Modeling the impact of child vaccination (5-11 y) on overall COVID-19 related hospitalizations and mortality in a context of omicron variant predominance and different vaccination coverage paces in Brazil.

Background: Developing countries have experienced significant COVID-19 disease burden. With the emergence of new variants, particularly omicron, the disease burden in children has increased. When the first COVID-19 vaccine was approved for use in children aged 5-11 years of age, very few countries recommended vaccination due to limited risk-benefit evidence for vaccination of this population.

Modelling the impact of school reopening and contact tracing strategies on Covid-19 dynamics in different epidemiologic settings in Brazil.

We simulate the impact of school reopening during the COVID-19 pandemic in three major urban centers in Brazil to identify the epidemiological indicators and the best timing for the return of in-school activities and the effect of contact tracing as a mitigation measure. Our goal is to offer guidelines for evidence-based policymaking. We implement an extended SEIR model stratified by age and considering contact networks in different settings - school, home, work, and community, in which the infection transmission rate is affected by various intervention measures.

A systematic review and meta-analysis assessing antiretroviral therapy for treatment-experienced HIV adult patients using an optimized background therapy approach: is there evidence enough for a standardized third-line strategy?

Background: The World Health Organization (WHO) has identified the need for evidence on third-line antiretroviral therapy (ART) for adults living with HIV/AIDS, given that some controversy remains as to the best combinations of ART for experienced HIV-1-infected patients. Therefore, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to (i) assess the efficacy of third-line therapy for adults with HIV/AIDS based on randomized controlled trials (RCT) that adopted the "new antiretroviral (ARV) + optimized background therapy (OBT)" approach and (ii) address the key issues identified in WHO's guidelines on the use of third-line therapy.

Methods: MEDLINE, EMBASE, LILACS, ISI Web of Science, SCOPUS, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were searched for RCTs assessing third-line ARV therapy that used an OBT approach between 1966 and 2015.

Cohort study protocol of the Brazilian collaborative research network on COVID-19: strengthening WHO global data.

Introduction: With the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals in low-income countries were faced with a triple challenge. First, a large number of patients required hospitalisation because of the infection's more severe symptoms. Second, there was a lack of systematic and broad testing policies for early identification of cases.

Modelling optimal vaccination strategies against COVID-19 in a context of Gamma variant predominance in Brazil.

Introduction: Brazil experienced moments of collapse in its health system throughout 2021, driven by the emergence of variants of concern (VOC) combined with an inefficient initial vaccination strategy against Covid-19.

Objectives: To support decision-makers in formulating COVID-19 immunization policy in the context of limited vaccine availability and evolving variants over time, we evaluate optimal strategies for Covid-19 vaccination in Brazil in 2021, when vaccination was rolled out during Gamma variant predominance.

Methods: Using a discrete-time epidemic model we estimate Covid-19 deaths averted, considering the currently Covid-19 vaccine products and doses available in Brazil; vaccine coverage by target population; and vaccine effectiveness estimates.

Characteristics and outcomes of pregnant women with SARS-CoV-2 infection and other severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) in Brazil from January to November 2020.

Background: Knowledge about COVID-19 in pregnancy is limited, and evidence on the impact of the infection during pregnancy and postpartum is still emerging.

Aim: To analyze maternal morbidity and mortality due to severe acute respiratory infections (SARI), including COVID-19, in Brazil.

Methods: National surveillance data from the SIVEP-Gripe (Sistema de Informação de Vigilância Epidemiológica da Gripe) was used to describe currently and recently pregnant women aged 10-49 years hospitalized for SARI from January through November, 2020.

[Adverse drug reaction notification forms of the pharmacovigilance systems in Brazil and twelve other Latin-American countries: a comparative analysis].

The scope of this study was to assess the forms used to report suspected adverse drug reactions (ADR) to the pharmacovigilance system in Brazil and twelve other Latin-American countries. The study comprised three stages. In the first stage, the forms were attributed a score relating to the presence of critical items to generate ADR notification.

Characterization of deaths and therapeutic itineraries investigated by the Porto Alegre AIDS Mortality Committee, Brazil, in 2015.

Objective: to characterize AIDS deaths eligible for Porto Alegre AIDS Mortality Committee (AIDSMC) investigation, Brazil, in 2015, and their therapeutic itineraries.

Methods: this was a descriptive study using secondary data from surveillance information systems and AIDSMC investigation forms.

Results: out of 336 deaths from AIDS-related causes, 113 (33.

[Evaluation of the Performance of the Brazilian Notification System for Health Surveillance: A Tool in Brazil's Pharmacovigilance System].

The scope of this paper is to assess the performance of the Brazilian Notification System for Health Surveillance, with respect to the registration of information on adverse drug-related effects on health (Notivisa/medication) based on previously selected attributes. A cross-sectional health evaluation study was conducted between 2008 and 2013 using eight attributes established by international guidelines to assess public health surveillance systems: simplicity, acceptability, representativeness, completeness, validity, consistency, positive predictive error and timeliness. In the study period, 63,512 registrations were identified in Notivisa/medication, the majority being considered severe (60.

[Adverse drug reactions reported to the Brazilian pharmacovigilance system from 2008 to 2013: descriptive study].

The study aimed to analyze suspected adverse drug reactions reported to Brazil's pharmacovigilance system (Notivisa-medicamento) from 2008 to 2013. This was a descriptive study whose analytical units in the database were reports and drug-adverse reactions pairs. A total of 26,554 reports were identified, for a reporting rate of 22.

[Analysis of the digital preference for age in the pharmacovigilance system in Brazil, 2008-2013].

The scope of this article is to analyze the digital preference for the "age" variable in the database of cases of adverse drug events reported between 2008 and 2013 in the pharmacovigilance system in Brazil. The database was analyzed in three stages: 1) Initial exploration; 2) standardization of variables; and 3) duplicate records management. The digital preference for the "age" variable according to sex and grouped regions of the country, was determined using the Whipple and Myers methods and also measured by the adhesion test based on statistical χ2 at 5% significance level.

A predictive model for fall risk in hospitalized adults: A case-control study.

Aim: To develop and validate a predictive model for falls in hospitalized adult clinical and surgical patients, assessing intrinsic (i.e. patient-related) and extrinsic factors (i.

Evolution and key elements of the Brazilian pharmacovigilance system: a scoping review beginning with the creation of the Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency.

This scoping review aims to describe and characterize the Brazilian pharmacovigilance system Brazil (SINAF) and verify to what extent it meets the minimum requirements proposed by the World Health Organization for the functional performance of this type of national system. The literature search strategy used STARLITE recommendations and search terms in MEDLINE/PubMed, Google, the Brazilian National Press, and the website of the Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency (Anvisa), from 1999, when Anvisa was created, to March 2016. The review included 47 publications (4.

Clinical, epidemiological, and etiological profile of inpatients with community-acquired pneumonia in a public hospital in the interior of Brazil.

Objective: To describe the patient profile, mortality rates, the accuracy of prognostic scores, and mortality-associated factors in patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in a general hospital in Brazil.

Methods: This was a cohort study involving patients with a clinical and laboratory diagnosis of CAP and requiring admission to a public hospital in the interior of Brazil between March 2014 and April 2015. We performed multivariate analysis using a Poisson regression model with robust variance to identify factors associated with in-hospital mortality.

[Recommendation of ICD-10 codes for surveillance of adverse drug reactions and drug intoxication].

ICD-10 is the 10th revision of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD), a medical classification list by the World Health Organization. It contains codes for diseases, signs and symptoms, abnormal findings, complaints, social circumstances, and external causes of injury or diseases. Associations between variables were evaluated using Pearson's chi-squared test and multiple correspondence analysis.

Risk factors for fall occurrence in hospitalized adult patients: a case-control study.

Objective: to identify risk factors for falls in hospitalized adult patients.

Methods: a matched case-control study (one control for each case). A quantitative study conducted in clinical and surgical units of a teaching hospital in Southern Brazil.

Causality in Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacovigilance: a theoretical excursion.

The article presents some considerations about causality in Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacovigilance. To begin, we provide a brief introduction about the importance of the issue, noting that the understanding of causal relationships is considered one of science's greatest achievements and has been, over time, a continuous and central concern of philosophers and epidemiologists. Next, we describe definitions and types of causes, demonstrating their influences on pharmacoepidemiological thought.

Text mining approach to predict hospital admissions using early medical records from the emergency department.

Objective: Emergency department (ED) overcrowding is a serious issue for hospitals. Early information on short-term inward bed demand from patients receiving care at the ED may reduce the overcrowding problem, and optimize the use of hospital resources. In this study, we use text mining methods to process data from early ED patient records using the SOAP framework, and predict future hospitalizations and discharges.

Forecasting Daily Volume and Acuity of Patients in the Emergency Department.

This study aimed at analyzing the performance of four forecasting models in predicting the demand for medical care in terms of daily visits in an emergency department (ED) that handles high complexity cases, testing the influence of climatic and calendrical factors on demand behavior. We tested different mathematical models to forecast ED daily visits at Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre (HCPA), which is a tertiary care teaching hospital located in Southern Brazil. Model accuracy was evaluated using mean absolute percentage error (MAPE), considering forecasting horizons of 1, 7, 14, 21, and 30 days.

Miracle drug: Brazil approves never-tested cancer medicine.

Background Brazil recently approved synthetic phosphoetanolamine, a popularly dubbed 'cancer pill', a substance that has been shown to kill cancer cells in lab animal models but was not yet formally accessed in humans, and thus despite the existence of any evidence of its efficacy and safety. Methods The authors describe the recent decision of Brazil to aprove phosphoetanolamine in the context of growing 'judicialization' to promote access to medicines and thus reinforcing a growing sense of legal uncertainty. Results The approval of phosphoetanolamine despite the existence of any evidence of its efficacy and safety represents to the authors one of the saddest and surrealistic episodes in Brazil's recent public health history.

What is the benefit of the biomedical and behavioral interventions in preventing HIV transmission?

Introduction: Scientific evidence supports the synergy between biomedical and behavioral interventions aimed at preventing the transmission of HIV as a strategy to eradicate AIDS.

Objective: To characterize comparatively the benefits from biomedical and behavioral interventions to prevent HIV transmission.

Methods: Narrative review.

[Risk factors for falls in hospitalized adult patients: an integrative review].

Objective: Identifying risk factors for the occurrence of falls in hospitalized adult patients.

Method: Integrative review carried out in the databases of LILACS, SciELO, MEDLINE and Web of Science, including articles published between 1989 and 2012.

Results: Seventy-one articles were included in the final sample.

Viral epidemiology of respiratory infections among children at a tertiary hospital in Southern Brazil.

Introduction: This study reports the pediatric epidemiology of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), influenza (IF), parainfluenza (PIV), and adenovirus (ADV) at Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre.

Methods: Cases of infection, hospitalizations in intensive care units (ICUs), nosocomial infections, and lethality rates were collected from 2007 to 2010.

Results: RSV accounted for most nosocomial infections.