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Purpose: Latin America faces a shortage in radiation therapy (RT) units and qualified personnel for timely and high-quality treatment of patients with cancer. Investing in equitable and inclusive access to RT over the next decade would prevent thousands of deaths. Measuring the investment gap and payoff is necessary for stakeholder discussions and capacity planning efforts., Methods and Materials: Data were collected from the International Atomic Energy Agency's Directory of Radiotherapy Centers, industry stakeholders, and individual surveys sent to national scientific societies. Nationwide data on available devices and personnel were compiled. The 10 most common cancers in 2020 with RT indication and their respective incidence rates were considered for gap calculations. The gross 2-year financial return on investment was calculated based on an average monthly salary across Latin America. A 10-year cost projection was calculated according to the estimated population dynamics for the period until 2030., Results: Eleven countries were included in the study, accounting for 557,213,447 people in 2020 and 561 RT facilities. Approximately 1,065,684 new cancer cases were diagnosed, and a mean density of 768,469 (standard deviation ±392,778) people per available unit was found. By projecting the currently available treatment fractions to determine those required in 2030, it was found that 62.3% and 130.8% increases in external beam RT and brachytherapy units are needed from the baseline, respectively. An overall regional investment of approximately United States (US) $349,650,480 in 2020 would have covered the existing demand. An investment of US $872,889,949 will be necessary by 2030, with the expectation of a 2-year posttreatment gross return on investment of more than US $2.1 billion from patients treated in 2030 only., Conclusions: Investment in RT services is lagging in Latin America in terms of the population's needs. An accelerated outlay could save additional lives during the next decade, create a self-sustaining system, and reduce region-wide inequities in cancer care access. Cash flow analyses are warranted to tailor precise national-level intervention strategies., (Copyright © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: the emergency due to SARS-CoV-2 pandemic struck the national and regional health system that needed an effort to reorganise and increase resources to cope with a sudden, uncertain, and previously unknown situation. This study was conducted in the immediate aftermath of this difficult period., Objectives: to describe clinical characteristics, short-term outcomes, and management of SARS-CoV-2 positive patients that accessed the emergency department (ED) of the San Luigi Gonzaga hospital of Orbassano (Turin district, Piedmont Region, Northern Italy) in March and April 2020. Furthermore, this study aimed at investigating if a difference in patients characteristics, clinical management, and outcomes was present during time., Design: comparison of different periods in a clinical cohort., Setting and Participants: for each patient who accessed the ED and tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 swab, the ED medical record was collected and a descriptive analysis was performed on demographical characteristics, pre-existing comorbidities, parameters measured at triage, imaging exams results, lab tests results, separately for patients admitted at the ED in four different periods., Main Outcome Measures: discharge from ED, admission to hospital wards (low and high intensity of care), short term in-hospital mortality, hospital length of stay. The association between patients' characteristics and the main outcomes was measured using multivariable logistic models., Results: age of patients increased significantly from March to April, together with female prevalence and associated comorbid conditions. A significant difference in symptoms at presentation was not observed nor it was in laboratory test results. Severity at triage and need of intensive care resources were higher in the first weeks, together with the typical clinical presentation with respiratory failure and imaging with signs of bilateral interstitial pneumonia. Accordingly, in-hospital mortality was higher in the first period. Nevertheless, nearly half of patients in the first period were discharged directly from ED showing mild COVID-19 cases. On the contrary, in April an increasing need of hospitalisation in low intensity of care beds was observed, whereas mild cases stopped to access the ED., Conclusions: the results of this study suggest that in few weeks of COVID-19 epidemic both management of the patients at the hospital level - and probably at territorial level resulting in a different population who accessed to the ED - and the clinical characteristics of the COVID-19 patients changed.

A computerized investigation of microbiological data concerning 7042 culture exams of urines has been carried out. Interesting data from the epidemiological point of view came out: positivity percentages in relation to the different months of the year, strains frequency, incidence of the urinary pathology in relation to sexes. It is also interesting the analysis of positivity percentages in relation to the derivation of samples, since it is clear a significant negativity of non-hospital samples. The use of computerized analysis of data in the microbiological laboratory is discussed and is a well considered the need to use computer not only to identify microorganisms and to determine the sensibility of antibiotics, but also for data management especially from the epidemiological point of view. Therefore the use of computer as file is desired in order to obtain by the statistic analysis, evidence of epidemiological character, plannings, work plans finalized to a more efficient answer to the growing need of culture exams.