Browsing by Author "Fernandez-Guzman, Daniel"

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COVID-19 in Latin America and the Caribbean: what is known about the status of school reopening?
(2021-06) Fernandez-Guzman, Daniel; Sangster-Carrasco, Lucero; Pinedo Soria, Antony
Since December 2019, the world has been facing a rapid increase in cases and deaths from the new coronavirus (COVID-19), forcing a response from countries all over the world to stop its transmission. Thus, at the beginning of April, 172 nations closed their schools, affecting >84.8% (~1484 million) of students enrolled worldwide, aiming to reduce the exposure to the virus, a social measure previously used to control the H1N1 influenza pandemic. It is difficult to assess the impact of schools closures on the incidence and mortality from COVID-19, given that it is not easy to carry out experimental studies, there is no scientific support confirms its effectiveness. However, during the influenza outbreaks, this strategy turned out to be a potentially useful intervention, despite not being able to determine the optimal moment to start and end this strategy, because of the concomitant use of other measures during the influenza outbreak; however, in mathematical models, where the school closure was considered as an isolated measure, a reduction between 2 and 4% of the total deaths was calculated during the virus outbreak.
Level of Knowledge Regarding Mpox among Peruvian Physicians during the 2022 Outbreak: A Cross-Sectional Study
(2023-01) Gonzales-Zamora, Jose A.; Soriano-Moreno, David R.; Soriano-Moreno, Anderson N.; Ponce-Rosas, Linda; Sangster-Carrasco, Lucero; De-Los-Rios-Pinto, Abraham; Benito-Vargas, Raysa M.; Murrieta-Ruiz, Valentina; Morocho-Alburqueque, Noelia; Caira-Chuquineyra, Brenda; Fernandez-Guzman, Daniel; Ccami-Bernal, Fabricio; Quispe-Vicuña, Carlos; Alarcon-Parra, Mariano; Pinedo Soria, Antony; Alave, Jorge
Introduction: Due to the high incidence of mpox in Peru and the poor knowledge about this disease among healthcare workers in non-endemic countries, it is crucial to determine the knowledge status of Peruvian physicians. Methodology: We conducted an analytical cross-sectional study based on an online survey from August to September 2022. Physicians who had a medical license and lived and practiced medicine in Peru were included. To evaluate the factors associated with a higher level of knowledge, we used crude (cPR) and adjusted (aPR) prevalence ratios with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) using Poisson regression. Results: We included 463 physicians. The mean age was 36.6 (SD: 10.3) years, and most were male (58.1%). Regarding knowledge, the median knowledge score was 14 [IQR: 13 to 15] out of 17 points. In terms of knowledge gaps, only 60.7% of the participants knew that there was an FDA-approved vaccine for mpox, 49.0% of participants knew about mpox proctitis and 33.3% acknowledged that it could be transmitted by the bite of an infected rodent. We found that taking care of patients with mpox (aPR: 1.39; 95% CI: 1.13 to 1.72) was associated with higher knowledge (>p50), while living in the eastern macro-region (aPR: 0.62; 95% CI: 0.42 to 0.93) was associated with lower knowledge (≤p50). Conclusions: Our study showed a high level of knowledge about mpox among Peruvian physicians. However, educational campaigns may be necessary, especially for physicians from the eastern region and those who do not have clinical experience with mpox.