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Clinical forms of Trypanosoma cruzi infected individuals in the chronic phase of Chagas disease in Puebla, Mexico.

In Mexico, despite the relatively high seroprevalence of Trypanosoma cruzi infection in humans in some areas, reported morbidity of Chagas disease is not clear. We determined clinical stage in 71 individuals seropositive to T. cruzi in the state of Puebla, Mexico, an area endemic for Chagas disease with a reported seroprevalence of 7.7%. Diagnosis of Chagas disease was made by two standardized serological tests (ELISA, IHA). Individuals were stratified according to clinical studies. All patients were submitted to EKG, barium swallow, and barium enema. Groups were identified as indeterminate form (IF) asymptomatic individuals without evidence of abnormalities (n = 34 cases); those with gastrointestinal alterations (12 patients) including symptoms of abnormal relaxation of the lower esophageal sphincter and absent peristalsis in the esophageal body, grade I megaesophagus, and/or megacolon; patients with clinical manifestations and documented changes of chronic Chagas heart disease who were subdivided as follows: mild (8 patients)--mild electrocardiographic changes of ventricular repolarization, sinus bradychardia); moderate (6 patients)--left bundle branch block, right bundle branch block associated with left anterior fascicular block); severe (8 patients)--signs of cardiomegaly, dilated cardiomyopathy); and the associated form (3 cases) that included presence of both cardiomyopathy and megaesophagus. These data highlight the importance of accurate evaluation of the prevalence and clinical course of Chagas disease in endemic and non-endemic areas of Mexico.

Adolescent↗

[Drug consumption and occupational violence in working women, a multicenter study: Mexico, Peru, Brazil].

The purposes of the study were: 1) Determine the proportion of working women who consume drugs; 2) identify some occupational and personal risk factors that can predict drugs consumption; 3) identify the presence of occupational violence and its relation with drugs consumption; 4) identify differences and similarities in drugs consumption and occupational violence among women from three communities in Mexico (Monterrey), Peru (Lima) and Brazil (Rio de Janeiro). A multicenter, descriptive, correlational and comparative study was carried out, with a sample of 903 women. The results show that 11% of the participants in Mexico consume alcohol, 53% in Peru and 45% in Brazil. The consumption of illicit drugs corresponded to 5% in Mexico and 6% in Peru. The presence of occupational violence was found in 16% of the Mexican participants, 24% of the Peruvians and 39% of the Brazilians.

Adolescent↗

[New challenges and opportunities in a globalized world: a political analysis of the response to HIV/AIDS in Mexico].

This work is a synthesis of an investigation into the political economics of HIV/AIDS in Mexico within the context of globalization. It is based on a distinction between what is defined as neo-liberal globalism (an ideological and overwhelmingly economic agenda) and globalization (a worldwide, multidimensional phenomenon). The core argument is that the existence of real alternatives to the neo-liberal paradigm results from a series of political, economic and social circumstances which are very real in Mexico today in the context of globalization, which have given rise to a rather more inclusive policy-making process. Special emphasis is given to the contrast between exclusive public policy systems, such as those seen in the process of structural economic reforms or the re-structuring of the financing of healthcare systems, and public policy systems which work with HIV/AIDS, which tend to be more inclusive and democratic. Both types of system operate in Mexico and in other parts of the world.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗

Technology evaluation of a USA-Mexico health information system for epidemiological surveillance of Mexican migrant workers.

From 1994 through 1996, federal, state, and nongovernmental organizations in Mexico and in the United States of America developed and piloted a Binational Health Information System for Epidemiological Surveillance of Mexican migrant workers. The system allowed data exchange for epidemiological surveillance between the state of Guanajuato in Mexico and the Commonwealth (state) of Pennsylvania in the United States, for case detection, prevention, and treatment, through shared contact investigation and case management of communicable diseases. The target population consisted of migrant workers traveling between Guanajuato and Pennsylvania to work mainly in the mushroom industry, and their sexual partners in their Mexican communities of origin. Computerized migrant health information modules were set up in Guanajuato and in Pennsylvania. Patient information and epidemiological surveillance data were encrypted and communicated electronically between the modules, using the WONDER communications system of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Evaluation of the Guanajuato-Pennsylvania Binational Health Information System showed that major barriers to binational epidemiological surveillance and control are: a) lack of communication binationally; b) interrupted medical care due to migration; c) inconsistent diagnosis and treatment criteria between the two countries; d) lack of referral clinical records from one country to the other; and e) deficient legal regulations concerning binational clinical data transfer. To our knowledge, this is the first project that has successfully demonstrated the technological feasibility of a binational disease control system linking a state in the interior of one country with a state in the interior of another country, rather than just states in the border region. The project also advanced the understanding of health service organizational issues that facilitate or hinder communication, outreach, disease prevention, and organization of health care services for migrant workers in both Mexico and the United States. Despite the unprecedented success and potential bilateral benefits demonstrated by this project, serious structural and organizational deficits in the public health systems of both countries must be addressed before epidemiological surveillance can be achieved binationally.

Information Systems↗

Abortion, contraceptive use, and adolescent pregnancy among first-year medical students at a major public university in Mexico City.

OBJECTIVE: If properly trained, medical students could become future opinion leaders in health policy and could help the public to understand the consequences of unwanted pregnancies and of abortions. The objective of this study was to analyze the frequency of unwanted pregnancies and induced abortions that had occurred among women who were first-year medical students at a major public university in Mexico City and to compare the experiences of those women with the experiences of the general population of Mexican females aged 15 to 24. METHODS: In 1998 we administered a cross-sectional survey to all the first-year medical students at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, which is the largest university in Latin America. For this study we analyzed 549 surveys completed by female students. RESULTS: Out of the 549 women, 120 of them (22%) had been sexually active at some point. Among those 120 sexually active students, 100 of them (83%) had used a contraceptive method at some time, and 19 of the 120 (16%) had been pregnant. Of those 19 women who had been pregnant, 10 of them had had an illegal induced abortion (in Mexico, abortions are illegal except under a small number of extenuating circumstances). The reported abortion rate among the female medical students, 2%, was very low in comparison with the 11% rate for women of similar ages in the Mexican general population. CONCLUSIONS: The lower incidence of abortion among the female medical students indicates that when young Mexican women have access to medical information and are highly motivated to avoid unintended pregnancy and abortion, they can do so.

Abortion, Illegal↗

Chagas cardiomyopathy and serologic testing in a small rural hospital in Chiapas, Mexico.

OBJECTIVES: To conduct a study in a small rural hospital located in the state of Chiapas, Mexico, to: (1) examine the prevalence of chagasic cardiomyopathy among patients with the diagnosis of congestive heart failure and (2) assess the prevalence of positive serologic results in blood donors in the hospital, in an attempt to ascertain whether Chagas' disease remains an important cause of heart failure at least in some areas of Mexico. METHODS: The study of patients with cardiomyopathy was conducted by retrospective chart review of patients with the diagnosis of congestive heart failure treated at the hospital during the years 2000-2002. With the blood donors, the results of their serologic screening were reviewed for a six-month period beginning in April 2002. Serologic testing was done in both groups with either indirect hemagglutination (IHA) or enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), or with both. RESULTS: Of 67 patients with heart failure and no risk factors for other causes of heart failure, 40 of them had serologic tests performed. Thirty-three of these 40 (82.5%) were positive by ELISA, IHA, or both. With 97 blood donors, one or both serologic tests were positive in 17 of them (17.5%). CONCLUSIONS: This research adds to the evidence that Chagas' disease continues to be a major cause of heart failure in some areas of Mexico and that there continues to be a risk of transmission by blood transfusion if donated blood is not consistently screened.

Adult↗

[Mortality from suicides: Mexico, 1990-2001].

OBJECTIVE: To describe mortality from suicides in Mexico in 2001, as well as the main changes in the methods used to commit suicide and in trends by age and gender that have been observed since 1990, both for the country as a whole and for each state. METHODS: For this descriptive study we utilized as information sources the official mortality records of the National Institute of Statistics, Geography, and Informatics (Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática) for the period of 1990 through 2001. To calculate mortality rates we used the populations estimated in 2002 by the National Population Council (Consejo Nacional de Población). Mortality was described by sex, age group, and state, along with the changes seen over the period of 1990 through 2001 in the rates and methods of suicide. We used the direct method to standardize the rates, using as a reference the population data for the year 2000. To make statistical comparisons of the trends by age group and gender we used a test of parallelism utilizing the F statistic. The level of statistical significance of differences in suicide methods was determined with the chi-square test. RESULTS: During 2001, 3,784 suicides were registered (3,110 of them in men and 674 in women), which represents a rate of 3.72 deaths from suicide per 100,000 persons, in a total national population of 101.8 million inhabitants. The states with the highest suicide mortality were Campeche and Tabasco (9.68 and 8.47 per 100,000, respectively). The lowest rates were seen in Chiapas and the state of Mexico (1.03 and 1.99 per 100,000, respectively). In 2001, mortality from suicides per 100,000 persons was 6.14 in men and 1.32 in women. The greatest increase by age group was seen in women 11-19 years old (from 0.8 per 100,000 in 1990 to 2.27 per 100,000 in 2001). The largest increase in men also occurred among those 11-19 years old (from 2.6 per 100,000 in 1990 to 4.5 per 100,000 in 2001). The highest rate (13.62 per 100,000 persons) was seen in men over 65 years of age. There were changes in suicide methods, with hanging now being the method most frequently used by both men and women. CONCLUSIONS: Suicide is a growing problem in Mexico, and controlling it requires immediate steps. The rapid increase in this phenomenon, particularly among young men and young women, should produce a call to action to quickly implement measures aimed at reducing the magnitude of suicide.

Adolescent↗

Smoking, exposure to secondhand smoke, and smoking restrictions in Tijuana, Mexico.

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the prevalence of tobacco use, exposure to secondhand smoke, and smoking restrictions in the home and workplace among residents of Tijuana, one of Mexico's largest cities. METHODS: This cross-sectional household survey was conducted in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, during 2003 and 2004. A population-based sample of 400 Tijuana adult residents responded to a tobacco survey, and 397 of the surveys were analyzed. RESULTS: About 22.9% (95% confidence interval (CI): 18.7%-27.1%) of Tijuana adults reported current smoking, and 53.9% (95% CI: 48.8%-58.9%) reported chronic exposure to secondhand smoke. Approximately 44.4% (95% CI: 37.9%-50.9%) of Tijuana adults had a nonsmoking policy in their workplace, while 65.8% (95% CI: 61.0%-70.6%) of Tijuana households were smoke-free. CONCLUSIONS: The results underline the need for increased tobacco control efforts, particularly stricter enforcement of existing passive smoking regulations, in order to expand protection from secondhand smoke from private settings to public ones and to curb the tobacco epidemic in Tijuana and elsewhere in Mexico.

Adolescent↗

Nonhost status of commercial Persea americana 'Hass' to Anastrepha ludens, Anastrepha obliqua, Anastrepha serpentina, and Anastrepha striata (Diptera: Tephritidae) in Mexico.

The objective of this study was to determine the host status in Mexico of commercially cultivated and marketed avocado, Persea americana (Mill.), 'Hass' to Anastrepha ludens (Loew), Anastrepha obliqua (Macquart), Anastrepha serpentina (Wiedemann), and Anastrepha striata (Schiner) (Diptera: Tephritidae). Experiments in Michoacán, Mexico, were carried out in six orchards located at three altitudes above sea level during two times (August-October 2001 and April-June 2002). They included choice ('Hass' avocado plus natural host) and no-choice foraging behavior tests on trees under field cages; no-choice, forced infestation trials on caged, fruit-bearing branches in the field, and with individual fruit under laboratory conditions; infestation trials using 'Hass' avocados left unprotected over 1 and 7 d on the ground of orchards; studies to ascertain depth of oviposition and determine egg hatchability; and experiments to determine susceptibility by using time elapsed since removal of fruit from tree as the experimental variable. We trapped adult Anastrepha (n = 7,936) in all orchards and dissected fruit (n = 7,695) from orchards and packing houses (n = 1,620) in search of eggs or larvae. Most (96.7%) A. ludens, A. obliqua, A. striata, and A. serpentina adults were captured in low-elevation orchards. No eggs or larvae were detected in any of the fruit from foraging behavior studies or dissected fruit from orchards or packing houses. Of 5,200 mature, intact fruit on trees in the field forcibly exposed to no-choice female oviposition activity (five females/fruit), we only found four fruit infested by A. ludens but no adults emerged. 'Hass' avocados only became marginally susceptible to attack by A. ludens (but not A. obliqua, A. serpentina, and A. striata) 24 h after being removed from the tree. Fruit placed on the ground in orchards (n = 3,600) were occasionally infested by Neosilba batesi (Curran) (Diptera: Lonchaeidae), a decomposer, but not Anastrepha spp. Based on our results, commercially cultivated and marketed P. americana 'Hass' should not be considered a natural host of A. ludens, A. obliqua, A. striata, and A. serpentina in Mexico.

Animals↗

Dicyema shorti n. sp. (phylum Dicyemida) from Octopus burryi (Mollusca: Cephalopoda: Octopodidae) in the Gulf of Mexico.

Nematogens and vermiform embryos of a new species of Dicyema are described from an octopus collected off Veracruz, Mexico. Dicyema shorti n. sp. is a small dicyemid species that rarely exceeds 500 microm in length. It is further characterized by the presence of 18 peripheral cells in the vermiform stages, a conical-shape calotte, and an axial cell that extends to the base of the propolar cells. Other stages in the life cycle of the parasite are not known. This is the first dicyemid to be described from Octopus burryi Voss. 1950, and also from both the southern Gulf of Mexico and the country of Mexico.

Animals↗

A new species of Gnathostoma (Nematoda: Gnathostomatidae) in Procyon lotor hernandezii from Mexico.

Gnathostoma lamothei n. sp., inhabiting the stomach of Procyon lotor hernandezii Wagler, 1831, in Tlacotalpan, Veracruz State, and Rio Sapo, Oaxaca, Mexico, is described. This new species differs from all other congeners by having the posterior half of the body surface covered by rows of tiny round bosses instead of spines, or lacking ornamentations. Sequences of the ITS2 of the ribosomal DNA of G. lamothei n. sp. are compared with sequences of other species of the genus recorded in Mexico; they show a wide divergence (<50%) with Gnathostoma binucleatum Almeyda-Artigas, 1991, and Gnathostoma turgidum Stossich, 1902, and high similarity with Gnathostoma sp. I sequence (99.2%). On the basis of morphometric traits and sequences, previous records of Gnathostoma sp. I (=Gnathostoma procyonis of Almeyda-Artigas et al., 1994, not Chandler, 1942, and Gnathostoma neoprocyonis nomen nudem) in Mexico are referred to as the new species.

Animals↗

Viral haemorrhagic disease of rabbits in Mexico: epidemiology and viral characterization.

A fatal disease of rabbits was first reported in the People's Republic of China in 1984. Since 1986, the disease has been reported in most countries of Europe and in the Republic of Korea. In 1989 a similar disease, presumably linked to the importation of rabbit meat from the People's Republic of China, spread rapidly through ten states in Mexico; it was eradicated during the same year by "stamping-out" measures. In Mexico, as was the case in other outbreaks, morbidity and mortality reached 80-90% with few clinical signs. In pathogenesis studies, the primary sites of replication were in the small intestinal crypt and villous epithelium, hepatocytes and splenic lymphocytes. Many organs, including the lung and kidney, contained acutely infarcted tissue and haemorrhages resulting from a terminal disseminated intravascular coagulopathy. The disease and the characteristics of the virus isolated in Mexico are similar to isolates from Europe and the Republic of Korea. The comparative morphologic, from Europe and the Republic of Korea. The comparative morphologic, immunologic, and in situ nucleic acid hybridization evidence for a parvovirus aetiology are summarized.

Animals↗

Effectiveness of bans and laws in reducing traffic deaths: legalized Sunday packaged alcohol sales and alcohol-related traffic crashes and crash fatalities in New Mexico.

We determined the relative risk of alcohol-related motor vehicle accidents and fatalities after New Mexico lifted its ban on Sunday packaged alcohol sales. We extracted all alcohol-related crashes from New Mexico police reports for 3652 days between July 1, 1990, and June 30, 2000, and found a 29% increase in alcohol-related crashes and a 42% increase in alcohol-related crash fatalities on Sundays after the ban on Sunday packaged alcohol sales was lifted. There was an estimated excess of 543.1 alcohol-related crashes and 41.6 alcohol-related crash fatalities on Sundays after the ban was lifted. Repealing the ban on Sunday packaged alcohol sales introduced a public health and safety hazard in New Mexico.

Accidents, Traffic↗

Consequences of the North American Free Trade Agreement for health services: a perspective from Mexico.

OBJECTIVES: The purposes of the study were to assess the potential impact of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) on medical care in Mexico and to identify internal measures Mexico could take to increase the benefits and minimize the risks of free trade. METHODS: The dual nature of the health sector is examined; the Mexican, Canadian, and US health care systems are compared; and modes and consequences of international exchange of health services are analyzed. RESULTS: Four issues require immediate attention: accreditation of health care facilities, licensing and certification of professionals, technology assessment, and financial equity. CONCLUSIONS: NAFTA offers opportunities for positive developments in Mexico, provided risks can be anticipated and preventive measures can be taken to avoid negative impacts on the health system. Medical services, like other elements of the Mexican economy, must be modernized to respond to the demands of global competition. The Mexican National Academy of Medicine has recommended to the Mexican government (1) internal strengthening of the Mexican health care system to improve its ability to respond to the new conditions created by NAFTA and (2) a gradual process to facilitate equitable and mutually beneficial interactions among the three countries.

Canada↗

What does Latin Aamerican social medicine do when it governs? The case of the Mexico City government.

Latin American social medicine (LASM) emerged as a movement in the 1970s and played an important role in the Brazilian health care reform of the 1980s, both of which focused on decentralization and on health care as a social right. The dominant health care reform model in Latin America has included a market-driven, private subsystem for the insured and a public subsystem for the uninsured and the poor. In contrast, the Mexico City government has launched a comprehensive policy based on social rights and redistribution of resources. A universal pension for senior citizens and free medical services are financed by grants, eliminating routine government corruption and waste. The Mexico City policy reflects the influence of Latin American social medicine. In this article, I outline the basic traits of LASM and those of the prevailing health care reform model in Latin America and describe the Mexico City social and health policy, emphasizing the influence of LASM in values, principles, and concrete programs.

Health Care Reform↗

Manufacturing poverty: the maquiladorization of Mexico.

Based on interviews with social workers, attorneys, feminists, union activists, and factory workers, the author argues that the maquiladora free trade zone of Northern Mexico portends developments under the North American Free Trade Agreement. Today some 500,000 Mexican workers labor in 2,000 factories for $4.50 a day in Mexico's maquiladoras. Two-thirds of the workers are women, many single women who head their households. These women work in the new, modern manufacturing plants in industrial parks, but live in squalid shantytowns without adequate water, sewage, or electricity. On the job, workers face exposures to toxic chemicals and dangerous work processes. The Mexican government does not have the political will, the trained personnel, or the equipment to monitor these occupational health problems. While Mexico's Constitution and labor laws guarantee workers the right to organize, bargain collectively, and strike, in practice the state controls the unions and opposes worker activism. In the face of employer and state repression workers are forced to organize secretly to fight for higher wages and safer conditions.

Female↗

The role of union democracy in the struggle for workers' health in Mexico.

In this article, the author analyzes the struggle for workers' health in Mexico, emphasizing the importance of the general and specific political context. In an overview of the legislation on industrial health and safety, the state institutions involved in the issue, and the characteristics of union organization in Mexico, the author shows that the limited activities related to workers' health have more to do with the relative political weakness of the Mexican working class than with the formal structures of legislation, state institutions, and unions. The second part of the article deals with the four most important struggles for health and safety in Mexico during the last ten years, which show some similarities. These struggles are consistently linked to processes of union democratization and tend to decline when union democracy is lost. The strategies of the companies show a common pattern: removing health issues from collective bargaining and putting them in the hands of state institutions. When workers have opposed this solution, management has used selective repression to solve the conflict. The state institutions subordinate their position to the companies' by postponing action or by doing a technically poor job. Changing the existing situation involves the social legitimation of the workers' health issue, since this would have an impact on the political processes involved, i.e., corporate control over workers, authoritarian labor relations and professionalism, and resources of the state institutions.

Collective Bargaining↗

Effects of traditional and western environments on prevalence of type 2 diabetes in Pima Indians in Mexico and the U.S.

OBJECTIVE: Type 2 diabetes and obesity have genetic and environmental determinants. We studied the effects of different environments on these diseases in Pima Indians in Mexico and the U.S. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Adult Pima-Indian and non-Pima populations in the Sierra Madre mountains of Mexico were examined using oral glucose tolerance tests and assessments for obesity, physical activity, and other risk factors. Results were compared with those from Pima Indians in Arizona. Both Pima populations were typed for DNA polymorphisms to establish their genetic similarity. RESULTS: The age- and sex-adjusted prevalence of type 2 diabetes in the Mexican Pima Indians (6.9%) was less than one-fifth that in the U.S. Pima Indians (38%) and similar to that of non-Pima Mexicans (2.6%). The prevalence of obesity was similar in the Mexican Pima Indians (7% in men and 20% in women) and non-Pima Mexicans (9% in men and 27% in women) but was much lower than in the U.S. Pima Indians. Levels of physical activity were much higher in both Mexican groups than in the U.S. Pima Indians. The two Pima groups share considerable genetic similarity relative to other Native Americans. CONCLUSIONS: The much lower prevalence of type 2 diabetes and obesity in the Pima Indians in Mexico than in the U.S. indicates that even in populations genetically prone to these conditions, their development is determined mostly by environmental circumstances, thereby suggesting that type 2 diabetes is largely preventable. This study provides compelling evidence that changes in lifestyle associated with Westernization play a major role in the global epidemic of type 2 diabetes.

Adult↗