José Gerley Díaz Castro

Adverse drug reaction monitoring: support for pharmacovigilance at a tertiary care hospital in Northern Brazil.

BackgroundAdverse drug reactions (ADRs) are recognised as a common cause of hospital admissions, and they constitute a significant economic burden for hospitals. Hospital-based ADR monitoring and reporting programmes aim to identify and quantify the risks associated with the use of drugs provided in a hospital setting. This information may be useful for identifying and minimising preventable ADRs and may enhance the ability of prescribers to manage ADRs more effectively. The main objectives of this study were to evaluate ADRs that occurred during inpatient stays at the Hospital Geral de Palmas (HGP) in Tocantins, Brazil, and to facilitate the development of a pharmacovigilance service.MethodsA prospective study was conducted at HGP over a period of 8 months, from January 2009 to August 2009. This observational, cross-sectional, descriptive study was based on an analysis of medical records. Several parameters were utilised in the data evaluation, including patient demographics, drug and reaction characteristics, and reaction outcomes. The reaction severity and predisposing factors were also assessed.ResultsThe overall incidence of ADRs in the patient population was 3.1%, and gender was not found to be a risk factor. The highest ADR rate (75.8%) was found in the adult age group 15 to 50 years, and the lowest ADR rate was found in children aged 3 to 13 years (7.4%). Because of the high frequency of ADRs in orthopaedic (25%), general medicine (22%), and oncology (16%) patients, improved control of the drugs used in these specialties is required. Additionally, the nurse team (52.7%) registered the most ADRs in medical records, most likely due to the job responsibilities of nurses. As expected, the most noticeable ADRs occurred in skin tissues, with such ADRs are more obvious to medical staff, with rashes being the most common reactions. Metamizole, tramadol, and vancomycin were responsible for 21, 11.6, and 8.4% of ADRs, respectively. The majority of ADRs had moderate severity (58.9%), thus requiring intervention. Type A reactions were the most common (82.1%). At least one predisposing factor was present in 79.9% of the reports examined, and the most common predisposing factor was polypharmacy.ConclusionsThe results obtained will contribute to the development of strategies for the pharmacovigilance service at HGP and other hospitals throughout the country, which will improve the quality of ADR reporting and ensure safer drug use in Brazilian hospitals.

Atividade in vitro de extratos brutos de duas espécies vegetais do cerrado sobre leveduras do gênero Candida

Objetivou-se conhecer a atividade de Lafoensia pacari e a de Brossimum gaudichaudii, sobre leveduras do genero Candida isoladas da mucosa vaginal. As leveduras foram isoladas a partir de esfregaco de mucosa vaginal de mulheres com ou sem sintomatologia. Realizou-se os testes de susceptibilidade em duplicata para 34 linhagens de Candida frente aos extratos brutos das especies vegetais, nas concentracoes de 50, 100 e 200 mg.mL-1. Consideraram-se como ativos os extratos que produziram halos de inibicao com media a partir de 10 mm. Evidenciou-se atividade antifungica de B. gaudichaudii na concentracao de 200 mg.mL-1, enquanto que a de L. pacari mostrou-se ativo a 50 mg.mL-1. A atividade dos extratos vegetais estudados destacou-se em relacao a Nistatina creme (100.000UI/4g) utilizada como controle.

Common psychiatric symptoms among public school teachers in Palmas, Tocantins, Brazil. An observational cross-sectional study

CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE Teachers are at great risk of physical and mental stress due to material or psychological difficulties associated with their work. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of common psychiatric symptoms measured on the Self-Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ-20) scale that would suggest a diagnosis of psychiatric disorders among public school teachers in Palmas, Tocantins, Brazil, in 2012. DESIGN AND SETTING Observational cross-sectional study in Palmas, Tocantins, Brazil. METHOD We assessed 110 municipal teachers in the city of Palmas, Tocantins, Brazil. They were selected randomly from a list of employees of the Municipal Education Department of Palmas. All of them answered the SRQ-20 questionnaire after giving their consent. RESULTS Between the years 2008 and 2011, 24 cases of absence from work due to mental disorders were found. We excluded one case and 109 teachers answered the SRQ-20questionnaire. Out of the 109 teachers assessed, 54 had ≥ 7 points on the SRQ-20 scale. This finding suggests that 49.5% of the teachers had symptoms that were sufficient to consider a diagnosis of mental disorder, with the need for treatment. CONCLUSION Our study found that the prevalence of mental disorders among teachers is as high as seen in the literature. Our results suggest that recognition of mental disorders is low and that the current statistics fail to reach the occupational health sector.