Sistema Regional de Información
en línea para Revistas Científicas de América Latina,
el Caribe, España y Portugal

This study presents the use of tools for verifying the operation of automated feedback as implemented in programming courses. Educational environments offer the experience of summative and formative evaluation of computer programs, which is aimed at students. In this type of tool, students solve a programming task, which is automatically validated in order to generate grades and feedback. Regarding summative evaluation, a numerical or percentage grade is generated on whether the solution of a task is correct. In the case of formative evaluation, information is generated on errors or suggestions to be incorporated to the programs in order to improve learning. The employed tools are UNCode, Ask-Elle, and Nbgrader. In addition, some important remarks are made about some of the tools used for comparing programs and validating differences.

Background: Staphylococcus lugdunensis is a coagulase-negative staphylococcus (CNS) with virulence and antibiotic sensitivity characteristics which makes it more similar to Staphylococcus aureus than other CNS. Aim: To know the microbiological and clinical characteristics of S. lugdunensis isolates identified from our health sector. Methods: A retrospective study of S. lugdunensis isolates was carried out between 2017 and 2019 in the Microbiology Service of the San Jorge University Hospital in Huesca (Spain). The clinical records of patients with S. lugdunensis isolation were reviewed, considering the following factors: age, sex, sample type, service and underlying disease. Bacterial identification was performed using MALDI-TOF VITEK MS (BioMérieux, France). The pattern of antibiotic susceptibility was studied by means of plate microdilution. Results: 44 isolates of S. lugdunensis were obtained: 12 corresponded to wounds, 10 were abscesses, 8 ulcers, 7 urine samples, 4 skin smears, 2 otic exudates, and 1 vaginal exudate. Regarding the underlying disease, five patients had a tumor processes and ten had diabetes mellitus. In 17 patients there was a history of recent surgery or trauma. Most of the strains were susceptible to the antibiotics studied. Production of beta-lactamase was observed in 19 of them, two were resistant to macrolides and three to clindamycin. None of the isolates were resistant to oxacillin, gentamicin or cotrimoxazole. Conclusions: Although S. lugdunensis maintains a good sensitivity to most antibiotics, its tendency to produce abscesses and that it expresses virulence factors more similar to S. aureus than to other CNS requires a correct identification in the laboratory so that its incidence is not underestimated.

Antecedentes: el COVID-19 presenta  una progresión a cuadros respiratorios severos que pueden culminar con la muerte. Al ser una pandemia hay necesidad de herramientas de bajo costo que permitan determinar su evolución. El índice neutrófilo linfocito (INL) es un marcador inflamatorio estudiado en diversas patologías. Objetivo: estimar la asociación entre INL >3  con mortalidad en pacientes hospitalizados con COVID 19. Métodos: se incluyeron pacientes con diagnóstico de COVID 19 que ingresaron a la sala de internación general de nuestro hospital, desde marzo hasta agosto de 2020. Los pacientes se dividieron en dos grupos: con INL < 3 y con INL >3. Se realizó  un modelo de regresión logística múltiple para estimar la asociación entre el INL >3  y mortalidad. Resultados: se incluyeron 711 pacientes con COVID-19. El modelo de regresión logística múltiple mostró  asociación entre  INL > 3 y mortalidad (OR 3.8; IC95% 1.05 a  13.7; p 0.04) ajustado por edad,  días de internación,  pases a terapia intensiva, neumonía grave, niveles de proteína-C-reactiva, hipertensión arterial, y comorbilidad neurológica, renal crónica, cardiaca, y oncológica previas. Conclusión: el INL es accesible en  la evaluación inicial de los pacientes que se internan con COVID-19, dando idea de severidad  y mortalidad.

La brucelosis es una zoonosis desatendida y un problema de salud pública en países en desarrollo, que también causa grandes pérdidas económicas en la ganadería. En México es endémica y Chiapas un estado al sur del país, destaca por la presencia de la enfermedad en humanos. Por medio de la revisión del estado del arte, se encontró que factores como la alta producción de ganado bovino, las limitadas estrategias institucionales de control de la enfermedad, la falta de regulación sanitaria del género Brucella en productos lácteos y cárnicos y la ubicación del estado de Chiapas en la frontera con Centroamérica, podrían ser condicionantes para la prevalencia de brucelosis humana en esta región de México.

We present a clinical case of keratitis caused by M. abscessus in a 76-year-old female patient, resident in the city of Asunción, without trauma or previous ocular surgery and with a history of herpetic keratouveitis. Because it is a keratitis caused by a rare etiological agent and because of the importance of a correct and timely diagnosis for the establishment of appropriate treatment, the present case is reported, the first of Mycobacteria keratitis in Paraguay.

Background: Parasites are a public health problem due to their high prevalence in developing countries, their persistence in developed countries mainly due to the migration of people, and their associated morbidity and mortality. Aim: To determine the deaths in Chile caused by endemic and imported parasites; according to region, sex, age group, urban-rural origin and educational level, and mortality rates. Method: Population-based study, times series of mortality (1997 to 2020). Statistical analysis was performed using Excel and R Studio programs, calculation of χ², p value <0.05. Results: 2,413 deaths occurred due to parasites, 65.1% by protozoa, 33% by helminths and 1.9% by arthropods. The average national mortality rate was 0.6 per 100.000 inhabitants. The main causes of death were Chagas disease (63.6%), hydatidosis (24.3%) and cysticercosis (8.1%). Most of the deceased belonged to the Coquimbo Region. The mean age of death was 74, 62 and 67 years old for deaths from protozoa, helminths and arthropods, respectively. Deaths occurred mostly in men. Most came from urban areas and had a low educational level. Conclusions: Chagas disease is the main cause of death from parasites in Chile.

Actinomyces spp es una familia de bacilos grampositivos saprofíticos que rara vez producen infecciones en el ser humano. Actinomyces odontolyticus forma parte de la microbiota oral y existen escasos reportes de casos de infecciones asociadas a este microorganismo, principalmente de localización oral, torácica, pélvica y bacteremias. Estas infecciones se caracterizan por ser recidivantes y causar abscesos y trayectos fistulosos. Su aislamiento microbiológico es difícil ya que la mayoría de los equipos automatizados no identifican la especie de Actinomyces, por lo que técnicas como MALDI-TOF MS resulta de gran ayuda en el diagnóstico definitivo. Finalmente, el tratamiento antibacteriano debe ser prolongado, acompañado del drenaje quirúrgico de las colecciones. Presentamos dos casos de infección abdominal recurrente por  A. odontolyticus, en pacientes inmunocompetentes, con tratamiento exitoso.

Enterobacterales co-producing carbapenemases have awakened health alerts in Latin America. Carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales harboring KPC and NDM-1 are resistant to almost all existing antibiotics. Panama reports KPC since 2010, and NDM since 2011, however, Enterobacterales with double carbapenemase production is new to our hospitals. We present the first two isolates of Enterobacter cloacae complex co-producing KPC and NDM, in a second level hospital in Panama City. Strengthening epidemiological surveillance systems in hospitals allows to carry out timely detection of these new combinations of resistance; to implement outbreak prevention and control measures.

In the second half of the 19th century, the beginning of the research on tropical medicine was favored with contributions from shipping companies, like Dutch East India Company, being perhaps the most important of these its collaboration in the creation of the China Imperial Maritime Customs Service (1854-1950), imposed by consuls from England, France and USA, on the weak Chinese government in order to establish regular taxes in all its ports, soon expanding its functions with reports on tides, typhoons and weather, ending up creating a medical service in 1863 to detect epidemics and establish quarantines. This medical service published a Journal, the Imperial Maritime Customs Medical Reports, where they wrote distinguished investigators, such as Patrick Manson, Father of Tropical Medicine. We comment in some reports of this journal, to get an idea about its real importance in the development of tropical medicine.

Monkeypox (MPX) is a zoonotic tropical disease, endemic to some areas of Africa, caused by the monkeypox virus (MPXV), however, it is no longer limited to endemic regions and is therefore a pathogen with global reach, of public health importance. This virus is a member of the Orthopoxvirus (OPXV) genus of the Poxviridae family. It is transmitted by being in contact with an infected person or animal or with material contaminated by the virus. The clinical picture is similar to smallpox but MPX is less contagious and severe, with a lower case fatality rate, being lymphadenopathy the most prominent sign. The diagnosis is clinical-epidemiological and various laboratory techniques are used to confirm it. There is no specific treatment, support measures are individual and depend on the evolution of the disease, antivirals are used to treat severe forms. Standard smallpox vaccines have been shown to induce strong cross-protection against MPXV. An updated review of the subject in question is carried out.