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The article presents a study on the variability of creatinine-adjusted inorganic mercury (HgUCr) in Mexican women living in an area with mercury contaminated soil. The study shows that women more than 30 years old living in contaminated areas had 212% HgUCr, while women with amalgam dental fillings have 120% HgCUr. It concludes that exposure to different physicochemical forms of mercury by environmental mechanisms and factors intrinsic to women may be responsible for the HgUCr-level variability.

Objective: to determine the risk factors associated with recurrent retinal detachment in patients vitrectomized. Methods: case-control study nested in a cohort. We included patients with a diagnosis of rhegmatogenous retinal detachment treated with vitrectomy for one year, with a six months follow-up. We monitored the presence of incident event in the emergency department, and the examination room. Statistical analysis was performed by descriptive statistics (median, minimum and maximum) and inferential statistics (χ² test, Cox regression, Kaplan-Meier). Results: a population of 94 patients with a median age of 55 years (21-83) was analyzed. The silicone was the most widely used type of tamponade in 62 patients (66%) and recurrent retinal detachment occurred in 19 cases (20%). In the relation between the non-relapse group and the relapse group, the statistically significant variable was the use of silicone (p = 0.05, OR = 0.03, 0.013-0.98), wich had a lower probability of recurrent detachment compared with the use of sulfur hexafluoride (SF6 gas) (p = 0.012). Conclusions: the use of silicone compared with the use of SF6 gas has shown to be a protective factor for recurrent retinal detachment; however, the choice of method of tamponade should be individualized for each patient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Mexican arm of the Camino Verde trial of community mobilisation for dengue prevention covered three coastal regions of Guerrero state: Acapulco, Costa Grande and Costa Chica. A baseline cross-sectional survey provided data for community mobilisation and for adapting the intervention design to concrete conditions in the intervention areas.Methods: Trained field teams constructed community profiles in randomly selected clusters, based on observation and key informant interviews. In each household they carried out an entomological inspection of water containers, collected information on socio-demographic variables and cases of dengue illness among household members in the last year, and gathered paired saliva samples from children aged 3-9 years, which were subjected to ELISA testing to detect recent dengue infection. We examined associations with dengue illness and recent dengue infection in bivariate and then multivariate analysis.Results: In 70/90 clusters, key informants were unable to identify any organized community groups. Some 1.9% (1029/55,723) of the household population reported dengue illness in the past year, with a higher rate in Acapulco region. Among children 3-9 years old, 6.1% (392/6382) had serological evidence of recent dengue infection. In all three regions, household use of anti-mosquito products, household heads working, and households having less than 5 members were associated with self-reported dengue illness. In Acapulco region, people aged less than 25 years, those with a more educated household head and those from urban sites were also more likely to report dengue illness, while in Costa Chica and Costa Grande, females were more likely to report dengue illness. Among children aged 3-9 years, those aged 3-4 years and those living in Acapulco were more likely to have evidence of recent dengue infection.Conclusions: The evidence from the baseline survey provided important support for the design and implementation of the trial intervention. The weakness of community leadership and the relatively low rates of self-reported dengue illness were challenges that the Mexican intervention team had to overcome. The higher dengue illness occurrence among women in Costa Grande and Costa Chica may help explain why women participated more than men in activities during the Camino Verde trial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]