ld be monitored in primary care services to avoid greater risks.Introduction Arsenic is an environmental toxic present worldwide. In men and animals, various organs and tissues are targets of its deleterious effects including those of the immune system. Objective To determine acute arsenic toxicity in tissues and target cells of Balb/c mice using an in vivo methodology. Materials and methods We injected Balb/c mice intraperitoneally with 9.5 or 19 mg/kg of sodium arsenite (NaAsO2), or an equivalent volume of physiological solution as a control (with 3 per experimental group). After 30 minutes, the animals were sacrificed to obtain spleen, thymus, liver, kidneys, and blood. We determined arsenic, polyphenols, and iron concentrations in each sample and we evaluated the oxidative markers (peroxides, advanced products of protein oxidation, and free sulfhydryl groups). In splenocytes from the spleen, cell viability and mitochondrial potential were also determined. Results The exposure to an acute dose of NaAsO2 reduced the mitochondrial function of splenocytes, which resulted in cell death. Simultaneously, the confirmed presence of arsenic in spleen samples and the resulting cytotoxicity occurred with a decrease in polyphenols, free sulfhydryl groups, and an alteration in the content and distribution of iron, but did not increase the production of peroxides. Conclusion These findings provide scientific evidence about changes occurring in biomarkers involved in the immunotoxicity of arsenic and offer a methodology for testing possible treatments against the deleterious action of this compound on the immune system.Introduction Half of the episodes of neonatal sepsis are acquired in the community with a high percentage of mortality and complications. Objective To estimate the direct costs of hospitalizations due to systemic neonatal infection acquired in the community in low-risk newborns. Materials and methods For the estimation of costs, we used the perspective of the health systems and the microcosting technique and we established the duration of hospitalization as the time horizon. We identified cost-generating events through expert consensus and the quantification was based on the detailed bill of 337 hospitalized newborns diagnosed with neonatal infection. The costs of the medications were calculated based on the drug price information system (SISMED) and the ISS 2001 rate manuals adjusting percentage, and the mandatory insurance rates for traffic accidents (SOAT). We used the bootstrapping method for cost distribution to incorporate data variability in the estimate. Results We included the medical care invoices for 337 newborns.  https://www.selleckchem.com/products/monomethyl-auristatin-e-mmae.html  The average direct cost of care per patient was USD$ 2,773,965 (Standard Deviation, SD=USD$ 198,813.5; 95% CI $ 2,384,298 - $ 3,163,632). The main cost-generating categories were hospitalization in intensive care units and health technologies. The costs followed a log-normal distribution. Conclusions The categories generating the greatest impact on the care costs of newborns with infection were hospitalization in neonatal units and health technologies. The costs followed a log-normal distribution.Introduction The use of drugs may involve medication errors leading to hospitalization, increased costs related to care, and even death. Objective To determine the prevalence of medication errors reported in a pharmacovigilance information system in Colombia between 2018 and 2019. Materials and methods We conducted an observational study based on the records of medication errors from a pharmacovigilance system covering 8.5 million outpatients affiliated with the Colombian health system. The errors were categorized from A (potential situations to error) to I (an error that could lead to death). We performed a descriptive analysis and established the prevalence of medication errors. Results During 2018 and 2019, 29,538 medication errors in outpatients were reported with a general prevalence of 1.93 per 10,000 drugs dispensed. The errors that reached the patient and caused damage (types E, F, and I) occurred in 0.02% (n=6) of the patients. Most of them were related to the dispensation (n=20,636; 69.9%) and the possible most common cause was the lack of concentration at the time of dispensing (n=9185; 31.1%). The pharmacological groups most involved in medication errors were antidiabetics (8.0%), renin-angiotensin system inhibitors (7.6%), and analgesics (6.0%). Conclusions Medication errors are relatively rare situations, generally classified as circumstances or events capable of generating the error (type A error). In low proportion, they can reach the patient and cause damage or even death.
  Shigellosis is endemic in low-and middle-income countries, causing approximately 125 million episodes of diarrhea and leading to approximately 160 .000 deaths annually one-third of which is associated with children.
 
  To describe the characteristics and antimicrobial resistance profiles of Shigella species recovered in Colombia from 1997 to 2018.
 
  We received isolates from laboratories in 29 Colombian departments. We serotyped with specific antiserum and determined antimicrobial resistance and minimal inhibitory concentrations for ten antibiotics with Kirby-Bauer tests following the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute recommendations.
 
  We analyzed 5,251 isolates of Shigella spp., most of them obtained from stools (96.4%); 2,511 (47.8%) were from children under five years of age. The two most common species were S. sonnei (55.1%) and S. flexneri (41.7%). The highest resistance rate was that of tetracycline (88.1%) followed by trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (79.3%) and ampicillin (65.5%); 50.8% of isdy underline the importance of combating the dissemination of the most frequently isolated species, S. sonnei and S. flexneri.Introduction Mammography quality is directly related to the ability to detect an abnormality and, therefore, quality control is necessary for diagnostic imaging centers. Objective To evaluate image quality, reading, and mammography service in some diagnostic imaging centers in Manizales, Colombia. Materials and methods Four diagnostic imaging centers participated voluntarily in the study under confidentiality agreements. Out of 520 women attending the centers, 318 had a mammography. The infrastructure, technology, and human resources of each unit were evaluated based on visual inspections. A radiologist expert in reading and clinical interpretation of mammary images evaluated the quality of the image and the reading. We made the statistical analysis using anova, the kappa index, and the percentage of disagreement. Results We found images of diminished quality mainly due to the presence of artifacts in 75 % of those evaluated, as well as non-compliance with identification criteria and image labeling. There were difficulties in taking the lateral median oblique projection given the absence of the inframammary.