University professors: teleworking conditions and use of technologies in the emergency remote teaching framework

The aim of this study is to learn about the experiences of university teachers during and after emergency remote teaching (ERT), which emerged in the context of isolation due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Its methodology has a qualitative, non-experimental, cross-sectional and descriptive design with a phenomenological approach. As results, the university professors consulted consider that during the ERT, the time dedicated to work increased, both due to meetings outside the timetable and to the creation of educational materials. They express having to use their own resources to teach their subjects online and also detail that there is a lack of technological training. The teachers also commented that they suffered health problems, such as visual weakness, body aches, stress, anxiety and depression. In conclusion, teachers face the situation by updating themselves in information and educational technologies, being flexible and adapting. A limitation of this study is that the sample was obtained with a non-probabilistic method by convenience, in 35 Mexican Institutions of Higher Education (IESM), so it is difficult to generalize these results to all Mexico.

Inhaled aprotinin reduces viral load in mild-to-moderate inpatients with SARS-CoV-2 infection

The objective of this work is to expand the information provided in the ATAC study, showing the viral load measurements by means of RT-qPCR in tracheobronchial samples from a group of patients with moderate COVID-19, before and after 5 days of standard treatment with aprotinin compared with standard treatment with placebo. The samples of the current study were rescued from participants of a multicentre, double-blind, parallel-arm, randomized phase III trial, performed in four Spanish hospitals with the same inclusion criteria at baseline. Viral load was compared between placebo group and aprotinin-treated group at two time points. At the pre-time (i.e. day 0 before treatment), no significant differences were observed between groups. However, at post-time (i.e. treatment day 5), viral load levels were significantly lower in the aprotinin-treated group. Additionally, a comparative analysis was performed between the placebo group and the aprotinin group. A significantly shorter treatment time was observed in the aprotinin-treated group (p = 0.032), as well as a greater decrease in viral load (p = 0.016). The remaining variables showed no differences between both groups.

Increasing tobacco cessation counseling and referral in a statewide oncology collaborative

Background: Oncology providers are uniquely positioned to provide tobacco cessation interventions because the motivation to quit can increase at the time of a cancer diagnosis. Physician advice to quit smoking increases the likelihood of a quit attempt by 25%. The Michigan Oncology Quality Consortium (MOQC), a physician-led quality improvement consortium of nearly all oncology practices in Michigan, has made tobacco cessation counseling and referral a priority. Method(s): The Michigan Oncology Quality Consortium (MOQC) began ing tobacco cessation counseling and referrals from oncology medical records into the Quality Improvement Practice Initiative (QOPI) platform of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) beginning in 2014. MOQC has developed and disseminated effective resources to ensure that practices in the consortium have access to tobacco cessation services through a grant to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS). In 2017, performance on this measure was selected as one of our value-based reimbursement (VBR) measures. We also compared our data with responses from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) obtained through MDHHS in response to the following question: Earlier you indicated that you currently smoke cigarettes. Has your doctor or other health professional ever advised you of, or referred you to, a program or other resources available to help you stop smoking? . Result(s): Between 2015 and 2021, 6,048 patients were included in the measure denominator. In 2015, only 44% of patients had documented counseling or referral to tobacco cessation services. Performance on this measure has increased each year as shown in the table. Data from the BRFSS Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) also show year-over-year improvement in patient reports of having been advised to quit. Conclusion(s): Our statewide collaborative successfully increased the proportion of patients who smoke who were either counseled to quit smoking or who were referred to smoking cessation services. The decrease in performance in 2020 and 2021 was likely to be the result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The addition of the VBR may have contributed to the success of our program. Through a partnership with HBOM- Health Behavior Optimization for Michigan, MOQC will create additional measures to continue to incentivize practices to get back to pre-pandemic levels of tobacco cessation referrals.

Descriptive study of the health service workers of a primary care department confined by COVID-19

Background: The Covid-19 pandemic is testing the resistance of health systems, the preservation of health professionals is a priority in processes of this type. The professionals' exposure to suspicious contacts often requires their confinement. The objective was to know the epidemiological characteristics of the primary care professionals who required confinement.

Mental and physical disorders in graduate university teachers during the COVID 19 pandemic in Mexico City

Introduction: During the confinement period due to the SARS-CoV2 pandemic, in July 2021, a survey was carried out to study the health and working conditions of postgraduate professors at a public university in Mexico City. Material and methods: All postgraduate professors were invited to participate. The protocol was approved by the bioethics committee. By an electronic questionnaire was obtained information about: personal, work, distance teaching, physical and mental health, and symptoms of depression, and anxiety. The Chi2 test was used. Significant associations are reported. Results: Eighty-nine graduate teachers participated, 50.6% women and 49.4% men. Sixty-three percent were full-time, and 44.9% were hourly teachers. During the pandemic, most received some training in distance learning, 74% had adequate equipment and furniture. Cyberbullying was not reported, and 79% allocated part of their free time to work. Fourteen percent had good physical health and 76% moderate. The most-reported complaints were neck, back, and hand/wrist pain, and sleep disturbances, mainly full-time;45% slept 6 hours or less. Thirty-six percent had good mental health and 41.6% moderate;37% indicated feeling nervous, higher in full-time teachers;7% reported feeling depressed, twice higher in women. Due to academic load, 46% felt overwhelmed, and 31% burnout, higher in full-time and women. Conclusions: During confinement, graduate professors reported moderate symptoms of anxiety and depression and musculoskeletal complaints related in part to their teaching activities, with symptoms being higher in full-time staff and women.

SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence among workers in a hospital in Madrid

Background: The impact of the first wave of the pandemic due to SARS-CoV-2 has been enormous in Spanish hospitals, being Madrid one of the most affected communities. The aim of this study was to analyze the impact of the pandemic on the workers of a hospital located in one of the most affected areas of Madrid (Alcala de Henares) using a chemiluminescence immunoassay (CLIA). Methods: We conducted a seroprevalence survey between June 25th and July 31st, 2020, over hospital workers from our institution. This study population was previously analyzed using a diagnostic approach which consisted of PCR and a serologic rapid test. For the present survey, prevalence of IgG antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 was studied using chemiluminescence. We analyzed the prevalence in healthcare workers (HCW) and non-healthcare workers (nHCW). Information about professional category, use of personal protective equipment (PPEs) and previous COVID-19 contacts was collected to determine the risk factors associated with SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity. Comparisons were made using the Mann-Whitney U test (continuous variables) and the two-tailed Fisher's exact test (categorical variables). Risk factors for seropositivity were analyzed using multivariate logistic regression. Results: A total of 2,219 workers were included and 847 of them (38.2%) presented IgG antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, being seroprevalence significantly higher for HCW (39.3%) than for nHCW (30.7%, p=0.006). We found no differences regarding positivity rates compared with the first diagnostic approach for symptomatic and asymptomatic workers, or infected workers per professional category. In the multivariate logistic regression analysis, the use of PPE (protective, OR=0.65;95%CI: 0.48-0.89;p<0.001) and previous contact with COVID-19 patients (risk factor, OR=1.93;95%CI: 1.37-2.72;p<0.001) were independent factors that were associated with SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity. Conclusions: More than 38% of our workers presented IgG antibodies against SARS-CoV-2. We found no differences in the positivity rates between diagnostic approaches. The use of PPE (protective) and previous contact with COVID-19 patients (risk factor) were associated with infection.