ABSTRACT
COVID-19 pandemic has had the world on edge since its inception in December 2019 in southern China. Its global reach obeys that SARS-CoV-2, the etiological agent, has shown a high facility to be transmitted between humans. Since then, governments of all nations have deployed a battery of measures to lessen its consequences. According to the growth of the contagion, containment, mitigation, or suppression measures are used. The scientific basis for the measures is derived from knowledge of the biological characteristics of the virus and its transmission routes. Therefore, this work will review the biology of the coronavirus, the physics of its transmission and the concept of infection doses that allow understanding the health interventions used to reduce cases and deaths from the disease, especially in the Latin American context.Alternate abstract:La pandemia por COVID-19 ha tenido al mundo en vilo desde su inicio en diciembre de 2019 al sur de China. Su alcance global obedece a que el SARS-CoV-2, su agente etiológico, ha mostrado una alta facilidad para transmitirse entre humanos. Desde entonces, Gobiernos de todas las naciones han desplegado una batería de medidas para disminuir sus consecuencias. De acuerdo con el crecimiento del contagio, se emplean medidas de contención, mitigación o supresión. La base científica de las medidas se deriva del conocimiento de las características biológicas del virus y de sus vías de transmisión. Por tanto, en este trabajo se revisarán la biología del coronavirus, la física de su transmisión y el concepto de dosis de infección que permiten comprender las intervenciones sanitarias empleadas para disminuir los casos y fallecimientos por la enfermedad, especialmente en el contexto latinoamericano.
ABSTRACT
This study examined the association of perceived discrimination related to COVID-19 with psychological distress in healthcare workers in the Colombian Caribbean region. The authors designed and conducted a cross-sectional study, recruiting a non-probabilistic sample by email or instant messaging. Participants filled out a questionnaire including scales for perceived discrimination, anxiety, depression, perceived stress related to COVID-19, and suicide risk. Healthcare workers (n = 150) aged 18 to 68 years participated; of these, 72% were women, and the breakdown by occupation was 39.3% nursing assistants, 18.0% nurses, and 42.7% physicians. Perceived discrimination scores showed positive correlations with depressive symptoms among nursing assistants and physicians (rs = 0.34), and suicide risk in nursing assistants (rs = 0.35) and physicians (rs = 0.31). Among nurses, all measurements were independent of perceived discrimination. Nursing assistants scored highest in perceived discrimination. Physicians scored higher for COVID-19 perceived stress than nursing assistants, and nurses showed similar scores to physicians. In conclusion, perceived discrimination is related to depressive symptoms and suicide risk among nursing assistants and physicians. Nursing assistants report more perceived discrimination than nurses and physicians.
Subject(s)
COVID-19/psychology , Health Personnel/psychology , Psychological Distress , Social Discrimination/psychology , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Anxiety/psychology , COVID-19/epidemiology , Colombia/epidemiology , Cross-Sectional Studies , Depression/psychology , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , SARS-CoV-2 , Young AdultABSTRACT
The study aimed to estimate the high suicide risk during the COVID-19 lockdown in the Colombian population. A total of 700 adults aged between 18 and 76 years (M = 37.1, SD = 12.7; 68.0% women) completed an online questionnaire. Findings showed that 7.6% of participants reported a high suicide risk. High suicide risk was associated with high perceived stress related to COVID-19, risk of depressive episode, and insomnia. Our study suggests that 1 out of 13 Colombians in a non-probability sample reports a high suicide risk during COVID-19. Findings need to be corroborated in a representative sample of Colombians.