Clinical Follow-Up in People Living with HIV During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Mexico.

Clinical follow-up in people living with HIV (PLWH) has individual and public health implications. The objectives of this study were to measure variables related to follow-up failures, identify self-reported reasons to maintain adequate follow-up or for having follow-up failures, and know how the pandemic influenced patients' clinical follow-up. Participants were PLWH receiving HIV-health care at a hospital-based clinic in Mexico City which became an exclusive COVID-19 health service. Participants completed a telephone semi-structured interview and online psychological questionnaires. Lower educational and socioeconomic level, longer times of transportation to the clinic, being attended by different doctors, detectable viral load, having previous dropouts, inadequate antiretroviral adherence, and less HIV knowledge were related to follow-up failures. COVID-19 had a significant negative impact, but it also had positive repercussions for patients with adequate follow-up. These results could help develop effective psychosocial programs and improve healthcare in institutions to facilitate patient retention.

RESUMEN: El seguimiento clínico en las personas que viven con VIH (PVV) tiene implicaciones individuales y de salud pública. Los objetivos de este estudio fueron medir las variables relacionadas con las fallas en el seguimiento, identificar las razones reportadas para mantener un seguimiento adecuado o para tener fallas en el seguimiento, y conocer cómo la pandemia influyó en el seguimiento clínico de los individuos. Los participantes eran PVV que recibían atención médica para el VIH en una clínica hospitalaria de Ciudad de México que se convirtió en un servicio exclusivo para COVID-19. Los participantes completaron una entrevista semiestructurada por teléfono y cuestionarios psicológicos en línea. El nivel educativo y socioeconómico más bajo, mayor tiempo de transporte a la clínica, falta de continuidad del médico, carga viral detectable, tener abandonos previos, inadecuada adherencia al tratamiento antirretroviral y menor conocimiento del VIH se relacionaron con las fallas en el seguimiento. La pandemia demostró tener un importante impacto negativo, pero también tuvo repercusiones positivas para los pacientes con un seguimiento adecuado. Estos resultados son importantes para desarrollar programas psicosociales eficaces y mejorar la atención sanitaria en las instituciones para facilitar la retención de los pacientes.

Flow Cytometry: From Experimental Design to Its Application in the Diagnosis and Monitoring of Respiratory Diseases.

Recent advances in the field of flow cytometry (FCM) have highlighted the importance of incorporating it as a basic analysis tool in laboratories. FCM not only allows the identification of cell subpopulations by detecting the expression of molecules in the cell membrane or cytoplasm, but it can also quantify and identify soluble molecules. The proper functioning of the FCM requires six fundamental systems, from those related to the transport of events to the systems dedicated to the analysis of information. In this review, we have identified the main considerations that every FCM user must know for an optimal antibody panel design, the quality systems that must govern the FCM protocols to guarantee reproducible results in research or clinical laboratories. Finally, we have introduced the current evidence that highlights the relevance of FCM in the investigation and clinical diagnosis of respiratory diseases, establishing important advances in the basic and clinical study of diseases as old as Tuberculosis along with the recent proposals for the monitoring and classification of patients infected with the new SARS-CoV2 virus.