Cryptococcal disease is one of the most common opportunistic infections among people living with advanced HIV disease and is a major contributor to severe illness, morbidity, and mortality, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.
These guidelines update the recommendations that were first released i...n 2018 on diagnosing, preventing, and managing cryptococcal disease. In response to important new evidence that became available in 2021, these new guidelines strongly recommend a single high dose of liposomal amphotericin B as part of the preferred induction regimen for the treatment of cryptococcal meningitis in people living with HIV. This simplified regimen - a single high dose of liposomal amphotericin B paired with other standard medicines (flucytosine and fluconazole) - is as effective as the previous WHO standard of care, with the benefits of lower toxicity and fewer monitoring demands.
The objective of these guidelines is to provide updated, evidence-informed recommendations for treating adults, adolescents and children living with HIV who have cryptococcal disease. These guidelines are aimed at HIV programme managers, policymakers, national treatment advisory boards, implementing partners and health-care professionals providing care for people living with HIV in resource-limited settings with a high burden of cryptococcal disease.
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21 January 2022
The overall threat posed by Omicron largely depends on four key questions: (i) how transmissible the variant is; (ii) how well vaccines and prior infection protect against infection, transmission, clinical disease and death; (iii) how virulent the variant is compared to other varian...ts; and (iv) how populations understand these dynamics, perceive risk and follow control measures, including public health and social measures (PHSM).
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Lancet Infect Dis 2022;
22: 222–4
The purpose of cancer screening tests is to detect pre-cancer or early-stage cancer in asymptomatic individuals so that timely diagnosis and early treatment can be offered, where this treatment can lead to better outcomes for some people.
The aim of a cancer screening programme is either to reduc...e mortality and morbidity in a population by early detection and early treatment of a cancer (for example, breast screening) or to reduce the incidence of a cancer by identifying and treating its precursors (such as cervical and colorectal screening).
This short guide is designed to be a quick reference that contains the important ideas about cancer screening. Readers should refer to other publications for comprehensive discussion and detailed guidance on cancer screening programmes.
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scientific brief, 2 March 2022
9 March 2022, Timely and accurate diagnostic testing for SARS-CoV-2 is an essential part of a comprehensive COVID-19 response strategy. Ag-RDTs can be performed by individuals in which they collect their own specimen, perform a simple rapid test and interpret their test result themselves at a time a...nd place of their choosing, termed COVID-19 self-testing. This interim guidance provides a new recommendation that COVID-19 self-testing, using SARS-CoV-2 Ag-RDTs, should be offered as part of SARS-CoV-2 testing services. It also includes implementation considerations that can guide decisions on whether, and how, to adopt self-testing in different contexts, including the populations being prioritized; the disease prevalence in that population; and the impact on accessibility of testing, health care services and result reporting.
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This policy paper outlines key health financing policy actions for countries to ensure universal access to health services and financial protection for people fleeing conflict. It focuses on three policy areas – granting entitlement and ensure access to the full range of needed health services for... people fleeing conflict, making additional funding available and strengthening purchasing arrangements. Policy guidance is illustrated using country examples from Europe. The paper’s recommendations are relevant to all countries in Europe.
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Cascading risks from rising prices and supply disruptions, April 2022.
Global resource markets are still reeling from the impacts of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine; the two countries are major suppliers of energy, food and fertilizers. Supply disruption and the sudden imposition, in response to the... crisis, of unprecedented economic sanctions, trade restrictions and policy interventions have caused prices of commodities to skyrocket.
Before the conflict, demand for global resources already exceeded supply and drove up prices as economies rebounded after the COVID-19 pandemic. This gave rise to a global cost-of-living crisis, characterized by increasing levels of energy and food poverty. This situation is likely to become much worse as a consequence of the war in Ukraine, and poses a threat to human security, particularly among low-income and vulnerable populations.
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The Lancet Planetary Health Published:May 17, 2022DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(22)00090-0
Every year pollution causes 9 million deaths—1 in every 6 deaths worldwide, according to a Lancet Commission on pollution and health.
While the number of deaths caused by household air pollution a...nd water pollution decreased from 2015 to 2019, overall deaths remain roughly the same because of a 7% increase in deaths caused by air pollution and toxic chemical pollution.
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Rev Saude Publica. 2022; 56: 22.
Published online 2022 Apr 11. doi: 10.11606/s1518-8787.2022056004040
Policy Brief. 24 June 2022. This policy brief, one of two on the updated hepatitis C (HCV) guidelines, focuses on the new recommendations on simplified service delivery for a public health approach to HCV testing, care and treatment. These recommendations include decentralization, integration and ta...sk-sharing, in addition to the use of point-of-care (POC) HCV viral load assays and reflex viral load testing.
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This document aims to provide interim guidance for microbiology and virology experts, other laboratory professionals, laboratory managers, infectious disease programme managers, public health professionals and other stakeholders that provide primary, confirmatory or advanced testing for SARS-CoV-2, ...including genomic sequencing, or are involved in making decisions on establishing or scaling up capability and capacity to detect and characterize circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants.
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Campaña Nacional de Vacunación contra la COVID-19
La dosis de refuerzo está indicada una vez transcurridos los 4 meses (120 días) de la última dosis del esquema inicial y será con vacuna de plataforma ARNm: Pfizer-BioNTech pediátrica a partir de los 5 años o Moderna para uso pediátrico a partir de los 6 años.
La evidencia disponible a nivel internacional sobre el uso de un segundo refuerzo muestra una mayor duración de la respuesta inmune y una disminución de la internación y la mortalidad por COVID 19 en la población de adultos mayores y huéspedes inmunocomprometidos. Por otra parte, el personal de... salud se beneficiaría considerando el mayor riesgo de exposición y la caída de la respuesta inmune con el tiempo. En base a lo señalado previamente se recomienda incorporar y
priorizar un segundo refuerzo al esquema de vacunación contra la COVID-19 del:
- Personal de salud independientemente de la edad
- Personas de 50 años o mayores
- Personas de 12 años o más con inmunocompromiso
A la vez, se progresará de manera escalonada y simultánea con la vacunación de segundo refuerzo del:
- Personal estratégico
- Personas de 18 a 49 años con factores de riesgo
Continuando en la estrategia de segundo refuerzo todas las personas a partir de los 18 años. Las personas gestantes con indicación de segundo refuerzo, se recomienda vacunas de plataforma de ARNm (Pfizer-BioNTech o Moderna)
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Los datos preliminares de eficacia se infirieron mediante un enfoque de “inmunogenicidad puente”, en el que los títulos neutralizantes obtenidos después de la vacuna en niños y niñas de 5 a 11 años se compararon con los títulos obtenidos en adolescentes de 16 a 25 años (en quienes se hab...a evaluado la eficacia).Entre los participantes sin evidencia de infección previa por SARS-CoV-2, hubo 3 casos de COVID-19 entre los 1.305 receptores de vacuna a partir de los 7 días de la segunda dosis y 16 entre los 663 receptores de placebo.
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El Programa Nacional de Chagas ha definido la utilización de dos medicamentos para el tratamiento de la Enfermedad de Chagas Crónico Reciente Infantil (en niños de 9 meses a menor de 15 años); el benznidazol (BNZ) que será utilizado como medicamento de primera elección en todos los casos con d...iagnóstico serológico positivo confirmado y el nifurtimox (NFT) que será utilizado como segunda alternativa en aquellos casos que hubieran presentado reacciones adversas graves al benznidazol, e indiquen un cambio de conducta.
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Manual de Normas para el Diagnóstico y Tratamiento de Chagas Congénito