Characterization of skin lesions associated with the use of personal protective equipment and Staphylococcus aureus infections in health personnel in the fight against Covid-19

The Covid-19 pandemic has marked a paradigm shift in medical care, generating the need for the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) to safeguard health. This has caused secondary skin manifestations associated with their use. A descriptive cross-sectional investigation was carried out with the objective of characterizing the skin lesions associated with the use of PPE and Staphylococcus aureus infections in 283 nurses. The dermatological diagnosis was made by specialists;the bacteriological culture was performed using sterile cotton swabs or apposition smears on the skin lesion. For the isolation of the genus Staphylococcus, the samples were seeded in phenol red mannitol saline agar, incubating for 24 to 48 hours at 37°C. The identification of S. aureus was carried out by the fermentation of mannitol in the selective agar, the positive reaction of the coagulase test. S. aureus was differentiated from coagulase-negative Staphylococcus using the DNase test. LC-EPI was required in 75.618% of the nurses, of which 92.523% presented symptoms suggestive of secondary bacterial infection, fully confirmed by microbiological culture, identifying S. aureus. It was estimated that more than 60% of the LC-EPI were of a single presentation classified as grade I, mainly affecting the regions: orbital, temporal, nasal, infraorbital, and frontal, associated with the use of glasses/face protectors, hats, and masks as causes of the injuries. The definition of LC-EPI prevention protocols is recommended. © 2022 Instituto de Altos Estudios de Salud Publica. All rights reserved.

Reflective Teaching Practice in a Remote Teaching Context by COVID-19

In Peru, the coronavirus disease pandemic (COVID-19) has generated an unprecedented crisis in all areas. In the educational sector, this health emergency has caused the massive closure of face-to-face activities in public and private educational institutions, teachers and students have had to reinvent themselves to continue with the teaching-learning process. The objective of this research was to describe the level of reflection of teachers on their practice in a distance learning context using Covid-19. This research was quantitative, descriptive and cross-sectional. A sample of 300 teachers was taken. Of the three levels with 100 teachers each, some levels stand out with a higher percentage in the reflection processes by dimensions. In conclusion, the comparative result between the initial, primary and secondary levels of RED 7, the jurisdiction of UGEL 05 on the process of reflection on the pedagogical practice of teachers in the context of distance learning by Covid-19 describes that 84% of the NI execute it always;74% of the NP, 76% of the NS and 25% execute it almost always. © 2022 Copyright for this paper by its authors. Use permitted under Creative Commons License Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

[Prevention: with citizen participation.]

Learning from the SARS-CoV-2 consequences is essential in order to anticipate future pandemics. Moreover, it is a compelling reason to make substantive improvements in both public health and prevention systems. However, preparedness seems a difficult task when people show pandemic fatigue or question decisions that would affect their personal sphere. To deal with such reactions, it seems important to leave open some avenues for citizens' involvement, a strategy recommended by the World Health Organization and the European Commission. Here the main argument is in favor of a civic approach of prevention: 1) Preparedness to anticipate future pandemics is a duty;2) But, so far, it is not a priority issue for the political agenda;3) Neither is citizens' collaboration in the governance of health policy. Therefore, we could ask about the channels of communication and participation that are available to citizens, entities or stakeholders, to discuss public health issues.

Calculative practices, social movements and the rise of collective identity: how #istayathome mobilised a nation

Purpose: The Italian government addressed the first wave of its COVID-19 outbreak with a series of social restrictions and calculative practices, all branded with the slogan #istayathome. The hashtag quickly went viral, becoming both a mandate and a mantra and, as the crisis played out, we witnessed the rise of the Italian social movement #istayathome. This study examines how the government's calculative practices led to #istayathome and the constituents that shaped this social movement. Design/methodology/approach: The authors embrace social movement theory and the collective identity perspective to examine #istayathome as a collective action and social movement. Using passive netnography, text mining and interpretative text analysis enhanced by machine learning, the authors analysed just over 350,000 tweets made during the period March to May 2020, each brandishing the hashtag #istayathome. Findings: The #istayathome movement gained traction as a response to the Italian government's call for collective action. Thus, people became an active part of mobilising collective responsibility, enhancing the government's plans. A collective identity on the part of the Italian people sustained the mass mobilisation, driven by cohesion, solidarity and a deep cultural trauma from COVID-19's dramatic effects. Popular culture and Italy's long traditions also helped to form the collective identity of #istayathome. This study found that calculative practices acted as a persuasive technology in forming this collective identity and mobilising people's collective action. Numbers stimulated the cognitive, moral and emotional connections of the social ties shaping collective identity and responsibility. Thus, through collective identity, calculative practices indirectly influenced mass social behaviors and the social movement. Originality/value: This study offers a novel theoretical perspective and empirical knowledge to explain how government power affects people's culture and everyday life. It unveils the sociological drivers that mobilise collective behaviors and enriches the accounting literature on the effects of calculative practices in managing emergencies. The study contributes to theory by providing an understanding of how calculative practices can influence collective behaviors and can be used to construct informal networks that go beyond the government's traditional formalities. © 2021, Matteo La Torre, Patrizia Di Tullio, Paola Tamburro, Maurizio Massaro and Michele Antonio Rea.

Collaborative Journalism and COVID-19: The Pandemic's News Coverage in Mexican Digital Media

This article presents an interpretative analysis of the news coverage of COVID-19 during the first months of its appearance in Mexico, in the context of a collaborative journalism initiative, intending to understand the practices of news production from a civic role of journalism concerning the pandemic. The study applied structured interviews to twenty-six journalists from different media and states of the country, most of whom were members of the #TomateloEnSerioMx initiative against disseminating false information. The results contribute to understanding news production practices, agenda-building, and newsworthiness criteria deployed in the coverage of pandemics under a collaborative journalism effort performed by independent digital media.

Pediatric surgical activity during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: experience at a tertiary hospital. / Cirugía pediátrica durante la pandemia de SARS-CoV-2. Experiencia en un hospital de tercer nivel.

OBJECTIVES: The primary objective was to describe the characteristics and demographics of the surgical procedures carried out at a tertiary hospital during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. The secondary objective was to study the impact of the pandemic on the acute appendicitis cases treated at our healthcare facility and to compare them with a pre- SARS-CoV-2 period. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A retrospective study of all patients undergoing surgery at the pediatric surgery department in the pandemic period, from the beginning of the state of emergency in Spain until the first restrictions were removed, was conducted. RESULTS: A total of 61 patients underwent surgery in 58 days vs. 406 patients in the same 2019 period (p < 0.00001). 59.01% of surgeries were urgent. 5.1% of patients had a positive SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic test. 30 different procedures were carried out, with appendectomy being the most frequent one (n = 13, 19.6% of patients). 61.5% of appendicitis cases were complicated vs. 42.4% in the non-COVID period (p = 0.17). Surgical approach was open in 46.1% of patients vs. 6.1% in the non-COVID period (p = 0.004). No statistically significant differences were found in terms of complication rate or hospital stay. CONCLUSIONS: During the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, a significant decrease in the number of daily procedures was noted, with more than half being urgent. Appendicular pathologies were in a more advanced stage than usual, with a clear trend towards open surgery vs. laparoscopy.

OBJETIVOS: Describir las características y demografía de los procedimientos quirúrgicos realizados en un hospital de tercer nivel durante la pandemia del SARS-CoV-2. Como objetivo secundario se estudia el impacto de la pandemia en las apendicitis agudas tratadas en nuestro centro y su comparación con un periodo previo al SARS-CoV-2. MATERIAL Y METODOS: Estudio retrospectivo incluyendo a todos los pacientes intervenidos por parte del Servicio de Cirugía Pediátrica durante el periodo de pandemia. Abarca desde el primer día del estado de alarma hasta la desescalada de las restricciones. RESULTADOS: Se intervinieron un total de 61 pacientes en 58 días frente a 406 pacientes durante el mismo periodo de 2019 (p < 0,00001). El 59,01% de las intervenciones eran de carácter urgente. Un 5,1% de los pacientes tuvieron un test diagnóstico de SARS-CoV-2 positivo. Se realizaron 30 procedimientos distintos, siendo el más frecuente la apendicectomía (n = 13, 19,6% de los pacientes). El 61,5% de las apendicitis fueron complicadas frente a un 42,4% en periodo no COVID (p = 0,17). El abordaje quirúrgico fue abierto en un 46,1% de los pacientes frente al 6,1% no COVID (p = 0,004). No hubo diferencias estadísticamente significativas en la tasa de complicaciones o la estancia hospitalaria. CONCLUSIONES: Durante la pandemia por SARS-CoV-2 se ha producido una importante disminución del número de procedimientos diarios, pasando a ser más de la mitad de carácter urgente. La patología apendicular se ha presentado más evolucionada de lo habitual, habiendo una clara tendencia a la cirugía abierta frente a la laparoscopia.

Health emergency: Two frameworks for deliberation

Access to healthcare has been heavily affected by the COVID-19, according to the World Health Organization. Its impact has forced the distribution of resources and the need for justifiable priority-setting. A report published by the Spanish Ministry of Health has reiterated the importance of ethics in such a situation, and other entities have made recommendations for health professionals. However, it is not easy to make decisions in situations of unexpected scarcity, nor is it possible to reach a balance between equity and efficiency. Against this backdrop, the objective of the article is to consider the following levels: (1) decision making in a health emergency situation;(2) the framework of principles, with the equitable distribution and efficient management of resources, and (3) deliberation as a appropriate procedure for conflict resolution and as a process that fosters public policy transparency and accountability in public policies, including health policy. © 2020 Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona and Universitat de Girona. All rights reserved.

Rebuilding trust: sustainability and non-financial reporting and the European Union regulation

Purpose: This paper introduces the special issue “Rebuilding trust: Sustainability and non-financial reporting, and the European Union regulation”. Inspired by the studies published in the special issue, this study aims to examine the concept of accountability within the context of the European Union (EU) Directive on non-financial disclosure (hereafter the EU Directive) to offer a critique and a novel perspective for future research into mandatory non-financial reporting (NFR) and to advance future practice and policy. Design/methodology/approach: The authors review the papers published in this special issue and other contemporary studies on the topic of NFR and the EU Directive. Findings: Accountability is a fundamental concept for building trust in the corporate reporting context and emerges as a common topic linking contemporary studies on the EU Directive. While the EU Directive acknowledges the role of accountability in the reporting practice, this study argues that regulation and practice on NFR needs to move away from an accounting-based conception of accountability to promote accountability-based accounting practices (Dillard and Vinnari, 2019). By analysing the links between trust, accountability and accounting and reporting, the authors claim the need to examine and rethink the inscription of interests into non-financial information (NFI) and its materiality. Hence, this study encourages research and practice to broaden mandatory NFR practice over the traditional boundaries of accountability, reporting and formal accounting systems. Research limitations/implications: Considering the challenges posed by the COVID-19 crisis, this study calls for further research to investigate the dialogical accountability underpinning NFR in practice to avoid the trap of focusing on accounting changes regardless of accountability. The authors advocate that what is needed is more timely NFI that develops a dialogue between companies, investors, national regulators, the EU and civil society, not more untimely standalone reporting that has most likely lost its relevance and materiality by the time it is issued to users. Originality/value: By highlighting accountability issues in the context of mandatory NFR and its linkages with trust, this study lays out a case for moving the focus of research and practice from accounting-based regulations towards accountability-driven accounting change. © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited.