Dengue, an Aedes mosquito-borne viral infection, is on the rise with climate and demographic change. In 2023, WHO declared dengue its highest grade of emergency, following the largest number of cases and deaths in recorded history. This emergency highlighted the absence of safe and effective dengue-specific treatments as a gap in the product landscape for care for people with dengue. To accelerate development of dengue-specific treatments for wide implementation and access in all dengue-endemic countries, WHO conducted a landscape analysis of the dengue therapeutics pipeline and convened a global expert and public consultation to develop target product profiles for treatments for non-severe and severe dengue. These target product profiles provide strategic guidance for product developers, regulators, procurement agencies, and funders on the intended use, target populations, and key product characteristics of dengue-specific treatments required to meet public health needs, setting clear targets to drive development of dengue drugs accessible to those who need them the most.
Group B Streptococcus (GBS) is a leading cause of preterm birth and neonatal infection. The COVID-19 pandemic substantially altered healthcare access, antibiotic use, and pathogen circulation. However, its influence on GBS remains poorly understood. This study evaluated temporal changes in GBS colonization, serotypes, and antimicrobial susceptibility among pregnant women in the Brazilian Amazon before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 1,449 pregnant women at 35–37 weeks of gestation attending public health units in Porto Velho, Brazil, between February 2018 and November 2023 were included. Rectovaginal samples were cultured for GBS detection. Capsular serotyping and antimicrobial susceptibility testing were performed using standardized methods. Colonization prevalence, serotype distribution, and resistance profiles were compared across pre-pandemic, pandemic, and post-pandemic periods. Overall GBS colonization was detected in 20.7
Landfill leachate is an environmental hazard requiring appropriate management and treatment. It is commonly co-treated with municipal wastewater at wastewater treatment plants. However, this approach produced environmentally harmful components associated with the increase in the color of the effluent and elevated levels of dissolved organic matter (DOM). This study aimed to assess the efficiency of applying a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) followed by a granular activated carbon (GAC) column for the co-treatment of wastewater and leachate, where the system was monitored for 490 days. No previous studies have utilized a biological process followed by adsorption to treat wastewater with leachate over an extended period. The addition of landfill leachate increased the dissolved organic carbon (DOC) content, true color, UV254nm absorbance, and specific ultraviolet absorbance (SUVA) of the raw wastewater. The integrated SBR-GAC system demonstrated a high treatment efficiency, achieving 90
This rapid review mapped how information and communication technologies (ICTs), particularly digital health applications, are being used within healthcare services for adults aged 55 years and older. Following the Joanna Briggs Institute methodology and guided by the Population–Concept–Context framework, studies published between 2016 and 2024 were identified and reported in accordance with the PRISMA extension for scoping reviews, based on a previously published protocol registered on the Open Science Framework. Nineteen studies were included after critical appraisal. The findings indicate that ICT use is most frequently associated with improved accessibility and coordination of healthcare services, support for health professionals’ training and care management practices, and positive health-related outcomes for older adults, particularly in the domains of mental health, social participation, and self-care. However, the evidence remains heterogeneous and often limited in its reporting of design and implementation processes, highlighting the need for further context-sensitive research that addresses ethical, equity, and implementation considerations in the use of digital health technologies for older populations.
Access to bariatric surgery (BS) remains limited in most countries with public healthcare systems, despite the continued rise in obesity prevalence, and Brazil is no exception. This study aimed to estimate the BS rate among adults with severe obesity who were potentially eligible for the procedure in Brazilian state capitals and the Federal District between 2017 and 2023. Publicly available national databases were used to obtain the number of performed surgeries and to estimate the eligible population. Severe forms of obesity were defined as body mass index (BMI) ≥ 40 kg/m² or BMI between 35 and 40 kg/m² in the presence of diabetes or hypertension. The BS rate was calculated using, as the denominator, the number of adults with severe forms of obesity who reported having no private healthcare insurance. 1,251,075 adults living in the study sites had severe forms of obesity. Of these, 738,430 reported having no private healthcare insurance. Between 2017 and 2023, 8,205 BS were performed on residents who underwent the procedure in their state capital. Overall, only 1
