No abstract

The emergence of Covid-19 started in China and has rapidly spread across the globe, notably in Italy and more recently to Brazil. This is a very worrying situation for the affected countries. This Brief Communication aims to describe and correlate the number of confirmed cases and deaths of Covid-19 in Brazil and Italy. This is a descriptive and retrospective study that used data collated on the World Health Organization (WHO) online platform between 21 January and 19 April 2020. After analyzing the data, it was observed that the number of confirmed cases and deaths in Brazil is lower than that in Italy. There are certain factors in Brazil which see it in a lower risk position than Italy; however, despite the current slow spread of the virus, the situation in Brazil is difficult to predict.

Sports practice has demonstrated several health benefits for the population. Despite the benefits, there may also be an increase in the risk of traumas associated with these activities, the most common types being those involving the face. The study aimed to carry out a review about facial trauma. Material and methods: This study is a review performed in April 2020 that used articles available at Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Literature (LILACS), Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online (MEDLINE) and PubMed database. A total of 1,288 articles were found, after applying filters and analysis: 14 articles were selected to compose this study. Results: Although personal protective equipment has great importance, many sports practitioners still neglect its use, due to the cost, inconvenience, and lack of guidance, even with its proven efficiency. This neglect increases the risk of traumas, which are frequent in team and combat sports. Amid traumas, stand out lacerations and dental trauma are the most common injuries, depending on the sport practiced. Conclusion: The typical injury mechanisms are collision between players, hitting the ground and contact between players with the equipment worn.

No abstract

Social isolation is extremely important to minimize the effects of a pandemic. Latin American (LA) countries have similar socioeconomic characteristics and health system infrastructures. These countries face difficulties to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic and some of them had very high death rates. Government stringency index (GSI) of twelve LA countries was gathered from the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker (OxCGRT) project. GSI was calculated considering nine metrics such as school and work closures, stay-at-home requirements, among others types of social distancing and isolation measures. Population data from the United Nations Population Fund and number of deaths data was collected from the dashboard of the World Health Organization (WHO). We performed an analysis of the period March-December using a mixed linear model approach. Peru, Brazil, Chile, Bolivia, Colombia, Argentina and Ecuador had the highest death rates with an increasing trend over time, while Suriname, Venezuela, Uruguay, Paraguay and Guyana had the lowest ones, which remained steady. GSI in most countries followed the same pattern during the analyzed months. i.e., high indices at the beginning of the pandemic and lower ones in the last evaluated months, while the number of deaths increased over the whole period. Almost no country kept its GSI high for much time, especially from October to December. Time and GSI as well as their interaction were highly significant. As their interaction increases, death rate decreases. In conclusion, our statistical model explains and substantiates the need for maintaining social distancing and isolation measures over time during the pandemic.