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Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) during pregnancy is characterized by episodes of intermittent hypoxia (IH) during sleep, resulting in adverse health outcomes for mother and offspring. Despite a prevalence of 8-20% in pregnant women, this disorder is often underdiagnosed.We have developed a murine model of gestational OSA to study IH effects on pregnant mothers, placentas, fetuses, and offspring. One group of pregnant rats was exposed to IH during the last 2 weeks of gestation (GIH). One day before the delivery date, a cesarean section was performed. Other group of pregnant rats was allowed to give birth at term to study offspring's evolution.Preliminary results showed no significant weight differences in mothers and fetuses. However, the weight of GIH male offspring was significantly lower than the controls at 14 days (p < 0.01). The morphological study of the placentas showed an increase in fetal capillary branching, expansion of maternal blood spaces, and number of cells of the external trophectoderm in the tissues from GIH-exposed mothers. Additionally, the placentas from the experimental males were enlarged (p < 0.05). Further studies are needed to follow the long-term evolution of these changes to relate the histological findings of the placentas with functional development of the offspring in adulthood.

The early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic presented the characteristics of a traumatic event that could trigger post-traumatic stress disorder. Emergency Medical Services workers are already a high-risk group due to their professional development. The research project aimed to analyse the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on EMS professionals in terms of their mental health. For this purpose, we present a descriptive crosssectional study with survey methodology. A total of 317 EMS workers (doctors, nurses, and emergency medical technicians) were recruited voluntarily. Psychological distress, post-traumatic stress disorder, and insomnia were assessed. The instruments were the General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12), the Davidson Trauma Scale (DTS-8), and the Athens Insomnia Scale (AIS-8). We found that 36% of respondents had psychological distress, 30.9% potentially had PTSD, and 60.9% experienced insomnia. Years of work experience were found to be positively correlated, albeit with low effect, with the PTSD score (r = 0.133). Finally, it can be stated that the COVID-19 pandemic has been a traumatic event for EMS workers. The number of professionals presenting psychological distress, possible PTSD, or insomnia increased dramatically during the early phases of the pandemic. This study highlights the need for mental health disorder prevention programmes for EMS workers in the face of a pandemic.

Persistent COVID, long COVID, long-effects, long-term effects or chronic COVID are all names of a new syndrome caused by a set of multi-organ symptoms that appear after having been infected with SARS-CoV-2 [1]. These symptoms occur 4 or even 12 weeks after the acute phase of COVID-19 disease and persist over time. These are not sequela or what is commonly referred to as post-COVID, which is due to severe acute SARS-CoV-2 disease and causes hospital admission and even intensive care. In long COVID, symptoms occur regardless of the severity of the disease in the acute phase. Furthermore, there is no cure period per se, as the symptoms do not disappear, but rather often occur in outbreaks. However, having long COVID is not incompatible with suffering from sequela related to having gone through the acute phase severely