Cervical cancer screening in a basic health unit in South of Brazil: Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic

Background: About 90% of the estimated cervical cancer deaths occur in low and middle-income countries. In Brazil, cervical cytology (i.e Pap smear) is a widely used strategy for its early detection. Considering the crucial role of the primary care in women's health in Brazil and the COVID-19 pandemic related health crisis, this cross-sectional study aimed to analyze the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic in cervical cancer screening in a teaching Basic Health Unit (BHU) from South of Brazil, in the city of Pelotas. Method(s): This study was approved by the institutional ethics committee (5.706.229). We analyzed records of Pap smears performed between February 2019 to February 2020 and March 2020 to April 2022, referred to as pre-pandemic and pandemic period. The statistical analysis was performed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences program. Result(s): The sample mean age was 43.6 years and they were mostly residents of the area covered by the BHU (94.35%). During the pre-pandemic and pandemic period 339 and 653 exams were collected, respectively. A 42% reduction in tests performed in 2020 compared to 2019 was observed as well as an increase of 107% in 2021 compared to 2020. An increase was assessed in the rate of non-residents (of the area of responsibility of the BHU) performing Pap tests in the Unit during the pandemic period (p = 0.001). Most of the results were negative for intraepithelial lesion or malignancy (NILM). A significant difference in abnormal results in the pre-pandemic and pandemic period, respectively, was seen (p = 0.012). [Formula presented] Conclusion(s): The crisis brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic may have exacerbated pre-existing health disparities in cervical cancer already present in Brazil in pre-pandemic periods. Recovery strategies in primary care are needed to prioritize high-risk patients and lessen the burden of cervical cancer in the future. Legal entity responsible for the study: The authors. Funding(s): Has not received any funding. Disclosure: All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.Copyright © 2023 European Society for Medical Oncology

Distinct Antimicrobial Analysis to Evaluate Multi-Component Wound Dressing Performance

Wound infection hinders adequate healing, being particularly grievous and prevalent in burn wounds and chronic wounds. Wound infection extends inflammation, preventing epithelialization and angiogenesis. Therefore, infection prolongs healing time, steeply increases treatment costs and degrades patients wellbeing. One successful strategy to control wound infection is to apply an active wound dressing, able to eliminate or significantly reduce the microbial population present at the infection site. Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are a multipurpose antimicrobial agent with a wide scope of applications which include wound dressings. Nevertheless, several studies denote AgNPs dose-dependent cytotoxicity, and their capability to bypass the blood-brain barrier and induce a neurotoxic effect. Hence, we propose to adopt two different strategies to attempt the simultaneously immobilize and increase the load of AgNPs within the wound dressing fabric. Thus, the envisaged objective is to prevent potential systemic cytotoxicity/through immobilization and to improve its antimicrobial capability due to the higher concentration of AgNPs. Two different approaches were used: i. AgNPs were suspended in an alginate (ALG) solution, ii. AgNPs were embedded in Mordenite (MOR) zeolite, followed by the addition of an ALG solution. Both suspensions were incorporated into polyester fabric assisted by its surface activation by dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma treatment. The bactericidal and virucidal effectiveness of each composite was tested against bacteria species known to induce nosocomial infections and a bacteriophage that is a potential surrogate of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Two distinct antimicrobial analyses were used to provide insights on the antimicrobial effectiveness of the obtained composites and to indirectly assess the release of AgNPs.

PUBLIC MANAGEMENT PERFORMANCE OF TOURISM IN FRONT OF THE EMERGENCY OF COVID-19: A LEXICAL ANALYSIS USING IRAMUTEQ

The aim of this article is to analyze the performance of the Brazilian tourism secretariats for the resumption of post-pandemic tourism in COVID-19. As a methodology, it was carried out a lexical analysis using qualitative data, adopting a census approach and the data were treated in a quantitative way with the support of the Iramuteq software and factorial analyses. Furthermore, it was found that the state departments of Tourism, in this moment of crisis caused by the coronavirus, are still acting in a punctual and segmented manner, without presenting an effective planning for the resumption of activities that considers on the negative impacts generated in the pandemic. The main findings of the research reveal that the secretariats address the relationship between the resumption of tourism and COVID-19 from four perspectives: "Retraction of tourism", "Tourist Orientation Measures", "Pre-return planning of tourism" and "Post-return planning of tourism". Fills the academic gap regarding research on Tourism and COVID-19 from the departments of Tourism.

MINORITY GROUPS BEFORE COVID-19: An analisis from the conception of structural racism

The present research seeks to show how the pandemic, caused by Covid-19, affected minority groups, considering that they suffer from structural racism present in Brazilian society since the slavery regime. For this purpose, this work will be divided into three moments, namely: (i) conception of structural racism, (ii) minority groups facing Covid-19 and (iii) measures adopted by the Public Power. Thus, it is believed that it will be possible to show how these groups are negatively affected in the current context when compared to white people, as well as some measures that need to be taken.