Acta Medica Port
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Observational Study
[Neurodevelopmental Psychiatry Consultation: A National Level Analysis].
Neurodevelopmental disorders are characterized by delay or variation in the acquisition of abilities or skills in several domains of development: motor, social, language, and cognitive. These disorders can manifest from childhood to adulthood, and therefore continuity of care is essential throughout these various developmental periods. However, several studies show that there is limited access to adult health care in this clinical domain. ⋯ This study made it possible to identify some difficulties and barriers regarding adequate access for patients with neurodevelopmental disorders throughout the various developmental stages, from childhood to adulthood: lack of training in this clinical field, need of better communication between departments, lack of specific protocols, shortage of multidisciplinary teams, and asymmetry in the distribution of differentiated care.
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Species associated with visceral leishmaniasis, such as L. infantum, may be responsible for cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL), particularly in the Mediterranean region. In immunosuppressed hosts, classification as complicated CL is essential, as the risk of mucosal leishmaniasis warrants systemic therapy. We report the case of a forty-seven-year-old male living in Portugal, with Fabry disease and receiving immunosuppressive treatment with adalimumab and methotrexate for Crohn's disease. ⋯ The rarity of CL in Portugal may delay its diagnosis, especially in autochthonous infections. Treatment choice is complicated by the heterogeneity of drugs available worldwide. As the global prevalence of CL increases, it is important to be aware of this diagnosis.
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The International Health Regulations (IHR) were developed to prepare countries to deal with public health emergencies. The spread of SARS-CoV-2 underlined the need for international coordination, although few attempts were made to evaluate the integrated implementation of the IHR's core capacities in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether IHR shortcomings stem from non-compliance or regulatory issues, using Portugal as a European case study due to its size, organization, and previous discrepancies between self-reporting and peer assessment of the IHR's core capacities. ⋯ Portugal exemplifies the extent to which implementation of the IHR was not fully achieved, which has resulted in the underperformance of several core capacities. There is a need to improve preparedness and international cooperation in order to harmonize and strengthen the global response to public health emergencies, with better political, institutional, and financial support.
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The COVID-19 pandemic is an illustration of how a physical illness can damage people's minds. In this regard, the goal of this study was to see how different sociodemographic and behavioral factors were linked to anxiety and depression symptoms in a group of individuals living in Portugal. ⋯ The impacts of a crisis on mental health extend longer than the event itself. We were able to observe that younger women with insufficient household income who suffered a change in income due to COVID-19 and were classified as food insecure presented higher levels of anxiety and depression symptoms. These results highlight the presence of a social gradient where we saw that people who were less advantaged in terms of socioeconomic position presented worse mental health outcomes, stressing, in this sense, the need to bring the best public health responses for these specific groups of the population.
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Leishmaniasis is a parasitic disease transmitted by the bite of female sandflies that occurs in tropical and subtropical climate regions. Visceral leishmaniasis is the most serious manifestation of the disease, leading to a 95% mortality rate after two years of infection if untreated. Visceral leishmaniasis is frequently associated with immunocompromised states, with the human immunodeficiency virus being the most prevalent. ⋯ In Portugal, the number of reported cases of visceral leishmaniasis has decreased in the last few years, with 15 cases reported between 2017 and 2021. The authors present a case of visceral leishmaniasis in an immunocompetent patient who manifested the classic pentad: fever, weight loss, hepatosplenomegaly, pancytopenia and hypergammaglobulinemia. The diagnosis was made by the observation of amastigotes of the Leishmania infantum species in the bone marrow aspirate examination, and the patient was successfully treated with liposomal amphotericin B.