https://paraguay.bvsalud.org/base_bdnpar?q=&filter=indexed_database%3A%22BDNPAR%22+AND+author%3A%22Samudio%2C+Margarita%22 Mon, 13 Apr 2026 04:23:24 UTC https://paraguay.bvsalud.org/base_bdnpar/resource/?id=biblioref.referenceanalytic.1591227
Introduction. Dengue is a highly prevalent and costly disease in Paraguay. Objective. To evaluate the dengue surveillance system in the department of Guairá in 2024. Materials and methods. Descriptive study evaluating dengue surveillance according to CDC guidelines. The structure and surveillance data were analyzed for the period 2019–2023, and a questionnaire was applied to the personnel involved in surveillance. Results. Between 2020-2023, 7,459 suspected cases were reported in the department of Guairá, with the highest number of reports in 2020 and 2023. According to the perception of 86.5% of respondents, the quality of the surveillance system was good, its usefulness was good for the diagnosis and recognition of epidemics for 72.6%, but decreased for vector control actions. Simplicity was considered good for the form and reporting flowchart, according to 68.5%of the respondents, and average for the dependence of reporting on the availability of diagnostic methods, according to 31.5% of the respondents; flexibility and acceptability were rated as good by 86.3% and 91.8%, respectively. Representativeness was rated as good in general by 78.1%, although 19.2% rated it as average for outpatient cases, subpopulations, or territories. Conclusion: To improve the dengue surveillance system in Guairá, staff should focus on the clinical and universal detection of suspected cases, regardless of severity or availability of diagnostic methods. Key words: evaluation study; health surveillance system; dengue; information systems]]> 1591227 Wed, 02 Apr 2025 00:00:00 UTC https://paraguay.bvsalud.org/base_bdnpar/resource/?id=biblioref.referenceanalytic.1413358
Introduction. The COVID-19 pandemic from its beginning until August 13, 2022, has caused 19,478 deaths in Paraguay with a fatality rate of 2.78%. The objective of the study is to compare the characteristics of patients who died from COVID-19 in two years, January-December 2021 and January-July 2022. Material and Method. A retrospective cross-sectional analytical study of adult and pediatric patients who died from COVID-19 hospitalized in the respiratory area of the hospital. The patients were confirmed by RT-PCR in nasopharyngeal swabs. Results.Out of 5265 patients hospitalized with COVID-19, 1512 died, yielding an overall lethality rate of 28.7%, in 2021 was 26.3% (1164/4423) and 41.3% (348/842) in 2022. There was a higher percentage of men (53, 6%) among the deceased, significantly higher (p=0.045) in 2022 (58.3%) thanin 2021 (52.2%); 69% of the deceased were over 60 years of age in 2022 and 48.3% in 2021; 79.2% of the patients had some risk factor, significantly higher in 2022 (84.3%) than in 2021 (77.7%), especially in AHT (54.3% vs 42.2%), heart disease (15.8% vs 9.7%), CKD (14.4% vs 5.4%), COPD (11.5% vs 5.4%), immunodeficiency (6.3% vs 2.5%) and neurological disease (3.4% vs 1.5%). The need for MRA was significantly (p <0.001) higher in 2022 (50.3%) than in 2021 (31.1%). Conclusion.A high global lethality rate was observed in a reference hospital in Paraguay with mortality predictors similar to those reported worldwide.]]> 1413358 Mon, 30 Jan 2023 00:00:00 UTC https://paraguay.bvsalud.org/base_bdnpar/resource/?id=biblioref.referenceanalytic.1511711
Introduction. Characterizing the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in the community can provide useful data for the authorities in making decisions on the educational institutions in Paraguay. Objective.To describe the epidemiological characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the homes of schoolchildren from three institutions in Asunción and the Central Department. Materials and Methods. Cross-sectional descriptive study carried out between October 25 and November 5, 2021. Structured surveys were applied to parents or guardians of schoolchildren through a questionnaire in the format of the Google form sent through WhatsApp from the Directorate of the educational institutions. The questionnaire included questions about the number of household members, demographic data of the respondent, number of people with co-morbidity, people with COVID-19, need of hospitalization, number of death and vaccinated against COVID-19. Results.Data from 780 households were obtained, 379 (48.6%) from San Lorenzo, 217 (27.8) from Limpio, 93 (11.9%) from Asunción and 91 from other localities from Central (11.7%); 18.6% (731/3920) of household members had COVID-19, of them 9.7% (71/731) were hospitalized. Mortality rate was 0.79% (31/3920) and lethality 4.2% (31/731). 52.7% (2,340/3,920) were already vaccinated against COVID-19 and 88.2% (2,065/2,340) of them fully vaccinated. Conclusion.The prevalence of infection was within the expected range for symptomatic COVID-19 infections with a high rate of intradomiciliary transmission. Both the hospitalization and fatality rates were within the range for the country. Key words: COVID-19; schools; Paraguay; epidemiologic study characteristics]]> 1511711 Tue, 10 Oct 2023 00:00:00 UTC https://paraguay.bvsalud.org/base_bdnpar/resource/?id=biblioref.referenceanalytic.1451744
Introduction.Glaucoma is still a public health problem due to its high prevalence, the socioeconomic impact it entails for the patient who suffers from it, which decreases the quality of life. Objective:To determine the direct costs and quality of life of adult patients treated WITH glaucoma in the Fundación Visión Central Clinic from November 2022 to February 2023. Material and methods:observational, descriptive, cross-sectional study that included patients diagnosed with glaucoma by sampling by convenience. Results:140 patients between 29 and 90 years old were included, 52.9% female, 43.6% incomplete primary education, 32.1% unemployed. Medical treatment was performed in 81%, laser in 42% and surgical procedure in 32%. An average annual expense of 3,639,800gs ($503.93) per patient was reported. Emotional affectation was reported in 35.7% of the patients, and 43.5% deteriorated quality of life; 55% of the patients has dependency on personal care. Conclusion:Glaucoma involves large direct costs, due to treatment, in addition patients have deterioration in the quality of life.Key words:glaucoma; health care costs;psychological distress; quality of life]]> 1451744 Mon, 04 Sep 2023 00:00:00 UTC https://paraguay.bvsalud.org/base_bdnpar/resource/?id=biblioref.referenceanalytic.1402679
Introduction: the first case of COVID-19 in Paraguay was confirmed on March 7, 2020. No publications characterizing the frequency and clinical-epidemiological characteristics of COVID-19 in medical students have been found. Objective: to determine the frequency of infection by SARS-CoV-2 and clinical characteristics of medical students at the Universidad del Pacífico during the 2020-2021 academic period. Methodology: this was a cross-sectional descriptive observational study, that included medical students from the Universidad del Pacífico. The data was obtained through an online survey by Google Docs© that included age, sex, academic year, symptoms, sequelae, laboratory testing and results for SARS-CoV-2 and severity of the condition. Results: 342 students between 18 and 42 years of age from the 6 courses were surveyed, 70.8% were female; 66.4 % presented symptoms compatible with COVID-19, the most frequent (44.2 %) was headache. 67.5 % were in contact with someone with COVID-19 and 40.4 % reported not strictly following quarantine guidelines, 61.7 % underwent some laboratory testing and 42.7 % of them were positive for SARS-CoV-2, 98.9 % had a mild infection. 86.7 % knew the contagion source. A significantly (p<0.001) higher frequency of COVID-19 was observed in students ≤21 years old (65 % vs 32 %), those who had contact with a person with COVID-19 (49.1 % vs 10.5 %), and those who presented compatible symptoms (48.8 % vs 18.6 %). Conclusions: almost half of the participants presented positive results for SARS-CoV-2, which shows high community transmission.]]> 1402679 Mon, 02 Jan 2023 00:00:00 UTC https://paraguay.bvsalud.org/base_bdnpar/resource/?id=biblioref.referenceanalytic.1400319
Introduction. Bacterial neurological diseases are a global health problem. In Paraguay, two types of epidemiological surveillance are used for meningococcal infections: universal and sentinel. Objetive.The objective was to evaluate the universal epidemiological surveillance system for meningoencephalitis. Methodology:Cross-sectional descriptive study, following the guidelines of the Updated Guidelines for Evaluating Public Health Surveillance Systems-CDC-2001. The database of the national system of 2016 was analyzed. To evaluate the attributes: data quality, acceptability, timeliness, sensitivity and positive predictive value (PPV) the sample size of a total population of 640 was calculated using EpiInfo7.2.2.2, confidence level 95%. The minimum size studied was 240 suspected cases. The grading scale was developed. Random samples of records, frequency measurements and central tendency (mean, median) were calculated in Excel. Results:Epidemiological files were evaluated, the quality of the data in terms of completeness was 95% and inconsistency 4.2%. The acceptability of the actors reached 92%. The opportunity to take a sample ≤ 24 hours (Me= 1 day; R= -31-35 days), diagnosis ≤72h (Me= 0 days; R= 0-61 days) and notification has exceeded the required 24h (Me= 3 days; R= 0-41 days). The sensitivity of thesystem was found to be 90% with a PPV of 7.5%. Conclusion.In conclusion, the system is sensitive in terms of clinical surveillance with a low PPV, the data quality is excellent, acceptable by the actors, timely for sampling and diagnosis. However, the timeliness of notification needs to be improved.]]> 1400319 Mon, 21 Nov 2022 00:00:00 UTC https://paraguay.bvsalud.org/base_bdnpar/resource/?id=biblioref.referenceanalytic.1388740 1388740 Tue, 22 Nov 2022 00:00:00 UTC https://paraguay.bvsalud.org/base_bdnpar/resource/?id=biblioref.referenceanalytic.1388742
ABSTRACT Introduction. The severity of patients hospitalized for COVID-19 can be determined by its sociodemographic characteristics and underlying diseases, as well as changes in symptoms and laboratory results. Objective. to analyze severity predictors in patients hospitalized for COVID-19 at the Alto Paraná Respiratory Integrated Hospital. Methodology. Observational cros-sectional, retrospective study. Clinical charts of patients hospitalized between January and March of 2021 were retrospectively reviewed. Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics and severity risk factors were analyzed. Results. Of the 137 patients studied, 62.0% (n=85) were male. Mortality was 43.8% (n=60), similar in those under and over 60 years old. ICU admission was associated with higher mortality 69.4% (n=43) (p<0.001). The main symptoms were dyspnea 63.5% (n=87), dry cough 55.47% (n=76) and fever 54.0% (n=74), only dyspnea was associated (p<0.05) to death. The most frequent underlying diseases associated with a higher risk of death (p<0.001) were arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus and obesity. The most frequently altered laboratory parameters were leukocytosis, neutrophilia, lymphopenia, AST, D-dimer, ferritin and glycemia, but the markers associated (p<0.05) with death were lymphopenia, AST and glycemia. Conclusion. Some severity parameters were identified that contributed to the monitoring of the patient's evolution, which can be useful as predictors in the decisions of health professionals for treatment.]]> 1388742 Wed, 23 Nov 2022 00:00:00 UTC https://paraguay.bvsalud.org/base_bdnpar/resource/?id=biblioref.referenceanalytic.1388751
ABSTRACT Introduction. Sepsis continues to present a high mortality despite advances in treatment. Objective: To determine the clinical characteristics and mortality of patients with sepsis admitted to a reference hospital. Methodology. Retrospective analytical study of adult patients diagnosed with sepsis admitted to the Hospital Nacional in the period 2016-2017. Results. 160 patients were studied, 105 (65.6%) had community-acquired sepsis and 55 (34.4%) hospital-onset sepsis. There was a higher proportion of males (60.7%) among patients with hospital-onset sepsis, there was no significant difference in the mean age (50.15±18.0 vs 53.5 ± 21.4). The frequency of a risk factor/comorbidity (76.8% vs 53.8%), positive blood culture (38.2% vs 17.1%) and positive sputum (25.5% vs 3.8%) were significantly higher in patients with hospital-onset sepsis. There was no difference in the pulmonary or gastrointestinal infection focus, however, the infection focus in the skin and soft tissues (3.6% vs 20.2%) and uro-genital (1.8% vs 17.3%) were significantly more frequent in community sepsis. Staphylococcus aureus and SCN were the most frequent microorganisms, Acinetobacter baumanii and Pseudomona aeruginosa were significantly more frequent in patients with nosocomial sepsis. Mortality was significantly associated with hospital-onset sepsis (60.7% vs 40.9%; p=0.012; OR: 2.33 (95%CI: 1.19-4.56)); immunosuppression (76.0% vs 43.0%; p=0.002; OR: 4.20 (95%CI: 1.58-11.19)) and septic shock (70.4% vs 1.9%; <0.001; OR: 121 (95%CI: 16.0-914)). Conclusion. Mortality was high in this series, significantly more frequent in hospital-onset sepsis, immunocompromised and with septic shock patients.]]> 1388751 Tue, 22 Nov 2022 00:00:00 UTC https://paraguay.bvsalud.org/base_bdnpar/resource/?id=biblioref.referenceanalytic.1388752
ABSTRACT Introduction. The survival of patients with childhood neoplasia has improved considerably thanks to the progress in diagnosis and multidisciplinary treatment. Objective. to determine the mortality risk factors in patients admitted to intensive care (PICU) at a teaching hospital in Asunción, Paraguay. Methodology. A retrospective review of the medical charts of cancer patients admitted to the PICU of the Hospital de Clínicas from January 2014 to December 2016 was carried out. Results. 874 patients admitted to the PICU, 150 (17.2%) patients had cancer. Mean age was 9.8 ± 5.2 years; 51% female. They had readmission (12%), other comorbidity (48%), emergency admission (67.3%). Previous days of hospitalization in the ward was an average 6.5 ± 10.9 and in the intensive care unit 6.9 ± 13.7 days. The type of cancer was 52% hematological. 82% of patients presented failure of one or more organs and mortality was 19.3%. Several risk factors for mortality were identified by bivariate analysis, but by multivariate analysis only five variables were associated with death: age ≥10 years (p=0.047), PIM2 ≥10 (p=0.001), mucositis (p= 0.004), neurological failure (p= 0.001) and renal failure (p= 0.001). Conclusion. Overall mortality was lower than that reported in other series, which was higher in those older than 10 years, with mucositis, neurological and renal organ failure.]]> 1388752 Tue, 22 Nov 2022 00:00:00 UTC