Background: Varicella (chickenpox) is the primary disease caused by varicella-zoster virus. It is extremely contagious and is frequent in children. Indeed, in the absence of vaccination, a high proportion of the population is liable to contract it. Herpes zoster -more frequent among adultsis caused by reactivation of the latent virus. The objective of this study is to describe the status of and time trend for varicella and herpes zoster in the Madrid Autonomous Region prior to the introduction of the vaccine to the general population.

Acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) surveillance is key for global polio eradication. It allows detecting poliovirus (PV) reintroductions from endemic countries. This study describes AFP surveillance in Spain from 1998 to 2015. During this time, 678 AFP cases were reported to the Spanish National Surveillance Network. The mean notification rate was 0.58 AFP cases/100,000 population under 15 years old (range: 0.45/100,000–0.78/100,000). Two periods (P) are described: P1 (1998–2006) with the AFP notification rate ranging from 0.66/100,000 to 0.78/100,000, peaking in 2001 (0.84/100,000); and P2 (2007–2015) when the AFP rate ranged from 0.43/100,000 to 0.57/100,000, with the lowest rate in 2009 (0.31/100,000). No poliomyelitis cases were caused by wild PV infections, although two Sabin-like PVs and one imported vaccine-derived PV-2 were detected. Overall, 23 (3.4%) cases met the hot case definition. Most cases were clinically diagnosed with Guillain–Barré syndrome (76.9%; 504/655). The adequate stool collection rate ranged from 33.3% (7/21) to 72.5% (29/40). The annual proportion of AFP cases with non-polio enterovirus findings varied widely across the study period. AFP surveillance with laboratory testing for non-polio enteroviruses must be maintained and enhanced both to monitor polio eradication and to establish sensitive surveillance for prompt detection of other enteroviruses causing serious symptoms.

Higher Education is demanding the need of a greater connection between its academic offer and the necessary civic engagement of the graduates. This has given Spain the opportunity, for just over a decade, to develop the methodology of service-learning, which combines both the theoretical and practical aspect of university learning with the practical development of solidarity and civic commitment of the students. At the Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED, Spain) we have designed an online service-learning proposal, based on the virtual exchange which occurs between the students from the UNED and the University of Porto-Novo (Benin), requiring practical classes of Spanish. The result favours continuing with this virtual service-learning project aimed at the exchange with other universities; strengthening the planning of the training proposal for the development of ethical competence and civic engagement; the design of solidarity service action that enhances global citizenship and intercultural dialogue, consolidates digital competence, etc., all in a virtual educational environment.

Innovation is undoubtedly one of the key factors in assessing the best contemporary pedagogical outcomes. Our paper approaches the notion of virtual learning-service as an innovative modality that allows the inclusion and development of this methodology in distance or virtual educational environments. Specifically, we seek to provide a definition based on experience that also serves to identify elements and practices that allow others to start in this particular modality of service-learning. Therefore, we try to reflect on what elements and related practices help to define the development of this type of project. We believe that this reflexive approach would allow us to conceptualize the experience in a specific project of virtual learning-service and identify the key elements that would allow for replication in other contexts.

The last decade have witnessed the unprecedented development of information and communication technologies. This has, in turn, enabled the growth and development of other sectors, such as, for example, that of distance and on-line learning. In this context of technological expansion in education it is appropriate to reflect pedagogically about technological resources and their educational purpose. That is, how to deploy the available technological resources and media in a fashion consistent with the desired educational objectives and aims. Virtual Service-Learning has emerged as a particular modality of this methodology that combines and reinforces two elements: technology applied to education and service as a pedagogic tool. This format then, reveals itself as an appropriate methodology through which to channel both technical and pedagogic innovation. In this work and, taking as reference a study focusing on two virtual Service-Learning projects, we will address the construction of a theoretical framework that will allow us to understand and improve the development of these practices through this pedagogic modality.

El reconocimiento y el rediseño de los aprendizajes en diferentes escenarios de aprendizaje son los principales desafíos a los que se enfrenta actualmente la educación superior. Una de las líneas de trabajo es el impulso de metodologías innovadoras, como el aprendizaje-servicio (ApS), capaces de crear experiencias prácticas reales que cierren la brecha entre el aprendizaje que se genera en el aula y su aplicación en el mundo real. Metodologías que no pueden quedar al margen de las innovaciones tecnológicas, que no se entienden sin la información que proporcionan y sin la comunicación que es capaz de facilitar. Por primera vez, la transformación afecta a lo más genuino de todo ser humano: su estructura comunicativa y cognitiva desarrollado a través de un lenguaje multimodal, hipertextual y no lineal, lo que exige la transformación de la educación, a la vez que su apertura a los escenarios digitales. En este proceso, este artículo revisa los supuestos de esta apuesta por la innovación en la cual la tecnología posibilita esas nuevas formas de aprendizaje.  En este marco, el ApS virtual integra las tecnologías en su diseño y desarrollo posterior, apoyándose en los recursos digitales que nos facilita este medio. Es decir, aprendizaje y servicio se desarrollan en y con la red, generando una modalidad inmersiva y real en el ciberespacio. Es necesario analizar lo que suponen estos nuevos escenarios educativos, en los que se incluyen estas metodologías que, al contacto con las tecnologías digitales, multiplican y amplifican sus posibilidades y efectos pedagógicos.

The seroprevalence (SP) of measles and rubella virus antibodies is presented by age groups obtained in the IV Serosurvey of the Region of Madrid (2008-2009). The target population is composed of residents with ages ranging between 2 and 60 years in the Region of Madrid. A two-stage cluster sample is used. The SP of measles virus antibodies is 97.8% (CI 95%: 97.3-98.2). The highest SP is observed in the 2-5 year and 41-60 year age groups. The point estimate does not reach 95% in the 16-20 and 21-30 year age groups. The SP of rubella virus antibodies is 97.2% (CI 95%: 96.5-97.7). The SP is over 95% in all of the age groups. In immigrant women between the ages of 16 and 49, the SP is 95.9% (CI 95%: 93.7-97.4). The identification of groups susceptible to the measles virus in young adults could lead to outbreaks as a result of importing the virus. The circulation of the rubella virus is possible among immigrant women aged between 16 and 49 years, which could lead to the appearance of SRC cases. Epidemiological surveillance will allow the impact on the measles and rubella elimination plan to be determined in the future.

Las tecnologías de la información y la comunicación han transformado nuestra forma de ver y actuar en el mundo, lo que ha derivado a que también en el sector educativo se haya experimentado una sacudida sin precedentes. Nadie cuestiona que los procesos de enseñanza aprendizaje se ven enriquecidos por las posibilidades que plantean las tecnologías, pero, a la vez, se debe ser consciente de que la educación debe iniciar a las nuevas generaciones a saber vivir e interactuar en un mundo tecnologizado e hiperconectado. Por otra parte, la educación superior atraviesa, pedagógicamente hablando, una etapa orientada a la innovación en la que el influjo tecnológico desempeña un rol indiscutible. Universidades de todas las regiones actualizan y revisan sus metodologías docentes y el papel que juega la innovación y la investigación en sus relaciones con la sociedad. Esto ha supuesto un redescubrimiento de la centralidad de los estudiantes en el proceso educativo, la necesidad de promover aprendizajes más prácticos en las titulaciones, además de desarrollar el compromiso cívico de los estudiantes. De esta forma, muchas universidades han implantado políticas de innovación centradas en el aprendizaje y el desarrollo de competencias. Un ejemplo paradigmático son los programas de aprendizaje-servicio que se desarrollan, de forma más o menos institucionalizada, en las instituciones universitarias presenciales y a distancia. Al potencial innovador del aprendizaje-servicio se suma las posibilidades transformadoras de las tecnologías digitales en la educación superior. Nuestro objetivo con este monográfico no es otro que analizar las dinámicas e interacciones que se producen entre ambos mundos: entornos virtuales, tecnologías digitales y aprendizaje-servicio.