ABSTRACT
Objective: Comparative evaluation of efficacy and safety ofBepotastine besilate versus Olopatadine and Ketorolaccombination in patients with vernal keratoconjunctivitis.Materials and Methods: This was a prospective, open label,randomized, comparative clinical study. Hundred patients ofvernal keratoconjunctivitis between 6 to 20 years of age ofeither sex willing to give informed consent were enrolled in thestudy. In Group 1, 50 patients received Bepotastine besilate(0.15%) eye drops twice daily for 8 weeks whereas in Group 2,50 patients received Olopatadine (0.2%) and Ketorolac (0.4%)combination eye drops twice daily for 8 weeks. Symptoms andsigns scoring of VKC were recorded on baseline and at thetime of follow up at 4 and 8 weeks. Safety assessments werealso done in both the drug groups during the study period forany serious adverse effects.Results: After the 2 months of drug therapy, patients in boththe groups showed improvement in the symptoms and signsscoring of VKC. However, there was no statistically significantdifference between the two treatment groups at 4th and 8thweek. Both the drugs were well tolerated without any seriousadverse effect.Conclusion: Both bepotastine besilate versus olopatadine andKetorolac combination ophthalmic solutions were found to beeffective in alleviating the clinical symptoms and signs of VKC.
ABSTRACT
O crescimento da população mundial no último século tem conduzido a um aumento exponencial do uso da água, a um consequente aumento da sua escassez, bem como a uma diminuição da sua qualidade. Uma das principais causas responsáveis por essa realidade tem sido o reduzido preço que os diferentes stakeholders pagam por esse recurso. O facto de não ser pago pelos diferentes stakeholders um preço justo que reflita os impactos causados no ambiente, bem como na vida das gerações futuras pelo consumo desse recurso, tem conduzido à sobre-exploração da água. Nesse contexto, perspectiva-se, em nível mundial, um incremento dos encargos com os serviços de águas e de esgotamento sanitário, com o intuito de tornar a gestão desse recurso sustentável e, paralelamente, melhorar a sua qualidade. Este trabalho compara os encargos que as famílias de vários países suportam com esses serviços e analisa, em detalhe, o impacto atual desses encargos nas famílias em Portugal, evidenciando os resultados de dois estudos recentes e das reformas em curso. Conclui-se que o aumento do preço do recurso água será inevitável e, por conseguinte, uma maior parcela dos rendimentos familiares será dispensada com esses serviços. Este trabalho demonstra que será no interior de Portugal que poderão surgir, no futuro, os maiores problemas de affordability.
The world population growth over the last century has led to an exponential increase in water use, besides more scarcity of this resource and a drop in its quality. One of the major failures in the water sector has been the low price that different stakeholders pay for this good. The fact that a fair price has not been paid for water reflects its overuse with impacts on the environment and on the lives of future generations. In this context, it is expected that the expenses with the water and wastewater services will rise all over the world in order to achieve a more sustainable management of this resource and improve its quality. This research makes a comparison between the costs that families from different countries have with these services and examines in detail the impact of these charges in Portuguese households, providing evidence of the results of two recent studies and ongoing reforms. We conclude that the increase in the price of water resources will be unavoidable and therefore a greater part of family income will be spent on these services. This work shows that the biggest problems of affordability which may come up in the future will occur in the countryside of Portugal.