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Previous epidemiological studies have shown that the incidence and severity of COVID-19 decrease significantly with high altitude. To date, the impact of high altitude on mortality caused by COVID-19 remains debated. This work evaluated the impact of high altitude residency on COVID-19 mortality and recovery rates in several Andean countries and México. For this purpose, a multinational ecological study of official data from Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, and Mexico was performed from the beginning of the pandemic until the end of 2020. The case fatality rate (CFR) of populations above 2,500 m and below 1,000 m was compared. Our results show that CFR decreases, and there is a higher recovery rate in populations located above 2,500 m in all five countries. Based on this study and multiple other references, we conclude that mortality caused by COVID-19 is lower in high-altitude Andean populations, and in the high-altitude municipalities of Mexico than in the lowlands of all these countries.

Resumen Introduccion: estudios recientes han reportado la ocurrencia de fenomenos tromboticos o coagulopatia en pacientes con COVID-19 Hay posiciones divergentes en cuanto a la prevencion, el diagnostico y el tratamiento de estos fenomenos, y la practica clinica actual esta basada unicamente en deducciones por extension a partir de estudios retrospectivos, series de casos, estudios observacionales y guias internacionales desarrolladas previas a la pandemia Objetivo: establecer un grupo de recomendaciones sobre prevencion, diagnostico y manejo de las complicaciones tromboticas asociadas a COVID-19 Metodos: se desarrollo una guia rapida en la que se aplico el marco de la evidencia a la decision (EtD) de GRADE y un sistema de participacion iterativo, con analisis estadisticos y cualitativos de sus resultados Resultados: se generaron 31 recomendaciones clinicas enfocadas a: a) Pruebas de coagulacion en adultos sintomaticos con sospecha de infeccion o infeccion confirmada por SARS-CoV-2;b) Tromboprofilaxis en personas adultas con diagnostico de COVID-19 (escalas de riesgo, tromboprofilaxis de manejo ambulatorio, intrahospitalario y duracion de tromboprofilaxis despues del egreso de hospitalizacion), c) Diagnostico y tratamiento de las complicaciones tromboticas y d) Manejo de personas con indicacion previa a usar agentes anticoagulantes Conclusiones: las recomendaciones clinicas de este consenso orientan la toma de decisiones clinicas respecto a prevencion, diagnostico y tratamiento de fenomenos tromboticos en pacientes con COVID-19, y representan un acuerdo que ayudara a disminuir la dispersion en las practicas clinicas acorde con el desafio que nos impone la pandemia Introduction: recent studies have reported the occurrence of thrombotic phenomena or coagulopathy in patients with COVID-19 There are divergent positions regarding the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of these phenomena, and current clinical practice is based solely on deductions by extension from retrospective studies, case series, observational studies, and international guidelines developed prior to the pandemic Objective: to generate a group of recommendations on the prevention, diagnosis and management of thrombotic complications associated with COVID-19 Methods: a rapid guidance was carried out applying the GRADE Evidence to Decision (EtD) frameworks and an iterative participation system, with statistical and qualitative analysis Results: 31 clinical recommendations were generated focused on: a) Coagulation tests in symptomatic adults with suspected infection or confirmed SARS CoV-2 infection;b) Thromboprophylaxis in adults diagnosed with COVID-19 (Risk scales, thromboprophylaxis for outpatient, in-hospital management, and duration of thromboprophylaxis after discharge from hospitalization), c) Diagnosis and treatment of thrombotic complications, and d) Management of people with previous indication of anticoagulant agents Conclusions: recommendations of this consensus guide clinical decision-making regarding the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of thrombotic phenomena in patients with COVID-19, and represent an agreement that will help decrease the dispersion in clinical practices according to the challenge imposed by the pandemic

Estudios recientes han reportado la ocurrencia de fenómenos trombóticos o coagulopatía en pacientes con COVID-19. Hay posiciones divergentes en cuanto a la prevención, diagnóstico y tratamiento de estos fenómenos y la práctica clínica actual está basada únicamente en deducciones por extensión a partir de estudios retrospectivos, series de casos, estudios observacionales y guías internacionales desarrolladas previas a la pandemia. En este contexto, el objetivo del presente trabajo fue establecer un grupo de recomendaciones sobre prevención, diagnóstico y manejo de las complicaciones trombóticas asociadas a COVID-19. Métodos: Se desarrolló una guía rápida aplicando el marco de la evidencia a la decisión (EtD) de GRADE y un sistema de participación iterativo, con análisis estadísticos y cualitativos de sus resultados. Resultados: Se generaron 31 recomendaciones clínicas enfocadas a: a) Pruebas de coagulación en adultos sintomáticos con sospecha de infección o infección confirmada por SARS-CoV-2; b) Tromboprofilaxis en personas adultas con diagnóstico de COVID-19 (Escalas de riesgo, Tromboprofilaxis de manejo ambulatorio, intrahospitalario, y duración de tromboprofilaxis después del egreso de hospitalización), c) Diagnóstico y tratamiento de las complicaciones trombóticas y d) Manejo de personas con indicación previa de usar agentes anticoagulantes. Conclusiones: Las recomendaciones clínicas del presente consenso orientan la toma de decisiones clínicas respecto a prevención, diagnóstico y tratamiento de fenómenos trombóticos en pacientes con COVID-19, y representan un acuerdo que ayudará a disminuir la dispersión en las prácticas clínicas acorde con el desafío que nos impone la pandemia.

About 10% of adults have suffered an attack of asthma, and up to 5% of these have severe disease that responds poorly to treatment. Patients with severe disease have an increased risk of death, but patients with mild-to-moderate disease are also at risk of exacerbations. Most guidelines about the management of asthma follow stepwise protocols. This review does not endorse or follow any particular protocol, but presents the evidence about specific interventions.We conducted a systematic review and aimed to answer the following clinical questions: What are the effects of treatments for chronic asthma? What are the effects of treatments for acute asthma? We searched: Medline, Embase, The Cochrane Library, and other important databases up to June 2008 (Clinical Evidence reviews are updated periodically; please check our website for the most up-to-date version of this review). We included harms alerts from relevant organisations such as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).We found 99 systematic reviews, RCTs, or observational studies that met our inclusion criteria. We performed a GRADE evaluation of the quality of evidence for interventions.In this systematic review, we present information relating to the effectiveness and safety of the following interventions. For acute asthma: beta(2) agonists (plus ipratropium bromide, pressured metered-dose inhalers, short-acting continuous nebulised, short-acting intermittent nebulised, and short-acting intravenous); corticosteroids (inhaled); corticosteroids (single oral, combined inhaled, and short courses); education about acute asthma; generalist care; helium-oxygen mixture (heliox); magnesium sulphate (intravenous and adding isotonic nebulised magnesium to inhaled beta(2) agonists); mechanical ventilation; oxygen supplementation (controlled 28% oxygen and controlled 100% oxygen); and specialist care. For chronic asthma: beta(2) agonists (adding long-acting inhaled beta(2) agonists when asthma is poorly controlled by inhaled corticosteroids, or short-acting inhaled beta(2) agonists as needed for symptom relief); inhaled corticosteroids (low dose and increasing dose); leukotriene antagonists (with or without inhaled corticosteroids); and theophylline (when poorly controlled by inhaled corticosteroids).