods: Prospective data from patients hospitalized in ICUs were collected through INICC Surveillance Online System. CDC-NHSN definitions for device-associated healthcare-associated infection (DA-HAI) were applied.

An eight-year multicenter study on short-term peripheral intravenous catheter-related bloodstream infection rates in 100 intensive care units of 9 countries in Latin America: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, and Venezuela. Findings of the International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC).

Background: Data on short-term peripheral intravenous catheter-related bloodstream infections per 1,000 peripheral venous catheter days (PIVCR BSIs per 1,000 PVC days) rates from Latin America are not available, so they have not been thoroughly studied.

Methods: International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC) members conducted a prospective, surveillance study on PIVCR BSIs from January 2010 to March 2018 in 100 intensive care units (ICUs) among 41 hospitals, in 26 cities of 9 countries in Latin America (Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican-Republic, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, and Venezuela). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Health Safety Network (NHSN) definitions were applied, and INICC methodology and INICC Surveillance Online System software were used.

COVID-19: Clouds Over the Antimicrobial Resistance Landscape.

In recent years, the increase in antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has been recognized as a real threat to human and animal health. It is a problem that has been given the highest priority, uniting nations in the fight against its causes and effects. Among the actions that have been implemented are: clinical and microbiological surveillance, promotion of rational and controlled use of antibiotics, AMR stewardship programs in hospitals, development of tools for rapid diagnosis of infectious diseases to establish prompt and adequate treatment, and radically improving vaccination strategies.

COVID-19 pandemic: challenges ahead.

Since December 2019, health systems worldwide have faced the pandemic caused by the new severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The pandemic began in China and has spread throughout the world. This new coronavirus has a high transmission capacity and elevated lethality in people over 60 years old and in those with risk factors (obesity, diabetes, and systemic arterial hypertension); those characteristics have a different proportion in each country.

[Clinical management of COVID-19 paediatric cases].

Coronaviruses are a family of viruses present in different species of animals, which can infect humans, causing epidemics and pandemics. On January 9, 2020, a new virus was announced as the cause of an outbreak of severe pneumonia in Wuhan, China. On March 11, WHO declared the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, the disease was called COVID-19.

[Relationship between BCG vaccination and increased mortality from COVID-19. An ecological fallacy?].

Ecological studies are one of the most common study designs used to establish the association between certain factors and disease development. However, they have limitations mainly on how to measure the variables, so their results must be verified in studies with greater validity. Therefore, the study that links the possible relationship between higher mortality from COVID-19 and non-vaccination by bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) that was recently published, remains in doubt due to the lack of rigor in the methodology used.

Antimicrobial resistance and antibiotic consumption in Mexican hospitals.

Objective: To establish the current situation of antimicrobial resistance and antibiotic consumption in Mexican hospitals.

Materials And Methods: Antimicrobial susceptibility data from blood and urine isolates were collected. Defined daily dose (DDD) of antibiotic consumption/100 occupied beds (OBD) was calculated.

[Piperacillin/tazobactam plus amikacin vs. piperacilin/tazobactam: treatment for children with febrile neutropenia].

Background: Pediatric patients with febrile neutropenia usually receive a combination of broad spectrum antimicrobials. Treatment without aminoglycoside seems to have advantages.

Objective: To compare the efficacy of piperacillin/tazobactam plus amikacin versus piperacillin/tazobactam.

PIPERACILLIN/TAZOBACTAM IN CONTINUOUS INFUSION VERSUS INTERMITTENT INFUSION IN CHILDREN WITH FEBRILE NEUTROPENIA.

Background: Febrile neutropenia (FN) is a common complication in children who receive chemotherapy for cancer.

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the clinical efficacy of the continuous versus intermittent infusion of piperacillin/tazobactam (TZP) in febrile neutropenic pediatric patients.

Methods: This is a non-blinded randomized controlled clinical trial.

[Research protocol VIII. The ethics of research on human subjects].

Research on human subjects cannot occur if it does not comply with these ethical principles: autonomy, beneficence and justice. The historical antecedents that emphasized the need to have documents to guide the researchers' behavior point to regrettable events for humanity. Even though the first recommendations were published more than 50 years ago in the Declaration of Helsinki, it is possible to find examples of investigations that have been conducted without complying with the aforementioned ethical principles.

[A case-series analysis of tuberculosis in pediatric patients treated in a tertiary level hospital].

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) remains a challenge because severe forms occur most frequently in children under 5 years of age and the diagnosis is complex. The objective of this paper was to describe the clinical presentation, frequency, diagnostic methods used and response to treatment in children with TB treated at a tertiary level hospital.

Methods: The study was retrospective and descriptive of a cohort of consecutive cases treated from January 2010 to December 2013.

[The research protocol VI: How to choose the appropriate statistical test. Inferential statistics].

The statistical analysis can be divided in two main components: descriptive analysis and inferential analysis. An inference is to elaborate conclusions from the tests performed with the data obtained from a sample of a population. Statistical tests are used in order to establish the probability that a conclusion obtained from a sample is applicable to the population from which it was obtained.

[Descriptive statistics].

Descriptive statistics is the branch of statistics that gives recommendations on how to summarize clearly and simply research data in tables, figures, charts, or graphs. Before performing a descriptive analysis it is paramount to summarize its goal or goals, and to identify the measurement scales of the different variables recorded in the study. Tables or charts aim to provide timely information on the results of an investigation.

[The research protocol IV: study variables].

The variables in a research study are all that is measured, the information collected, or the data that is collected in order to answer the research questions, which are specified in the objectives. Their selection is essential to the research protocol. This article aims to point out the elements to be considered in the section of the variables.

[The research protocol III. Study population].

The study population is defined as a set of cases, determined, limited, and accessible, that will constitute the subjects for the selection of the sample, and must fulfill several characteristics and distinct criteria. The objectives of this manuscript are focused on specifying each one of the elements required to make the selection of the participants of a research project, during the elaboration of the protocol, including the concepts of study population, sample, selection criteria and sampling methods. After delineating the study population, the researcher must specify the criteria that each participant has to comply.

[The research protocol II: study designs in clinical research].

In clinical research that takes place in health-care areas, most of the studies are performed with human beings as research subjects. The main objectives of these studies are to know the characteristics of one or more groups, the behavior of human diseases, the etiology or causes of diseases, to identify the best diagnostic tools, or to establish the best treatment for a condition or disease in particular. Additionally, some studies are classified as basic bio-medical research; in these investigations, the subjects of study are laboratory animals, tissues, cells, or molecules.