Author: Cadernos De Saúde Pública

Vulnerability to severe forms of COVID-19: an intra-municipal analysis in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil [Originally published in Cad. Saúde Pública, vol.36 no.5]

Spatialization of the index of vulnerability to severe COVID-19 in the city of Rio de Janeiro reveals the existence of more vulnerable areas in different parts of the city’s territory, reflecting its urban complexity. The areas with greatest vulnerability are located in the North and West Zones of the city and in poor neighborhoods nested within upper-income parts of the South and West Zones. Available in Portuguese and English. Read More →

Vertical social distancing policy is ineffective to contain the COVID-19 pandemic [Originally published in Cad. Saúde Pública, vol.36 no.5]

These two scenarios are compared to a control scenario in which no intervention is made to distance people. The vertical distancing scenario is almost as bad as the control, both in terms of people infected and in the acceleration of cases. On the other hand, horizontal distancing, if applied with the same intensity in all age groups, significantly reduces the total infected people “flattening the disease growth curve”. Available in English. Image adapted from the original by visuals. Read More →

Chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine repositioning in times of COVID-19 pandemics, all that glitters is not gold [Originally published in Cad. Saúde Pública, vol.36 no.5]

Drug repositioning or repurposing (DR) involves the clinical evaluation of existing medicines for new and still unapproved therapeutic indications. It has been elicited by serendipitous clinical or experimental findings, or yet by advancement of knowledge on the drug mechanism of action. Available in English. Image: Haley Lawrence. Read More →

COVID-19: intensive care units, mechanical ventilators, and latent mortality profiles associated with case-fatality in Brazil [Originally published in Cad. Saúde Pública, vol.36 no.5]

The study aimed to identify the regions of Brazil with higher specific mortality rates from these comorbidities and the regions with the greatest shortage of ICU beds and mechanical ventilators. A cross-sectional ecological study was performed in which the units of analysis were the country’s Health Regions. Available in Portuguese and English. Read More →

COVID-19 and smoking: a high-risk association [Originally published in Cad. Saúde Pública, vol.36 no.6]

Smokers are part of the risk group for COVID-19. One can infer the group’s increased risk of infection to the extent that smokers tend to hold smoking products to their mouths (whether conventional cigarettes or electronic smoking devices – ESDs) without adequate prior hand hygiene. Available in Portuguese and English. Read More →

La pandemia de COVID-19 en Brasil: crónica de una crisis sanitaria anunciada [Originalmente publicado en Cad. Saúde Pública, vol.36 no.5]

La pandemia de COVID-19, por el nuevo coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), se ha convertido en uno de los mayores desafíos sanitarios en escala global de este siglo. De forma bastante esquemática y simplista, la respuesta a la pandemia de COVID-19 podría subdividirse en cuatro fases: contención, mitigación, supresión y recuperación. Read More →

COVID-19 in prisons: an impossible challenge for public health? [Originally published in Cad. Saúde Pública, vol.36 no.5]

Brazil has 748,000 prison inmates 1, 50,000 of whom in the state of Rio de Janeiro alone, who are practically absent from the public debate on COVID-19. But is it possible to imagine more favorable conditions for the spread of SARS-CoV-2, a virus with airborne and person-to-person transmission, in a population confined to overcrowded cells with poor ventilation and limited access to running water? Available in Portuguese and English. Read More →

The COVID-19 pandemic: securitization, neoliberal crisis, and global vulnerabilization [Originally published in Cad. Saúde Pública, vol.36 no.5]

This article situates the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in a scenario of securitization of global health. I address the pandemic as a crisis of the neoliberal economic model and the result of a process of growing vulnerability due to neoliberalism. The pandemic calls on us to rethink the vulnerabilities resulting from global interconnectedness. I highlight the importance of public and participatory health in the context of a reflection on the possibilities for sustainable life with solidarity on a global scale. Available in Portuguese and English. Read More →

Trying to make sense out of chaos: science, politics and the COVID-19 pandemic [Originally published in Cad. Saúde Pública, vol.36 no.5]

This essay discusses the proliferation of discourses about the COVID-19 pandemic, presenting the challenges both to science and public policies that such an information overload present, having Collins’ sociology of expertise as a theoretical framework. Available in English. Read More →

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of healthcare professionals [Originally published in Cad. Saúde Pública, vol.36 no.4]

Besides the biological context, and due to the wide and longlasting changes in daily life it may cause, coping with it represents a challenge to psychological resilience. Previous studies have shown that epidemics and contamination outbreaks of diseases have been followed by drastic individual and social psychosocial impacts, which eventually become more pervasive than the epidemic itself. Available in English. Read More →

Violence against women, children, and adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic: overview, contributing factors, and mitigating measures [Originally published in Cad. Saúde Pública, vol.36 no.4]

In Brazil, according to data from the 180 Hotline provided by the Ministry for Women, Family, and Human Rights, there was a 17% increase in the number of calls denouncing violence against women in the month of March 2020, when the recommendation for social distancing first issued in the country. Available in English and Portuguese. Read More →

Niveles de estrés, ansiedad y depresión en la primera fase del brote del COVID-19 en una muestra recogida en el norte de España [Originalmente publicado en Cad. Saúde Pública, vol.36 no.4]

La presente investigación se contextualiza en la Comunidad Autónoma Vasca (situada al norte de España). Se han analizado los niveles de estrés, ansiedad y depresión a la llegada del virus y se han estudiado los niveles de sintomatología psicológica según edad, cronicidad y confinamento. Read More →

COVID-19 and hospitalizations for SARI in Brazil: a comparison up to the 12th epidemiological week of 2020 [Originally published in Cad. Saúde Pública, vol.36 no.4]

COVID-19 was detected in Brazil for the time in the 9th epidemiological week of 2020, and the test for the SARS-CoV-2 virus was included in the surveillance protocol starting in the 12th epidemiological week. This study’s objective was to investigate the pattern of hospitalizations for SARI in Brazil since the entry of SARS-CoV-2, comparing the temporal and age profiles and laboratory results to the years 2010 through 2019. Available in English and Portuguese. Read More →

La COVID-19 y las oportunidades de cooperación internacional en salud [Originalmente publicado en Cad. Saúde Pública, vol.36 no.4]

En un escenario de mayor vulnerabilidad, donde las enfermedades van más allá de las fronteras nacionales de los países, globalizándose los riesgos para la salud, el nivel subregional, vinculado a iniciativas de integración, presenta grandes oportunidades para la cooperación en salud. Read More →

Challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic: for a Brazilian research agenda in global health and sustainability [Originally published in Cad. Saúde Pública, vol.36 no.4]

This article aims to reflect on the new boom in research output in the field of global health, based on two analytical elements that we consider essential. The first is the important shift in the Brazilian State’s role in international relations, including a significant loss of leadership in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) under the 2030 Agenda. The second is sustainability, with a fundamental focus on a research agenda in the field of global health. Available in English and Portuguese. Read More →