In all periods, there were statistically significant differences in adherence rates for maintaining or not maintaining the asthma control. Optimal asthma control entailed adherence rate higher than 80%. Strategies for reducing asthma morbidity should include a regular monitoring of adherence to inhaled steroids.

2003 and 2007, more than 20 countries in Asia, Africa and Europe reported cases of avian influenza in animals, and approximately 1.5 million birds were sacrificed to prevent dissemination of the virus.(1-4) However, from 2003 onward, infection in humans started to occur with greater frequency in many countries, being responsible for a high mortality rate. As of 10 September IntroductionThe first human epidemic of avian influenza, popularly known as bird flu, was reported in Hong Kong in 1997. At that time, 18 people were hospitalized and there were 6 deaths. In February of 2003, 2 more human cases of avian influenza, 1 of which resulted in death, were reported in Hong Kong, in a family who had recently travelled to continental China. In the period between AbstractThis study aimed to review the literature on infection with the H5N1 subtype of avian influenza A virus, taking into consideration the fact that, in the event of a pandemic, children might become a major risk group. Searches were limited to the past ten years and were carried out using the following electronic databases: Medline, MD Consult, HighWire and Medscape. Children and young adults account for a significant proportion of the susceptible population. We found that more than half of the individuals infected were under 20 years of age and that one quarter were under the age of 10. The incubation period ranged from 2 to 5 days. Initial clinical manifestations are nonspecific, which hinders the diagnosis. Most of the infected individuals presented severe pneumonia, which evolved to respiratory insufficiency within an average of 4 days. Chest X-rays can reveal diffuse multifocal/interstitial infiltrates or segmental/lobar consolidation with air bronchogram. The pathogenic potential is high, with mortality rates up to 63%, indicating that the pandemic virus might present high pathogenicity and high mortality. Knowledge of the risk of a pandemic and of the measures to be taken in suspect cases constitutes an important step toward controlling a potential pandemic.Keywords: Influenza A virus; Disease vectors; Disease outbreaks; Influenza A virus, H5N1 subtype. ResumoEste estudo teve como objetivo fazer uma revisão da literatura a respeito da infecção pelo vírus influenza A subtipo H5N1, levando em conta a possibilidade de as crianças serem um dos grupos etários mais acometidos caso ocorra uma pandemia. A revisão bibliográfica foi realizada nos seguintes bancos de dados, restrita aos últimos 10 anos: Medline, MD Consult, HighWire e Medscape. As crianças e os adultos jovens representam uma fração importante da população susceptível. Mais da metade dos indivíduos infectados apresentavam menos de 20 anos de idade, e um quarto era menor do que 10 anos. O período de incubação variou de 2 a 5 dias. As manifestações clínicas iniciais são não específicas, o que dificulta o diagnóstico. A maioria dos casos apresentou um quadro de pneumonia grave, que evoluiu para insuficiência respiratória em 4 dias em média. A radiografia de tórax pode mostrar infiltrado interstic...

Background Despite the increasing demand for complementary and integrative medicine, only a few studies have evaluated the effect of these types of treatments on the quality of life (QoL) of patients with chronic diseases. The objective of this study was to evaluate the QoL of women treated with homeopathy within the Public Health System of Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Methods This is a prospective randomized controlled pragmatic trial. The patients were divided into two independent groups, one group underwent homeopathic treatment in the first 6-month period and the other did not receive any homeopathic treatment. In both randomized groups, patients maintained their conventional medical treatment when necessary. The World Health Organization Quality of Life abbreviated questionnaire (WHOQOL-BREF) was used for QoL analysis prior to treatment and 6 months later. Results Randomization afforded similar baseline results in three domains of QoL analysis for both groups. After 6 months' treatment, there was a statistically significant difference between groups in the physical domain of WHOQOL-BREF: the average score improved to 63.6 ± (SD) 15.8 in the homeopathy group, compared with 53.1 ± (SD) 16.7 in the control group. Conclusions Homeopathic treatment showed a positive impact at 6 months on the QoL of women with chronic diseases. Further studies should be performed to determine the long-term effects of homeopathic treatment on QoL and its determinant factors.