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Abstract Objectives To compare mortality rates between GCA patients and the general population in Spain, and to identify associated factors influencing mortality. Methods ARTESER, a multicenter registry by the Spanish Society of Rheumatology, includes GCA patients from June 2013 to March 2019. Demographic, clinical, imaging, histological and mortality data were collected retrospectively. Only patients with at least one year of follow-up were included for analysis. The mortality rates were expressed as the number of deaths per 1000 person-years, with 95% confidence interval (CI) by sex and age group. Kaplan-Meier method was performed for survival analysis. The factors influencing mortality were analyzed using Cox regression model. Results A total of 1200 patients with GCA were analyzed, with a mean (SD) follow-up of 2.18 (1.53) years. The overall five-year cumulative mortality rate (95%CI) was 37.86 (31.75-43.96) per 1000 patients/year. The cumulative mortality rate was significantly higher in males than females (59.04vs29.06; p

This article aims to discuss the expectations of Homosexual Men, Bisexual Men and a Transgender Woman, who use or want to use an oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) about PrEP modalities. Sixteen PrEP users, who are followed up in the BCN Checkpoint, were interviewed,. The interviews were audio-recorded, subjected to thematic categorical analysis within the theoretical framework from the praxiographic perspective. They are all adapted to the use of daily oral and event-based PrEP. In relation to the new PrEP modalities (monthly pill; intramuscular injection every two months; subcutaneous injection every six months), they are all very receptive to these possibilities, but they lack information on the specificities of each and specific assessment of their needs. Comments about the use of oral PrEP are positive, and expectations regarding the new PrEP modalities are visibly high. However, the most important thing for the interviewees is the guarantee that they will have follow-up appointments to continue taking care of their affective-sexual health, which is not dependent on the type of PrEP modalities.

Background: Mexico is the country with the highest mortality from acute myocardial infarction (AMI), which is why guidelines have been established for early reperfusion in which fibrinolysis is the second most accessible method. However, there is a percentage of patients who do not achieve acceptable myocardial perfusion and this is associated with adverse cardiovascular outcomes. Different adenosine schemes have been used as an adjuvant to restore adequate myocardial perfusion., Objective: To compare the final angiographic flow in patients undergoing pharmacoinvasive percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with the use of intracoronary adenosine versus patients without its use., Material and Methods: Single-center, prospective, longitudinal, single-blind study carried out in patients with AMI, thrombolyzed, with reperfusion data, sent to a tertiary care center from March 2022 to June 2023, randomized to receive intracoronary adenosine previous to intervention. Drug-eluting stents were placed in all patients. Initial and final angiographic flow was compared., Results: 33 patients were included, randomized 1:1 to control and intervention groups. 75.8% of the participants were male. The most frequent artery responsible for the infarction was the anterior descending (63.6%). An average of 350 mcg of intracoronary adenosine was used in the intervention group, and the most frequent complication in both groups was the presence of no-reflow phenomenon., Conclusions: Due to the small sample size, it is not possible to conclude the usefulness of adenosine for improving final angiographic flow in pharmacoinvasive PCI. More adverse effects were reported in the intervention group, without a significant statistical difference., (Licencia CC 4.0 (BY-NC-ND) © 2024 Revista Médica del Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social.)

Background: Increased pediatric COVID-19 occurrence due to the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant has raised concerns about the effectiveness of existing vaccines. The protection provided by the SOBERANA-02-Plus vaccination scheme against this variant has not yet been studied. We aimed to evaluate the scheme's effectiveness against symptomatic Omicron infection and severe disease in children., Methods: In September 2021, Cuba implemented a mass pediatric immunization with the heterologous SOBERANA-02-Plus scheme: 2 doses of conjugated SOBERANA-02 followed by a heterologous SOBERANA-Plus dose. By December, before the Omicron outbreak, 95.4% of 2-18 years-old had been fully immunized. During the entire Omicron wave, we conducted a nationwide longitudinal post-vaccination case-population study to evaluate the real-world effectiveness of the SOBERANA-02-Plus scheme against symptomatic infection and severe disease in children without previous SARS-CoV-2 infection. The identification of COVID-19 cases relied on surveillance through first line services, which refer clinical suspects to pediatric hospitals where they are diagnosed based on a positive RT-PCR test. We defined the Incidence Rate ratio (IRR) as IRvaccinated age group/IRunvaccinated 1-year-old and calculated vaccine effectiveness as VE = (1-IRR)∗100%. 24 months of age being the 'eligible for vaccination' cut-off, we used a regression discontinuity approach to estimate effectiveness by contrasting incidence in all unvaccinated 1-year-old versus vaccinated 2-years-old. Estimates in the vaccinated 3-11 years-old are reported from a descriptive perspective., Findings: We included 1,098,817 fully vaccinated 2-11 years-old and 98,342 not vaccinated 1-year-old children. During the 24-week Omicron wave, there were 7003/26,241,176 person-weeks symptomatic COVID-19 infections in the vaccinated group (38.2 per 10 5 person-weeks in 2-years-old and 25.5 per 10 5 person-weeks in 3-11 years-old) against 3577/2,312,273 (154.7 per 10 5 person-weeks) in the unvaccinated group. The observed overall vaccine effectiveness against symptomatic infection was 75.3% (95% CI, 73.5-77.0%) in 2-years-old children, and 83.5% (95% CI, 82.8-84.2%) in 3-11 years-old. It was somewhat lower during Omicron BA.1 then during Omicron BA.2 variant circulation, which took place 1-3 and 4-6 months after the end of the vaccination campaign. The effectiveness against severe symptomatic disease was 100.0% (95% CI not estimated) and 94.6% (95% CI, 82.0-98.6%) in the respective age groups. No child death from COVID-19 was observed., Interpretation: Immunization of 2-11 years-old with the SOBERANA-02-Plus scheme provided strong protection against symptomatic and severe disease caused by the Omicron variant, which was sustained during the six months post-vaccination follow-up. Our results contrast with the observations in previous real-world vaccine effectiveness studies in children, which might be explained by the type of immunity a conjugated protein-based vaccine induces and the vaccination strategy used., Funding: National Fund for Science and Technology (FONCI-CITMA-Cuba)., Competing Interests: MCRG, MMC, SFC, YCR, DSM, YVB, DGR and VVB are employees of the Finlay Vaccine Institute that developed and manufactures the SOBERANA vaccines. VVB, YVB, DGR, YCR, SFC and DSM are authors of two patent applications related with the vaccines. The other authors have no potential conflict of interest., (© 2024 The Author(s).)

This article examines the discursive approach adopted by Radio Nikosia, highlighting its crucial role in the recovery of people diagnosed with severe mental illness. It examines how putting social representations aside has enabled Radio Nikosia to render agency to these social actors, acknowledging their capacity to construct, reconstruct and change their own identities. The geographic scope of the study comprises the Autonomous Community of Catalonia while the methodology followed is qualitative in nature, analysing programme audio and transcription, reports, academic articles, theses, and a participant interview. The aim of the analysis is to examine the significance of discursive practices in Radio Nikosia in modifying the permanence of identities anchored in severe mental illness. The results illustrate the practical use of radio as a powerful tool that both promotes social inclusion and impacts mental illness identity.

A balanced and varied diet provides diverse beneficial effects on health, such as adequate micronutrient availability and a gut microbiome in homeostasis. Besides their participation in biochemical processes as cofactors and coenzymes, vitamins and minerals have an immunoregulatory function; meanwhile, gut microbiota and its metabolites coordinate directly and indirectly the cell response through the interaction with the host receptors. Malnourishment is a crucial risk factor for several pathologies, and its involvement during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 pandemic has been reported. This pandemic has caused a significant decline in the worldwide population, especially those with chronic diseases, reduced physical activity, and elder age. Diet and gut microbiota composition are probable causes for this susceptibility, and its supplementation can play a role in reestablishing microbial homeostasis and improving immunity response against Coronavirus Disease 2019 infection and recovery. This study reviews the role of micronutrients and microbiomes in the risk of infection, the severity of disease, and the Coronavirus Disease 2019 sequelae., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.