ABSTRACT
Background: The aim of this study was to describe the prevalence of persistent symptoms of COVID in hospitalized pediatric population one year after admission compared to a control group. Method(s): Prospective observational study conducted in 2 hospitals. We included patients aged 0-18 years hospitalized for acute COVID-19 more than a year ago and controls, matched by age and sex, hospitalized for causes other than COVID-19, and who had never COVID-19 at recruitment or during the follow-up. Families were contacted and a standardized survey was conducted. Persistent COVID/disease was defined as the presence of symptoms with onset in the first 3 months after COVID-19 and with persistence for more than 2 months. Result(s): 50 cases and 46 controls were analyzed, 58.3% male, 36% <5 years. Families were interviewed a median of 1.89 years (interquartile range;1.25-2.07) after hospitalization. The definition of persistent COVID-19/disease was met in 34% of cases vs. 37% of controls (p=0.767). Symptoms persisted >=11 months in 24% (12/50) of cases vs. 13% (6/46) of controls (p=0.182), with no differences by age group. The most frequent symptoms at 1 year in cases were fatigue (8%), headache (6%), poor appetite (6%), abdominal pain (6%) and variations in heart rate (6%). In controls, persistent symptoms were mostly abdominal pain (6%) and poor appetite (6%). The number of readmissions was 11/50 (22%) and 6/46 (13%) (p=0.267), respectively. On emotional/behavioral items, 16/50 (32%) of cases reported that their emotional state was worse or much worse than before admission, compared to 16/46 (34.7%). No risk factors associated with the development of persistent symptoms were found, except the length of hospital admission (p=0.043). Conclusion(s): In this study, the prevalence of persistent symptoms was not different in patients with and without COVID-19. 1-year persistence was higher in COVID-19 cases but did not reach significance. Persistence correlated with length of hospitalization.
ABSTRACT
Through the years Ecuador has gone through several economic crises that have affected political, social, environmental and cultural aspects. In this work, the exports of Ecuador in the period 1998-2020 are statistically analyzed, the objective is to determine what has been the impact on the level of exports with respect to the economic crises in that period. A documentary investigative work was carried out, reviewing the export figures published in official organizations such as the Central Bank of Ecuador. Graphs show the total amount of annual exports, emphasizing the export level during the looming crises after the El Niño phenomenon in 1998, the banking holiday in 1999, dollarization in 2000, the limited productivity of oil in 2002, the real estate crisis in 2008 and its repercussions on the price of crude oil in 2009, the earthquake in Manabí in 2016 and the Covid-19 pandemic. The investigation determined that 2015 was the year with the lowest amount in exports with an approximate decrease of -28%, caused mainly by the fall in oil prices at the international level, demonstrating how dependent the country’s economy is on this resource. © 2020, University of Cienfuegos, Carlos Rafael Rodriguez. All rights reserved.