Objectives: Describe the epidemiology of COVID-19 deaths within a hospital in the Amazon region in a period of 64 days, which corresponds to the growth curve of the COVID-19 first-wave pandemic in 2020. Methods: The data were obtained from medical records of 152 deaths registered for adults and elderly hospitalized. The data were also compared with the number of deaths in previous years during the same period studied to assess the impact of the pandemic on this hospital. The study also assesses the impact of intra-hospital transfers, accounting for the number of times patients who died performed transfers between sectors of the hospital. Results: During the period analyzed, there was an increase in deaths compared to the previous years. The majority of dead patients were male, aged between 34 and 96 years. The deaths were associated comorbidities such as arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and kidney disease. The SARS-CoV-2 infection was confirmed in 91 cases. Among them, 15 individuals were admitted without conditions related to SARS-CoV-2 infection; they had a three-fold higher number of hospital transfers than those admitted with SARS-CoV-2 infection symptoms. Sixteen patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection developed respiratory symptoms just after hospitalization. The diagnostic exam for SARS-CoV-2 infection was performed on average 4 (± 6) days after the onset of symptoms and 6 (± 6) days after admission, and the average time from the onset of respiratory symptoms to death was 4 (± 6) days. Conclusions: These data suggest the high presence of hospital infection by SARS-CoV-2 in the Brazilian Amazon region, which may be related to the number of sectorial transfers, delay in confirming the diagnosis, and lack of management. We report a serious public health problem, as it demonstrates the fragility of healthcare institutions in the hospital environment.

The chronic use of cigarettes causes toxic and oxidative effects on the visual system, which can cause changes in color vision. Although there are studies on the harmful effects of tobacco in active smokers, the literature on secondhand/passive smokers (or environmental tobacco smoke) is still scarce. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the ability of color vision in active and passive smokers. This is a cross-sectional observational study in which 103 individuals were divided pseudorandomly into 3 groups: control group (CG) n = 44 individuals (72 eyes), with a mean age of 28.65 ± 7.90; group of passive smokers (GPS) n = 28 (56 eyes), mean age 28.74 ± 9.42; group of active smokers (GAS) n = 31 (60 eyes), mean age 34.91 ± 11.30. The psychophysical evaluation of color vision was performed using the Ishihara pseudoisochromatic plates, the computer program of the Freiburg Visual Acuity & Contrast Test, version 3.7, and the desaturated Lanthony D15 ordering test. The results indicate that there was no correlation in GAS and GPS with age, time of exposure to tobacco and daily consumption. It was observed that both GAS and GPS showed changes in visual acuity (P <0.05), and only GPS showed changes in color vision (P <0.05); GFP showed a deficit in visual acuity and worse color vision when compared to GAS (P <0.05). These results are discussed in relation to the biochemical and pathophysiological effects that exposure to cigarettes may have on the visual system, which would explain the functional changes observed. We conclude that passive and active smokers have impaired color vision and that the psychophysical methods used in this study are effective for the subclinical tracking of changes in color vision.

Cosmetic products contain neurotoxic substances such as formaldehyde, heavy metals, and ammonia, which pose a potential occupational hazard to hairdressers. Among the functional changes associated with neurointoxication, visual function is described as a sensitive marker of neurointoxication. Objective: We aimed to evaluate the effects of occupational exposure to cosmetics on visual function of workers in beauty parlors. Methods: Fifty-seven subjects were evaluated and divided into two groups: a cosmetics exposed group (29 women, 1 man, 35 ± 9 years) and a control group (25 women, 2 men, 30 ± 9 years). All participants of the exposed group were exposed to cosmetics as hair straighteners, hair dyes, hair volume reducers, hair bleaches, nail polishes, nail lacquers, and makeup for at least 1 year and they have no clinical complaints. The measurement consisted of psychophysical assessment of visual acuity by Freiburg visual acuity and contrast test, Goldman's manual kinetic campimetry, color vision assessment by Ishihara test, and parameters of Lanthony desaturated D15 test. We used Mann-Whitney test to compare the data from both groups and Spearman's rank correlation to evaluate the association between visual outcomes and exposure. Results: It was observed that the visual acuity of the occupationally exposed group was lower than that of the control group ( p < .0001). Color confusion index (CCI) and C-index of the exposed group were higher than that of the control group ( p < .05). Conclusions: This work suggests that occupational exposure to cosmetics is related to functional changes in vision. Public Significance StatementCosmetic products contain neurotoxic substances, which pose a potential occupational hazard. This article studied the impact of these products on human health using visual perception assessment as way to realize this investigation. The results suggest that occupational exposure to cosmetics is related to functional changes in vision. The visual perception alteration may indicate a damage in neurological processing.This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.