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Background: Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, teachers have been accumulating adverse psychological symptoms due to the closure of educational centers and the need to adapt to different teaching modalities. Methods: Medline and PubMed were searched for studies on the prevalence of depression, anxiety, stress, and burn-out in teachers, published from 1 December 2019 to 15 June 2021. Results: In total, eight studies were included in this study. The results show that teachers report levels of anxiety (17%), depression (19%), and stress (30%). In Asia, there has been more anxiety compared to other continents. Overall, anxiety has been higher among teachers in schools compared to universities. However, stress levels have been higher among teachers in universities compared to schools. Statistically, there were no significant differences regarding gender and age in any of the symptoms. Conclusions: The results suggest that teachers at different educational levels are experiencing adverse psychological symptomatology during the COVID-19 pandemic, and that anxiety levels vary between different countries. However, more international studies are needed to fully understand the impact of the pandemic on teachers’ mental health.

Background The global crisis of bacterial resistance urges the scientific community to implement intervention programs in healthcare facilities to promote an appropriate use of antibiotics. However, the clinical benefits or the impact on resistance of these interventions has not been definitively proved. Methods We designed a quasi-experimental intervention study with an interrupted time-series analysis. A multidisciplinary team conducted a multifaceted educational intervention in our tertiary-care hospital over a 5-year period. The main activity of the program consisted of peer-to-peer educational interviews between counselors and prescribers from all departments to reinforce the principles of the proper use of antibiotics. We assessed antibiotic consumption, incidence density of Candida and multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria bloodstream infections (BSIs) and their crude death rate per 1000 occupied bed days (OBDs). Results A quick and intense reduction in antibiotic consumption occurred 6 months after the implementation of the intervention (change in level, −216.8 defined daily doses per 1000 OBDs; 95% confidence interval, −347.5 to −86.1), and was sustained during subsequent years (average reduction, −19,9%). In addition, the increasing trend observed in the preintervention period for the incidence density of candidemia and MDR BSI (+0.018 cases per 1000 OBDs per quarter; 95% confidence interval, −.003 to .039) reverted toward a decreasing trend of −0.130 per quarter (change in slope, −0.029; −.051 to −.008), and so did the mortality rate (change in slope, −0.015; −.021 to −.008). Conclusions This education-based antimicrobial stewardship program was effective in decreasing the incidence and mortality rate of hospital-acquired candidemia and MDR BSI through sustained reduction in antibiotic use.

Background: There is evidence of a high psychological toll from the COVID-19 pandemic in healthcare workers. This paper was aimed at conducting a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies reporting levels of depression among healthcare workers during the COVID-19 and estimating the pooled prevalence of depression. Methods: We searched for cross-sectional studies listed on PubMed from 1 December 2019 to 15 September 2020 that reported prevalence of depression in healthcare workers, nurses, medical doctors, and COVID-19 frontline professionals. The pooled proportions of depression were calculated with random effects models. Results: We identified 57 studies from seventeen countries. The pooled prevalence of depression in healthcare workers was 24% (95% CI: 20%−28%), 25% for nurses (95% CI: 18%−33%), 24% for medical doctors (95% CI: 16%−31%), and 43% for frontline professionals (95% CI: 28%−59%). Conclusions: The proportion of depression in nurses and medical doctors during the COVID-19 pandemic was similar to that found in the general population as previously reported in other meta-analyses conducted with smaller numbers of studies. Importantly, almost half of the frontline healthcare workers showed increased levels of depression. There is need for a comprehensive, international response to prevent and treat common mental health problems in healthcare workers.

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In this single centre study, the clinical pharmacists identified and intervened on a high number of severe medication errors. This suggests that emergency services will benefit from pharmacist-provided drug therapy services.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common type of dementia. Recent studies have assessed the possibility of using statins as treatment for AD. However, their effi cacy is not clear. In this study, we collected the most relevant information about the effi cacy of statins for the treatment of AD. We conducted a systematic literature search using MEDLINE, EMBASE and The Cochrane Library. We included clinical trials, meta-analyses and systematic reviews that analysed the effi cacy of statins in AD. We also extracted the characteristics and effi cacy results of the studies selected. Of the 304 articles identifi ed, 13 complied with the inclusion criteria. The scientifi c quality of studies was high and their results indicated that there were no signifi cant differences in the main effi cacy variables between statins and placebo treatment for AD. Therefore, according to the available scientifi c evidence, statins have not shown an improvement in cognition and do not appear to offer signifi cant benefi ts to patients with AD. KEYWORDS :Alzheimer's disease , statins , effi cacy , systematic review IntroductionAlzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common type of dementia. It is a neurodegenerative pathology, whose incidence has increased in the past few years. With an estimated prevalence of 46.8 million cases worldwide in 2015, the number of patients with AD is expected to continue to increase in the coming years. 1There are two main manifestations of AD: early-onset AD, which especially affects young people, and late-onset AD, which is more common and occurs mainly in older people, usually patients over 65 years old; therefore, ageing is considered to be the main risk factor for the disease. 3 When these deposits accumulate in the cerebral cortex, they cause neurotoxic effects. Aβ peptides derive from the amyloid precursor protein (APP) in response to the activity of secretases (α-SAPP, β-SAPP and γ-SAPP), which cleave the APP into different fragments. 4 These secretases have been the subject of scientific research because of their role in the regulation of Aβ.