scholarly journals Pesticide Residues and Health Risk Assessment in Tomatoes and Lettuces from Farms of Metropolitan Region Chile

Molecules ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 355
Author(s):  
Sebastian Elgueta ◽  
Marcela Valenzuela ◽  
Marcela Fuentes ◽  
Pablo Meza ◽  
Juan Pablo Manzur ◽  
...  

Over the last years, the detection of pesticide residues in the official food surveillance programs of Chile has been increased, mainly in fresh vegetables such as tomatoes and lettuces. The Metropolitana Region of Chile presents the highest detections in the country. The lack of evaluations of toxicological risks in human health have increased uncertainty of the potential effects of pesticides exposures in the Chilean population. This research aims to determinate health risks assessment of pesticide residues associated to tomatoes and lettuces produced in Metropolitana Region. The findings of this study reveal that tomatoes and lettuces cultivated in the MR show more than 50% of samples with one or multiple pesticides residues. From the total samples, 16% were over the Chilean Maximum Residue Levels (MRLs). The main pesticides detected in tomatoes and lettuces were methamidophos, methomyl, difenoconazole, cyprodinil and boscalid. The results obtained using the official data of the Ministry of Health of Chile (MINSAL) compared to the World Health Organization (WHO), describe relevant risks through the Estimated Daily Intakes (EDI), Hazard Quotients (HQ) and Hazard Index (HI) for the Chilean population due to high concentrations of methamidophos, methomyl and cyprodinil. More restrictions for the use of methamidophos, methomyl, difenoconazole, cyprodinil and boscalid and effective control programs should be implemented in order to mitigate the impacts on the Chilean population.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lukman Olagoke ◽  
Ahmet E. Topcu

BACKGROUND COVID-19 represents a serious threat to both national health and economic systems. To curb this pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a series of COVID-19 public safety guidelines. Different countries around the world initiated different measures in line with the WHO guidelines to mitigate and investigate the spread of COVID-19 in their territories. OBJECTIVE The aim of this paper is to quantitatively evaluate the effectiveness of these control measures using a data-centric approach. METHODS We begin with a simple text analysis of coronavirus-related articles and show that reports on similar outbreaks in the past strongly proposed similar control measures. This reaffirms the fact that these control measures are in order. Subsequently, we propose a simple performance statistic that quantifies general performance and performance under the different measures that were initiated. A density based clustering of based on performance statistic was carried out to group countries based on performance. RESULTS The performance statistic helps evaluate quantitatively the impact of COVID-19 control measures. Countries tend show variability in performance under different control measures. The performance statistic has negative correlation with cases of death which is a useful characteristics for COVID-19 control measure performance analysis. A web-based time-line visualization that enables comparison of performances and cases across continents and subregions is presented. CONCLUSIONS The performance metric is relevant for the analysis of the impact of COVID-19 control measures. This can help caregivers and policymakers identify effective control measures and reduce cases of death due to COVID-19. The interactive web visualizer provides easily digested and quick feedback to augment decision-making processes in the COVID-19 response measures evaluation. CLINICALTRIAL Not Applicable


2021 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 394-402
Author(s):  
O.B. Aribodor ◽  
C.E. Okaka ◽  
S.O. Sam-Wobo ◽  
B.C. Okpala ◽  
D.N. Aribodor ◽  
...  

Urinary schistosomiasis is considered a major public health parasitic disease in African communities. Prior to this study, Nsugbe community was not considered endemic for the disease and as such was not involved in Praziquantel-Preventive Chemotherapy (PC). Longitudinal study of 281 consented pupils aged 5-16 years was carried out with aim of determining the status of urinary schistosomiasis. Urinalysis laboratory test strip, urine filtration technique and syndromic diagnosis were used for the confirmation of the presence of haematuria in urine samples, identification of Schistosoma haematobium ova and the confirmation of female genital schistosomiasis (FGS), respectively. Risk factors for urinary schistosomiasis infection were determined using pre-tested structured questionnaire. Data were analyzed using Minitab 17 software and intensity of infection categorized following World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations. Of the 281 pupils, 117 (42%) were males and 164 (58%) were females with mean age of 9 years. At baseline, an overall prevalence of 0.4% (1/281) which was of light intensity was established. At follow-up, an overall prevalence of 2.1% (6/281) which was of both light (16.7%) and heavy infection (83.3%) was established. The result of the clinical examination showed eggs of S. haematobium in and around the vaginal area indicating FGS of a female pupil aged 12 years. This was treated. Identified risk factors for S. haematobium infection in the community include water-contact activities, ignorance, source of water supply among others. The study revealed the need for an all inclusive mass administration of Praziquantel-PC in the study community for effective control and possible elimination.


2002 ◽  
Vol 16 (8) ◽  
pp. 541-545 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naoki Chiba

The issue of whether to screen individuals for Barrett’s esophagus (BE) to prevent esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) is highly controversial. Important considerations are that BE is not highly prevalent in the general population and that not many patients with BE develop or die from EAC. Studies that suggest an improved prognosis from surveillance programs are susceptible to lead-time bias. Most of the principles for effective screening, as outlined by the World Health Organization, are not met by endoscopic screening and surveillance protocols. The diagnosis of BE (and dysplasia) is often unclear. Most patients with BE are not identified by screening, and few deaths would be prevented by surveillance. A decision analysis found that the most cost effective screening protocol would be every five years, but the costs associated with prolongation of life are very high, even if a group at high risk for EAC could be identified.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara M Schultz ◽  
Felipe Melo-Gonzalez ◽  
Luisa F Duarte ◽  
Nicolas MS Galvez ◽  
Gaspar A Pacheco ◽  
...  

Numerous vaccines have been generated to decrease the morbidity and mortality of COVID-19. CoronaVac® is an inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) to prevent COVID-19 that has safety and immunogenicity profiles described in different clinical trials. We previously reported an increase in levels of neutralizing antibodies two- and four-weeks after administering two doses of CoronaVac® in a two-week interval (0-14 day) vaccination schedule, as compared to pre-immune sera in adults in the Chilean population that are participating in phase 3 clinical trial. Here we report the levels of antibodies directed against the Receptor Binding Domain of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein comparing their neutralizing capacities and the cellular response at five months after the second dose and four weeks after a booster (third) dose in volunteers immunized with two doses of CoronaVac®in a four-week interval (0-28 day) vaccination schedule. We observed a decrease in the levels of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies with neutralizing capacities five months after the second dose (GMU 39.0 95% confidence interval (CI)(32.4-47.0), which increased up to 12 times at four weeks after the booster dose (GMU 499.4, 95% CI=370.6-673.0). Equivalent results were observed in adults aged 18-59 years old and individuals ≥60 years old. In the case of cellular response, we observed that activation of specific CD4+ T cells increases in time and reaches its maximum at four weeks after the booster dose in both groups. Our results support the notion that a booster dose of the SARS-CoV-2 inactivated vaccine increases the levels of neutralizing antibodies and the specific cellular response in adults of both groups, which is likely to boost the protective capacity of these vaccines against COVID-19.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 280-285
Author(s):  
Nelly SD Situmeang ◽  
Etti Sudaryati ◽  
Jumirah

Stunting is a chronic nutritional problem due to insufficient intake for a long time, in Indonesia the prevalence is high. The World Health Organization (WHO) classifies if the length/height z score is below −2 SD. The purpose of this study was to analyze the correlation between parenting, and nutrient intake (energy and protein) with stunting in children aged 24-59 years. This study used a cross sectional design with a sample of 117 children. Data collection was carried out with questionnaire instruments for parenting, and 24-hour food recall for nutritional intake. Data stunting was performed by comparing the height of the children measured by the WHO growth standards. Correlation analysis using Pearson correlation analysis. The results showed that the prevalence of stunting for children aged 24-59 months was 50.4%. There was a significant correlation between parenting with stunting (r = 0.287 and p = 0.02), energy intake with stunting (r = 0.215 and p = 0.020) and protein intake with stunting (r = 0.354 and p = 0.0001). It is recommended that the Ministry of Health improve nutrition surveillance programs, and encourage the community to monitor the growth of children under five years every month in health services.


1978 ◽  
Vol 41 (12) ◽  
pp. 965-973 ◽  
Author(s):  
JOHN M. GASAWAY

Certain pesticide residues reabsorbed into milk (or water) contents when stored in LEXAN® resin and polyethylene plastic returnable milk containers that had been exposed to diluted pesticide products, washed, and subsequently filled. The significance of these laboratory test results is comprehensively discussed by attempting to characterize the nature of exposure to pesticide residues from a washed returnable dairy container, as opposed to exposure to milk containing pesticide residues of non-container origin. Laboratory findings are compared to actual public use experience with returnable plastic dairy containers. A hazard assessment is presented, which includes a comparison of quantities of pesticide residues found extracting with existing Federal milk tolerance standards, food tolerance standards, unavoidable contaminant food additive regulations, World Health Organization and Safe Drinking Water Committee acceptable daily intake values. The probability of purchase of milk that is contaminated with pesticide residues, where the washed returnable dairy container is the source, is presented.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Ghassane Benrhmach ◽  
Khalil Namir ◽  
Jamal Bouyaghroumni

The World Health Organization declared that the total number of confirmed cases tested positive for SARS‐CoV‐2, affecting 210 countries, exceeded 3 million on 29 April 2020, with more than 207,973 deaths. In order to end the global COVID‐19 pandemic, public authorities have put in place multiple strategies like testing, contact tracing, and social distancing. Predictive mathematical models for epidemics are fundamental to understand the development of the epidemic and to plan effective control strategies. Some hosts may carry SARS‐CoV‐2 and transmit it to others, yet display no symptoms themselves. We propose applying a model (SELIAHRD) taking in consideration the number of asymptomatic infected people. The SELIAHRD model consists of eight stages: Susceptible, Exposed, Latent, Symptomatic Infected, Asymptomatic Infected, Hospitalized, Recovered, and Dead. The asymptomatic carriers contribute to the spread of disease, but go largely undetected and can therefore undermine efforts to control transmission. The simulation of possible scenarios of the implementation of social distancing shows that if we rigorously follow the social distancing rule then the healthcare system will not be overloaded.


2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nasir Tajuddeen ◽  
Fanie R. Van Heerden

Abstract Background Malaria remains a significant public health challenge in regions of the world where it is endemic. An unprecedented decline in malaria incidences was recorded during the last decade due to the availability of effective control interventions, such as the deployment of artemisinin-based combination therapy and insecticide-treated nets. However, according to the World Health Organization, malaria is staging a comeback, in part due to the development of drug resistance. Therefore, there is an urgent need to discover new anti-malarial drugs. This article reviews the literature on natural products with antiplasmodial activity that was reported between 2010 and 2017. Methods Relevant literature was sourced by searching the major scientific databases, including Web of Science, ScienceDirect, Scopus, SciFinder, Pubmed, and Google Scholar, using appropriate keyword combinations. Results and Discussion A total of 1524 compounds from 397 relevant references, assayed against at least one strain of Plasmodium, were reported in the period under review. Out of these, 39% were described as new natural products, and 29% of the compounds had IC50 ≤ 3.0 µM against at least one strain of Plasmodium. Several of these compounds have the potential to be developed into viable anti-malarial drugs. Also, some of these compounds could play a role in malaria eradication by targeting gametocytes. However, the research into natural products with potential for blocking the transmission of malaria is still in its infancy stage and needs to be vigorously pursued.


Author(s):  
Sana Al-Sukhun ◽  
Gilberto de Lima Lopes ◽  
Mary Gospodarowicz ◽  
Ophira Ginsburg ◽  
Peter Paul Yu

Cancer has become one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where 60% of the world’s total new cases are diagnosed. The challenge for effective control of cancer is multifaceted. It mandates integration of effective cancer prevention, encouraging early detection, and utilization of resource-adapted therapeutic and supportive interventions. In the resource-constrained setting, it becomes challenging to deliver each service optimally, and efficient allocation of resources is the best way to improve the outcome. This concept was translated into action through development of resource-stratified guidelines, pioneered by the Breast Health Global Initiative (BHGI), and later adopted by most oncology societies in an attempt to help physicians deliver the best possible care in a limited-resource setting. Improving outcome entails collaboration between key stakeholders, including the pharmaceutical industry, local and national health authorities, the World Health Organization (WHO), and other nonprofit, patient-oriented organizations. Therefore, we started to observe global health initiatives—led by ASCO, the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), and the WHO—to address these challenges at the international level. This article discusses some of these initiatives.


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