Background By July 1st, the incidence rate of RT-qPCR SARS-CoV-2 infection was 5.9% in Barrio Padre Mugica, one of the largest slums in Buenos Aires City. This study aimed to establish the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 three months after the first case was reported. Methods Between June 10th and July 1st, a cross-sectional design was carried out on people over 14 years old, selected from a probabilistic sample of households. A finger prick sample was tested by ELISA to detect IgG-class antibodies against SARS-CoV-2. Multilevel model was applied to understand sector, household and individual conditions associated with seroconvert. Results Prevalence based on IgG was 53.4% (95%IC 52.8% to 54.1%). Among the IgG positive cases, 15% reported having compatible symptoms at some point in the past two months. There is evidence of within-household clustering effect (rho=0.52; 95% IC 0.36-0.67); living with a PCR-confirmed case doubled the chance of being SARS-CoV2 IgG positive (OR 2.13; 95% IC 1.17-3.85). The highest risk of infection was found in one of the most deprived areas of the slum, the Bajo autopista sector. Discussion High seroprevalence is shown, for each symptomatic RT-qPCR-confirmed diagnosis, 9 people were IgG positive, indicating a high rate of undetected (probable asymptomatic) infections. Given that transmission among family members is a leading driver of the disease`s spread, it is unsurprising that crowded housing situations in slums are directly associated with higher risk of infection and consequently high seroprevalence levels. This study contributes to the understanding of population immunity against SARS-CoV2, its relation to living conditions and viral spread, for future decision making.

Based on these study results, the self-management education model was significantly more effective than the compliance-based model in BP control.

BackgroundMounting evidence shows that multi-intervention programmes for hypertension treatment are more effective than an isolated pharmacological strategy. Full economic evaluations of hypertension management programmes are scarce and contain methodological limitations. The aim of the study was to evaluate if a hypertension management programme for elderly patients is cost-effective compared to usual care from the perspective of a third-party payer.MethodsWe built a cost-effectiveness model using published evidence of effectiveness of a comprehensive hypertension programme vs. usual care for patients 65 years or older at a community hospital in Buenos Aires, Argentina. We explored incremental cost-effectiveness between groups. The model used a life-time framework adopting a third-party payer's perspective. Incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) was calculated in International Dollars per life-year gained. We performed a probabilistic sensitivity analysis (PSA) to explore variable uncertainty.ResultsThe ICER for the base-case of the "Hypertension Programme" versus the "Usual care" approach was 1,124 International Dollars per life-year gained. PSA did not significantly influence results. The programme had a probability of 43% of being dominant (more effective and less costly) and, overall, 95% chance of being cost-effective.DiscussionResults showed that "Hypertension Programme" had high probabilities of being cost-effective under a wide range of scenarios. This is the first sound cost-effectiveness study to assess a comprehensive hypertension programme versus usual care. This study measures hard outcomes and explores robustness through a probabilistic sensitivity analysis.ConclusionsThe comprehensive hypertension programme had high probabilities of being cost-effective versus usual care. This study supports the idea that similar programmes could be the preferred strategy in countries and within health care systems where hypertension treatment for elderly patients is a standard practice.

Introduction The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends vaccination against Sars Cov-2 coronavirus to mitigate COVID-19 pandemic. On December 29th, the Argentine Ministry of Health started a vaccination plan with the Sputnik V vaccine emphasizing the registration of the Events Supposedly Attributed to Vaccines and Immunizations (ESAVI) in the National Surveillance System. The aim of this study is to determine the safety of this vaccine. Methods In an ongoing cohort study, health professionals from Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires vaccinated with the first component of the Sputnik V vaccine (a rAd26 vector-based) were followed up. Safety at 72 hs was analysed from a self-report form. Local and systemic reactions were characterized as mild, moderate and severe. Incident rates were calculated per 1000 person-hours by age groups and gender. Adjusted hazard ratio and 95% Confidence Interval (HR; 95%CI) is obtained by Cox Regression Model. Results 707 health professionals (mean age 35, 67% female) were vaccinated, response rate was 96,6% and 71,3% reported at least one ESAVI. Rate was 6.3 per 1.000 person-hours. Among local reactions, 54% reported pain at the injection site, 11% redness and swelling. Among systemic reactions 40% reported fever, 5% diarrhea and 68% new or worsened muscle pain. Five percent had serious adverse events that required medical evaluation and one inpatient. ESAVI rate was higher among females (65.4% vs 50%; HR 1.38, 95%CI 1.13-5.38) and in younger than 55 years-old (72.8% vs 32%; HR 2.66, 95%CI 1.32-1.68). Conclusion Active surveillance on safety for vaccines with emergency approval is mandatory. This study shows high rates of local and systemic reactions however early serious events were rare. Short term safety is supported by these preliminary findings. Studies on long term safety and efficacy, accoding sex and age, are needed.

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