Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “Colombia”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 181 records · Page 10Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

[Scientific production in health science in Colombia, 1993-2003].

OBJECTIVE: Analysing scientific production related to health research between 1993 to 2003 in Colombia to generate information allowing a more focused investment in public health research. METHODS: Bibliometric indicators were used to analyse scientific production registered in MEDLINE and LILACS. Trends in the number of publications per year were analysed, as well as publications per research area, research centres and journal characteristics. RESULTS: Health research production in Colombia is mainly published in international journals. Most published papers are linked to basic biomedical research overshadowing other areas of health research such as clinical or public health research. Universities are the main entities producing knowledge re health and their participation has increased during the last few years. CONCLUSIONS: Colombian health research production has increased during the last few years as shown by the increased numbers of Colombian papers in MEDLINE and LILACS during the period being studied. However, this production is still lower than that of other Latin American countries having similar socioeconomic and demographic conditions.

Bibliometrics↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[West Nile virus; ecology and epidemiology of an emerging pathogen in Colombia].

West Nile virus (WNV) has an enzootic mosquito-bird-mosquito cycle in nature, Culex sp mosquitoes being the main vectors. Birds are the main amplifying hosts. Humans and horses are incidental dead-end hosts. It produces a flu-like or a self-limited febrile disease in most humans. It can cause encephalitis, meningitis or meningoencephalitis in cases of neurological disease, having greater incidence and mortality from encephalitis in older people and immune-compromised patients. Outbreaks have been reported in Africa, the Middle-east, Europe and Asia. WNV first appeared in North-America in 1999 and its circulation has been documented in Mexico, the Caiman islands, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Martinique, Guadalupe, Cuba, Puerto Rico, El Salvador and more recently in Colombia. The public health concern regarding WNV if it becomes introduced into Middle- and South-America will depend upon the interaction of several factors. The prevailing conditions in Colombia are apt for its spread and development. There are two main hypotheses; the virus could become enzootic and endemic and cause limited human disease, or it could become epidemic and cause annual outbreaks affecting large numbers of humans and animals. It will depend upon Colombian birds' susceptibility to the virus because of biological differences and intra-specific geographical variations in mosquitoe species' vector competence and the environmental effects on its ability to transmit the virus; such factors are determinant in the primary amplifying cycle.

Colombia↗
PubMed1999

[Susceptibility to antimicrobial agents in isolates from invasive Streptococcus pneumoniae in Colombia].

A study was done to determine the patterns of susceptibility to antimicrobial agents in isolates of Streptococcus pneumoniae that caused invasive disease diagnosed in children under the age of 5 in Colombia between 1994 and 1996, as well as to establish the distribution of the capsular types of the resistant isolates. The analysis was done using 324 isolates obtained during the performance of the National Serotyping Protocol for S. pneumoniae carried out in Bogotá, Medellín, and Cali, Colombia, between July 1994 and March 1996. Of the 324 isolates, 119 (36.7%) showed diminished susceptibility to at least one antimicrobial agent, including 39 (12%) that showed diminished susceptibility to penicillin. Of these 39 resistant to penicillin, 29 showed intermediate resistance and 10 showed high resistance. Nine isolates (2.8%) showed resistance to ceftriaxone, 80 (24.7%) to the combination of trimethoprim and sulfamethoxazole (TMS), 49 (15.1%) to chloramphenicol, and 31 (9.6%) to erythromycin. Resistance to two antimicrobial agents was observed in 31 isolates (9.6%); multiple resistance was found in 22 (6.7%). These 22 multiresistant isolates all showed resistance to TMS. The most frequent associations were penicillin, TMS, and erythromycin (5 cases); penicillin, chloramphenicol, TMS, and erythromycin (4 cases); penicillin, ceftriaxone, chloramphenicol, and TMS (3 cases); and penicillin, ceftriaxone, chloramphenicol, TMS, and erythromycin (3 cases). The most frequent serotypes in the penicillin-resistant isolates were: 23F (53.8%), 14 (25.6%), 6B (7.7%), 9V (5.1%), 19F (5.1%), and 34 (2.6%). The most frequent serotypes in the isolates resistant to antimicrobial agents other than penicillin were: 5 (37.5%), 23F (7.5%), 14 (18.8%), and 6B (13.8%). This difference in the distribution of the serotypes was statistically significant (P < 0.0001). The study results indicate the need to maintain active surveillance of antibiotic susceptibility patterns in order to avoid resistance in S. pneumoniae and to provide timely information to change practices regarding prescribing and consuming antimicrobial agents.

Chloramphenicol↗
PubMed2000

[Rapid assessment of the impact of Haemophilus influenzae vaccine serotype b in Colombia. Public Health Laboratories].

In May 1998 the Ministry of Health of Colombia started a universal vaccination campaign against Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) for children under one year of age. The impact of this intervention on the incidence of acute bacterial meningitis was assessed in 1999, using data from the laboratory-based surveillance system coordinated since 1994 by the Microbiology Group of the Colombian National Institute of Health. The analysis compared the annual number of cases of Hib meningitis in children under one year of age diagnosed through the surveillance system before the vaccine was introduced with the number of cases reported during the first year after the vaccine's introduction. The expected number of cases, given the average annual number of cases diagnosed between June 1994 and June 1998, was compared with the number of cases observed after the vaccination program was introduced, from June 1998 through May 1999. To control for the quality of the surveillance system, a similar analysis was done for cases of meningitis due to Streptococcus pneumoniae. The analysis was restricted to those departments of Colombia that had consistently participated in the surveillance system. For the years 1994 through 1998 the numbers of confirmed cases of Hib meningitis were, respectively, 45, 37, 61, 64, and 31. In the period after the vaccine's introduction 31 cases were observed, as compared to the 52 expected (P < 0.001). During the same annual periods there were 32, 26, 43, 48, and 42 confirmed cases of meningitis from S. pneumoniae in children less than 5 years old, showing no significant reduction in the expected number of those cases. The 40% decrease noted in Hib meningitis cases was not attributable to changes in the surveillance system and was due mainly to the effects of the vaccination program.

Child, Preschool↗
PubMed2004

[The prevalence of and factors associated with depression in Colombia].

OBJECTIVES: To analyze the prevalence of depression and the factors associated with it in Colombia in 2000 and 2001. METHODS: For this descriptive cross-sectional study a survey was conducted between November 2000 and January 2001 with 1,116 men and women 18 years of age or older who were living in private homes that were selected through a multistage national representative sampling, stratified according to the degree of urbanization of the area included in the sampling. Depression was classified as brief recurrent depression, subclinical depression, or mild, moderate, or serious clinical depressive episodes in the 30 days and in the 12 months prior to the interview. Simple and stratified frequencies of over 500 variables, along with their 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs), were calculated by age and gender. The association that the selected variables had with depressive episodes was evaluated through a multivariate logistic regression model. RESULTS: Of the persons studied, 10.0% of them (95% CI: 9.2% to 10.7%) had had a depressive episode in the 12 months prior to the survey, and 8.5% (95% CI: 7.8% to 9.2%) had suffered a depressive episode in the preceding month. There was a higher proportion of women with depression in both of the periods. More than 50% of the episodes were moderate, in both men and women. There were higher prevalences of depression in persons older than 45 years. The factors associated with depression in the preceding month were: female gender; considering one's health to be moderate or bad; suffering from pain or discomfort; having difficulties in interpersonal relations; consuming marijuana, addictive substances, stimulants, or tranquilizers; being dependent on alcohol; and being unemployed and unable to work. CONCLUSIONS: Depression is a frequent disorder in Colombia. Measures directed at reducing the risk of depression should be implemented, especially among women and in persons over 45 years old.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

[The right to health in Colombia: a proposal for laying down its moral foundations].

The health system reform that was carried out in Colombia in 1993 was based on neoliberal doctrine. That reform increased the inequity in the allocation of resources, access to health services, and the distribution of spending on health. Societal organizations, academic groups, health workers, and some members of the political sector in Colombia have opposed the neoliberal reform, and they have supported the right to health as an alternative for dealing with the inequities in the health sector. According to liberal theories, only civil and political rights are fundamental, and liberty is assumed to be only the freedom of process and the absence of coercive mechanisms. However, there are arguments that support the viewpoint that health is a fundamental human right. This piece analyzes some ethical and moral principles that can help establish the moral foundations for the right to health. Among these principles are equality of opportunity, that part of being free is for people to have the right to develop themselves as human beings, that the right to health is connected to the right to life, that all people deserve equal respect (which requires the equal distribution of goods and of societal responsibilities), and that liberty is the opportunity that all persons should have to carry out the plans that they have for their lives, as chosen from a variety of socially useful alternatives.

Colombia↗
PubMed2005

[Socioeconomic and contextual determinants of reproductive activity among adolescent women in Colombia].

OBJECTIVE: To contribute to a better understanding of the problems of pregnancy among adolescent women, including proximate and socioeconomic determining factors, in two large, culturally different cities in Colombia: Santa Fe de Bogotá and Cali. METHODS: This longitudinal study combined quantitative and qualitative research methods, using information generated by a survey of adolescents conducted in 2003. The survey included 550 adolescents in Bogotá and 550 adolescents in Cali, from all socioeconomic strata. To analyze the determinants, discrete-time proportional hazards models were used. For the qualitative study, 72 in-depth interviews and four focus groups were done. With the information organized by subjects and categories that were defined in relation to the purposes of the study, categories were identified that arose from the patterns and recurrences in the data, in order to see sociocultural trends by sex, stratum, and city. RESULTS: The patterns of sexual activity, union (married or unmarried relationship), and maternity differ considerably among the socioeconomic strata, in both of the cities. The adolescent women in the low stratum begin having sexual relations, form unions, and become mothers earlier in life and with greater frequency than do adolescent women in the medium or high strata. The main determinant of the reproductive behavior of adolescent women is the set of contextual and socioeconomic factors in the home, mainly the family context (environment and supervision) and the educational climate (the average number of years of formal education of the family members over the age of 15). CONCLUSIONS: Sex education has been provided in the schools in Colombia since 1993, but our results clearly indicate that it has had only a limited impact on the reproductive behavior of adolescent women.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Nematode infection in Mugil incilis (Lisa) from Cartagena Bay and Totumo Marsh, north of Colombia.

Nematode infection indices were recorded in Lisa, Mugil incilis, from Cartagena Bay and Totumo Marsh, north of Colombia, during an 8-mo period (February to September 2002). Parasite prevalence (74.67% vs. 53.48%), intensity (9.73 +/- 2.98 vs. 2.73 +/- 1.07), and abundance (7.49 +/- 2.21 vs. 2.04 +/- 1.17) were significantly greater in Cartagena Bay, an estuary polluted by domestic sewage and industrial discharge, compared with those of Totumo Marsh, a body of water with low levels of contamination. Parasites were found below the spine, within the liver and the intestinal mesenteries, and a small percentage in muscle. Morphological analysis of nematodes indicated the presence of the third larval stage of several species belonging to the Anisakidae. Size correlated moderately and significantly with parasite intensity in fish collected from Totumo Marsh (R = 0.336; P < 0.001); in Cartagena Bay the correlation was also significant, but low and negative (R = -0.212; P = 0.003), clearly showing differences in host-parasite ecology. Fish health status, as represented by condition factor and hepatosomatic index, did not show any correlation with the parasite prevalence in fishes collected in either sampling areas. These results suggest, for the first time, that the consumption of Lisa from the Atlantic coast of Colombia could represent a risk for human infection.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed2000

Sickle cell anemia and beta-globin gene cluster haplotypes in Colombia.

We studied 46 unrelated sickle cell anemia patients from the western region of Colombia which has the largest Black population of the country. Twenty-three children and 23 adults were studied. The distribution of haplotypes in the children was 58% Bantu, 38% Benin, and 4% Senegal, and in the adults it was 59.4% Bantu, 35.1% Benin, and 5.5% Senegal (p = 0.920). All 92 chromosomes had typical African haplotypes, Bantu 55.5%, Benin 34.8%, Senegal, 4.3%, and Cameroon, 5.4%. Our results suggest a lack of differential survival among patients with sickle cell anemia and typical beta-globin gene cluster haplotypes. They also agree closely with historical data that indicate that most African slaves brought to Colombia originated from Angola (Bantu population) and the Sao Thomó Island in the Bight of Benin (Central West Africa).

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

First characterization of a cluster of VanA-type glycopeptide-resistant Enterococcus faecium, Colombia.

From August 1998 to October 1999, glycopeptide-resistant enterococci (GRE) were isolated from 23 infected patients at a teaching hospital in Medellín, Colombia. Identification at the species level and by multiplex polymerase chain reaction assay indicated that all isolates were Enterococcus faecium. The isolates were highly resistant to ampicillin, ciprofloxacin, gentamicin, penicillin, streptomycin, teicoplanin, and vancomycin; they were susceptible only to chloramphenicol, linezolid, and nitrofurantoin. Determination of glycopeptide genotype indicated the presence of the vanA gene in all isolates. Molecular typing by pulsed field gel electrophoresis showed that all isolates were closely related. This study is the first molecular characterization of GRE in Colombia.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Aurapex penicillata gen. sp. nov. from native Miconia theaezans and Tibouchina spp. in Colombia.

Conidiomata of a fungus resembling Chrysoporthe cubensis, a serious canker pathogen of Eucalyptus spp. (Myrtaceae, Myrtales) in tropical and subtropical parts of the world, was found on Eucalyptus grandis in Colombia. Fruiting structures of the fungus could be distinguished from those of C. cubensis by their distinctly orange conidiomatal necks. This fungus also was found on several plant species native to Colombia including Tibouchina urvilleana, T. lepidota and Miconia theaezans (Melastomataceae, Myrtales). Morphological comparisons, as well as those based on sequences of the ITS1/ITS2 region of the ribosomal DNA repeat and the beta-tubulin gene, were used to characterize this fungus. Its pathogenicity was assessed on various plants from which it has been collected, either in field or greenhouse trials. Phylogenetic analyses showed that isolates reside in a clade distinct from the four clades accommodating Chrysoporthe, Cryphonectria, Endothia and Rostraureum. Members of this clade are distinguished by the presence of orange conidiomatal necks with black bases and a unique internal stromatal structure. No teleomorph has been found for this fungus, for which we have provided the name Aurapex penicillata gen. sp. nov. A. penicillata produced only small lesions after inoculation on young T. urvilleana, M. theaezans and E. grandis trees and appears not to be a serious pathogen.

Ascomycota↗
PubMed1980

A parasitologic survey for Mansonella ozzardi in the Comisaría del Vaupés, Colombia.

The prevalence of Mansonella ozzardi in the Comisaría del Vaupés of eastern Colombia was investigated as part of an extensive study of human filariasis in Colombia. Three hundred and forty-seven individuals from various parts of Vaupés were examined. The overall infection rate for M. ozzardi was 49%, but the distribution of the parasite was not uniform throughout the Comisaría. Microfilariae were found in both venous blood samples and ski biopsies of infected individuals. The rate of infection was 55% for males and 42% for females, and infection ratenerally low, with 88% of the positive films having less than 50 microfilariae.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1981

Leishmaniasis in Colombia, a review.

A review is made of 60 publications on leishmaniasis in Colombia reported between 1889 and the present. A serious source of difficulty in interpreting the literature is the frequent discussion of "cases" (1,536 of 1,865, or 82%) that were never confirmed by observation of the parasite or by positive immunological tests. The apparent distribution of the disease is considerably biased by the real distribution of physicians. Nevertheless, laboratory-confirmed cutaneous leishmaniasis has been reported from most humid, lowland regions, and apparently the disease is endemic in nearly all the administrative sections of the country. Mucocutaneous involvement seems to occur in around 25% of the cases. Visceral leishmaniasis is seldom reported and is known to occur only in the Magdalena River basin. There have been no surveys to identify arthropod vectors or wild reservoir hosts, although two naturally infected dogs were associated with one of the visceral leishmaniasis cases. Leishmaniasis is a seldom diagnosed but major health problem in several regions of Colombia, in terms of the number of persons affected and the difficulty of obtaining treatment.

Animals↗
PubMed1981

Presence of Angiostrongylus costaricensis Morera and Céspedes 1971 in Colombia.

Angiostrongylus costaricensis, producing abdominal angiostrongyliasis, is known to occur in humans and/or rodents in the Western Hemisphere, namely in the U.S.A. (Texas), Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Panama, Venezuela, and Brazil, Rats, Oryzomys caliginosus, in Colombia were found to harbor the parasite. First-stage larvae from one of these rats developed to third-stage larvae in the slug Veronicella occidentalis, also from Colombia.

Angiostrongylus↗
PubMed1982

Filariasis in Colombia: presence of Dipetalonema perstans in the Comisaría del Guainía.

Examination of 75 blood samples (Knott preparation) collected in Puerto Inŕida, Coco, and Pajuil, in the Comisaría del Guainía, Colombia, disclosed 26 microfilaria carriers. Eighteen persons harbored only Mansonella ozzardi microfilariae, three were infected with M. ozzardi and Dipetalonema perstans and five harbored only D. perstans. M. ozzardi infections were found in whites, and in Indians belonging to the Curripaco, Puinave, Tukano, Guanano and Saliva tribes, but D. perstans was found only in the Curripaco Indians. Numbers of circulating microfilariae (mf) were low, 73% of the carriers had less than 200 mf/ml of blood: persons who harbored only D. perstans had less than 310 mf/ml. These results confirm the presence of D. perstans in Colombia, and suggest that its prevalence and distribution in the Comisarïa del Guainía and neighboring areas may be far greater than has been hitherto suspected.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

Two cases of human Lagochilascaris infection in Colombia.

Two human cases of infection with Lagochilascaris are described from Colombia. One patient was a 21 year-old woman who suffered from repeated attacks of tonsillitis and passage of worms from the nose. When a tonsillectomy was performed, numerous worms were found in the tissues. Treatment with thiabendazole and mebendazole was ineffective. She was cured after treatment with levamisole. The second patient was a 7 year-old girl who had a painful abscess on the neck that contained adult worms. She was also cured of this infection after treatment with levamisole. These are the first cases described from Colombia, and bring the total number of human cases recorded to twenty-three.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Filariasis in Colombia: prevalence of Mansonella ozzardi in the Departamento de Meta, Intendencia del Casanare, and Comisaría del Vichada.

The prevalence and distribution of filarial infections among the inhabitants of adjacent regions of the Departamento del Meta, Intendencia del Casanare, and Comisaría del Vichada in northeastern Colombia was determined by collection and examination of blood samples using the Knott's method. Mansonella ozzardi, the only species detected, was found in 2.5% of the samples collected in Meta (6/243), in 4.9% from Casanare (12/247) and in 2.5% from Vichada (3/137). All of the microfilaria carriers were Indians who had migrated from other parts of eastern Colombia, principally from the interior of Meta and Vichada. These results indicate that filariases are not endemic in the regions examined, and suggest that influx of microfilaria carriers with sufficiently high microfilaremia could establish new foci of transmission in areas where appropriate vectors are abundant.

Colombia↗
PubMed1988

Genetic variation of Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus strains of the ID variety in Colombia.

To determine the degree of genetic variation within one serologic group of Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus and the relatedness of viruses with different epidemiologic backgrounds isolated within the same country, virion RNA from 16 isolates belonging to subtype I were compared by RNase T1 oligonucleotide fingerprinting. RNA fingerprints of 12 enzootic isolates showed a large degree of heterogeneity, even though they were serologically indistinguishable. A reference enzootic strain from Colombia showed more genetic relatedness to three epizootic strains isolated in the same country, than to its own serogroup prototype strain isolated in Panama. Thus, genetic relatedness within Venezuelan equine encephalitis strains in Colombia seems to be a function of geography rather than epidemiology.

Animals↗