COVID-19 vaccination campaigns and health outcomes in Spain during 2021

We evaluate the effects of vaccines in the evolution of the epidemic in Spain during 2021. To this end, we estimate the effect of vaccination in terms of reducing infections, hospitalizations, ICU admissions, and deaths. We also compare the health impact of COVID-19 with that caused by recent influenza seasons, in a scenario where all the population had been vaccinated. The positive impact of vaccination on health indicators has been extraordinary. The non-availability of vaccines would have increased COVID-19 deaths by 571% compared to observed deaths. Moreover, the relative benefit of vaccination increases with the severity of the indicator: greater for deaths and ICU admissions, less for infections and hospitalizations. Under the assumption that the entire population had been vaccinated with the COVID-19 vaccine from the first week of April, the impact of the disease in terms of hospitalizations and deaths during 2021 would have been above a low activity flu season, but in line with a moderate/high activity flu season. © 2023 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Opinion of the Spectators of a Grand Tour In Spain: A Qualitative Analysis

Purpose: The objective of this study is to carry out a qualitative analysis of the ratings of tourists and residents attending the road cycling sporting event "La Vuelta” held in Spain in 2019, 2020 and 2021 editions. Methods: The sample consisted of 1,203 comments/observations from tourists and residents in the in situ and post-event phase of each edition. For this qualitative analysis, an open question was used at the end of a quantitative questionnaire on social and tourism impact. Once each comment had been categorised, a summary was made of the responses and frequencies of each idea according to each category, positive and negative comments and the words most used in each type of comment. Nvivo v.10 software (QSR International, Burlington, MA 01803, USA) was used to analyse the comments and frequencies of each idea. Results: Most of the positive comments focus on the positive feelings and emotions generated by attending the event (emotion or enjoyment;12.4%), great experience (14.8%), atmosphere of the event (10.4%), good organisation of the event (12.1%) and future intentions to return and recommend the event (7.4%). Negative comments mainly refer to the COVID-19 pandemic (11.8%), the advertising caravan (7.4%) and traffic and parking problems (5.9% of comments). Among the words associated with negative comments, the word "advertising caravan” stands out, while the most used words in positive reviews were "experience” and "emotion”. Conclusion: Most of the positive comments focus on positive feelings and emotions generated by attending the event (emotion or enjoyment) and the great experience and atmosphere surrounding the sporting event. In the 2020 edition, the COVID-19 pandemic negatively affected the event, although parking problems and traffic congestion are the worst-rated categories. Copyright 2023 by the author(s).

COMMUNITY-BASED SCIENTIFIC CULTURE FOR A PANDEMIC. LONG COVID

Despite some scattered precedents and exceptions, there is an evident gap in the literature on the concept of community-based scientific culture. By this we refer to situations in which citizens perceive a problem, come together, organise, communicate, and pool their resources to search for, evaluate and produce scientific knowledge to address the problem. In this paper, we propose a characterisation of community-based scientific culture. Subsequently, we apply and contrast it to the case of groups of people affected by long COVID. The methodology used was based on documentary analysis. © 2022 CSIC.

[Effectiveness, adherence and usability of a teleneurorehabilitation programme to ensure continuity of care for patients with acquired brain injury during the COVID-19 pandemic]. / Efectividad, adhesión y usabilidad de un programa de teleneurorrehabilitación para garantizar la continuidad de cuidados en pacientes con daño cerebral adquirido durante la pandemia originada por la COVID-19.

INTRODUCTION: The health pandemic brought about by SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) has limited access to neurorehabilitation programmes for many patients who have suffered stroke, traumatic brain injury or acquired brain damage due to some other cause. As telerehabilitation allows for the provision of care in situations of social distancing, it may mitigate the negative effects of confinement. The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy, adherence and usability of a teleneurorehabilitation intervention for patients with acquired brain injury. PATIENTS AND METHODS: All patients included in a face-to-face neurorehabilitation programme at the time of the declaration of the state of alarm in Spain due to COVID-19 and who agreed to participate in the study were included in a teleneurorehabilitation programme. The effectiveness of the programme, understood as an improvement in independence, was quantified with the Barthel index. Adherence to the programme and usability of the tool were explored through questionnaires. RESULTS: Altogether, 46 patients, accounting for 70.6% of the total, participated in the study. Participants significantly improved their independence and showed an improvement in the Barthel index between the start (77.3 ± 28.6) and the end of the programme (82.3 ± 26). Adherence to the intervention was very high (8.1 ± 2.2 out of 10) and the online sessions were the most highly rated content. The tool used showed a high usability (50.1 ± 9.9 out of 60) and could be used without assistance by more than half the participants. CONCLUSION: The teleneurorehabilitation intervention was found to be effective in improving patients' independence, and promoted a high degree of adherence and usability.

TITLE: Efectividad, adhesión y usabilidad de un programa de teleneurorrehabilitación para garantizar la continuidad de cuidados en pacientes con daño cerebral adquirido durante la pandemia originada por la COVID-19.Introducción. La pandemia sanitaria originada por el SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) ha limitado el acceso a programas de neurorrehabilitación de muchos pacientes que han sufrido ictus, traumatismos craneoencefálicos o un daño cerebral adquirido por otra causa. Dado que la telerrehabilitación permite la provisión de cuidados en situaciones de distanciamiento social, podría atenuar los efectos negativos del confinamiento. El objetivo de este estudio fue determinar la eficacia, la adhesión y la usabilidad de una intervención de teleneurorrehabilitación dirigida a pacientes con daño cerebral adquirido. Pacientes y métodos. Todos los pacientes incluidos en un programa de neurorrehabilitación presencial en el momento de la declaración del estado de alarma en España con motivo de la COVID-19 y que aceptaron participar en el estudio fueron incluidos en un programa de teleneurorrehabilitación. La eficacia del programa, entendida como una mejora en la independencia, se cuantificó con el índice de Barthel. La adhesión al programa y la usabilidad de la herramienta se investigaron mediante cuestionarios. Resultados. Un total de 146 pacientes, el 70,6% del total, participó en el estudio. Los participantes mejoraron significativamente su independencia y mostraron una mejoría en el índice de Barthel entre el inicio (77,3 ± 28,6) y el fin del programa (82,3 ± 26). La intervención tuvo una gran adhesión (8,1 ± 2,2 sobre 10) y las sesiones en línea fueron el contenido mejor valorado. La herramienta utilizada mostró una elevada usabilidad (50,1 ± 9,9 sobre 60) y pudo ser utilizada sin ayuda por más de la mitad de los participantes. Conclusión. La intervención de teleneurorrehabilitación resultó ser eficaz para mejorar la independencia de los pacientes, y promovió una elevada adhesión y usabilidad.

Fan's perspective on professional leagues and sporting events during COVID-19 confinement period

The restriction imposed by COVID-19 pandemic has caused a great social change in the world and has affected many sectors, including the sport industry by having an impact and altering the normal development of the sport competitions and events. Therefore, it is fundamental to know sport fans' opinions about the professional championships during the confinement period. The sample is composed by 1025 professional sports leagues fans and major sporting events celebrated in Spain, with people in the age range 18-70. The instrument used to collect data was an adaptation of the American questionnaire designed by Seton Hall University. The results show that 55% of fans thought that sport leagues and events were cancelled on time. Furthermore, 92.8% of the survey respondents would not attend a live match without social distancing measures or without the existence of a vaccine;67.4% would follow it through mass media resources with the same interest. The population group under 25 feels safe attending sports leagues or events (9.7%). These results might help to take decisions based on preventive measures to guarantee security within the sport context. © 2021. Faculty of Education. University of Alicante. All Rights Reserved.

The stabilizing effects of economic policies in Spain in times of COVID-19

Purpose: This paper aims to analyse the stabilizing macroeconomic effects of economic policies during the COVID-19 crisis in Spain. Design/methodology/approach: The contribution of the structural shocks that explain the behaviour of the main macroeconomic aggregates during 2020 are estimated, and the effects of economic policies are simulated using a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) model estimated for the Spanish economy. Findings: The results highlight the importance of supply and demand shocks in explaining the COVID-19 crisis. The annual fall in gross domestic product (GDP) moderates at least by 7.6 points in the most intense period of the crisis, thanks to these stabilizing policies. Finally, the potential effects of Next Generation EU in the Spanish economy are estimated. Assuming that Spain may receive from the EU between 1.5 and 2.25 percentage points (pp) of GDP, activity could increase to between 2 and 3 pp in 2024. Originality/value: To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the exercises and findings are original. All these results show the usefulness of a DSGE model, such as the estimated rational expectation model for Spain, as a practical tool for the applied economic analysis, the macroeconomic assessment of economic policies and the understanding of the Spanish economy. © 2020, J.E. Boscá, R. Doménech, J. Ferri, J.R. García and C. Ulloa.

Significant decrease of facial cellulitis admissions during COVID-19 lockdown in France: A multicentric comparative study.

During the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, a lockdown was imposed in France during the first wave. An apparent decrease in incidence of cellulitis of odontogenic origin was noticed then. This study aimed to compare the incidence of cellulitis during this extraordinary period with the same period in 2018 and 2019, based on retrospective multicentric data. All maxillofacial surgery departments in French public hospitals were contacted. Responders were asked to include all patients admitted for the surgical drainage of a head and neck abscess of odontogenic origin during the first 2020 lockdown period, and in a similar time frame in 2018 and 2019 (control group), based on screening the French diagnostic and therapeutic classification of medical acts. We report a 44% significant nationwide decrease in the incidence of admissions for cellulitis. There were 187 patients in 2020 for 334 and 333 patients in 2018/2019 respectively. The reasons to explain this finding are hypothetical (organizational reasons leading to earlier management, patients' fear to seek for medical management, usual excess in surgical indications or concomitant decrease of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs delivery). Whatever the explanation, it would be of great interest to find it out in order to improve the prevention of cellulitis.

Neurorehabilitation in the times of Covid-19: insights from the Spanish Neurorehabilitation Society (SENR).

The entire world is experiencing an unprecedented global health crisis and Spain has been one of the most heavily affected countries within Europe. Unexpected rapid changes and reorganization of medical services that occurred during the pandemic lead to an impact in the practice of neurorehabilitation. The idiosyncrasies typical of neurorehabilitation management, specially in acute facilities, that makes it susceptible as a vector of dissemination of Covid but also because of the need of finding new wards and intensive care units for Covid patients, the interventions in neurorehabilitation has suffered enormous changes. There is a need for rethinking the future to treat a new wave of patients with neurorehabilitation necessities such as those recovering from Covid 19 with neurological sequelae but also of those neurorehab patients who were unable to access the health system during the locke down period. This article is intended to invite to reflect on and discuss the redesign of our current neurorehabilitation plans after the experience on the Covid 19 pandemic.