The 2024 South America ablaze: health impacts and policy imperatives for protecting population health in an era of wildfires.

The 2024 wildfires in South America, particularly in the Amazon and Pantanal, were not only a disaster for ecosystems, but also for public health and people's health and wellbeing. These record-breaking fires were likely driven by overlapping triggers: climate change-related heat and droughts and human-driven land-use change. We documented that rapidly evolving wildfires together with limited preparedness and slow responses from emergency and health agencies resulted in severe health impacts, including several fatalities and thousands people displaced, injured, and/or with cardiorespiratory symptoms.

Estimating the effects of temperature on mortality and hospitalisations under RCP2.6 and RCP8.5 scenarios in the short- and long-term by region in Chile: a population-based, modelling study.

Background: In a warming world, it is generally accepted that increasing temperatures affect human health. In many regions of the world, however, these effects are poorly understood. To address this issue in Chile, we estimated the potential change in all-cause and cardiovascular and temperature-related (CVT) mortality and hospitalisations associated with four different climate scenarios by region.

Preparedness of nurses for climate change: questionnaire development and preliminary validation.

Background: Nurses are well-positioned to lead climate action efforts. There are several tools currently available for measuring nurses' awareness, attitudes and practices regarding climate change. While each of these existing tools provides valuable insights into nurses' awareness, attitudes, and practices regarding climate change, none of them address preparedness in taking actions in the near future, which is important to inform strategies for motivating climate change actions targeting nurses.

Incidence and factors associated with post-intensive care syndrome among caregivers of intensive care unit survivors: Protocol for a cohort study.

Background: During the last decades, intensive care unit (ICU) mortality rates have significantly decreased but this progress has come with unintended consequences for patients and their caregivers. The adverse health-related effects observed in caregivers during the post-ICU period are referred to as Post-Intensive Care Syndrome-Family (PICS-F). Despite growing awareness of PICS-F, the long-term challenges faced by caregivers of ICU patients are not well characterized with several gaps in knowledge remaining unaddressed.

Relationship between perceived stress and health literacy on family satisfaction among family members of critically ill patients: A multicenter exploratory study.

Background: Intensive care unit (ICU) admission is often a stressful experience that can negatively influence family satisfaction (FS) with patient care, communication, and decision-making. Health literacy (HL) is associated with the patient's ability to obtain, process, and understand health-related information. Few studies have explored the influence of perceived stress and HL on FS simultaneously.

Climate-related health impact indicators for public health surveillance in a changing climate: a systematic review and local suitability analysis.

Unlabelled: Climate change challenges public health. Effective management of climate-related health risks relies on robust public health surveillance (PHS) and population health indicators. Despite existing global and country-specific indicators, their integration into local PHS systems is limited, impacting decision-making.

The 2023 Latin America report of the Countdown on health and climate change: the imperative for health-centred climate-resilient development.

In 2023, a series of climatological and political events unfolded, partly driving forward the global climate and health agenda while simultaneously exposing important disparities and vulnerabilities to climate-related events. On the policy front, a significant step forward was marked by the inaugural Health Day at COP28, acknowledging the profound impacts of climate change on health. However, the first-ever Global Stocktake showed an important gap between the current progress and the targets outlined in the Paris Agreement, underscoring the urgent need for further and decisive action.

The Countdown South America: increasing health opportunities by identifying the gaps in health and climate change research.

South America is experiencing the effects of climate change, including extreme weather events and changes in temperature and precipitation patterns. These effects interact with existing social vulnerabilities, exacerbating their impact on the health and wellbeing of populations. This viewpoint highlights four main messages from the series, which presented key gaps from five different perspectives of health and climate.

A critical analysis of national plans for climate adaptation for health in South America.

Unlabelled: Climate adaptation measures are critical for protecting human health. National Adaptation Plans (NAPs), Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), and National Communications (NCs) play a crucial role in helping countries identify, analyze, and address their vulnerabilities to climate change impacts, while also assessing available resources and capacities. This study aimed to assess the comprehensiveness of South American countries' NAPs, NDCs, and NCs in addressing the effects of climate change on health.

Association between psychosocial factors and satisfaction with communication in family members of intensive care unit patients during COVID-19 pandemic: An exploratory cross-sectional study.

Objective: To investigate the relationship between satisfaction with communication and perceived stress, depressive symptoms and perceived social support among family members of critically ill.

Research Methodology/design: Exploratory, cross-sectional study was conducted.

Setting: Private teaching hospital in Santiago, Chile.

COVID-19 attributed mortality and ambient temperature: a global ecological study using a two-stage regression model.

A negative correlation between ambient temperature and COVID-19 mortality has been observed. However, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has reinforced the importance of government interventions and warned countries against relaxing control measures due to warmer temperatures. Further understanding of this relationship is needed to help plan vaccination campaigns opportunely.

[Statistical literacy and risk communication for COVID-19 vaccination: a scoping reviewLiteracia estatística e comunicação de risco para a vacinação contra a COVID-19: revisão de escopo].

Objective: To describe the role of statistical literacy and proper risk communication in communication strategies related to COVID-19 vaccination.

Methods: A scoping review was carried out in January 2021, with the keywords "statistical literacy," "risk communication," "health communication," and "pandemic," in the Pan American Health Organization Virtual Health Library, PubMed, Web of Science, EBSCO, and Google Scholar databases. No filters were applied for dates, language, or publication type.

Maternal exposure to a high-magnitude earthquake during pregnancy influences pre-reading skills in early childhood.

Exposure to an adverse prenatal environment can influence fetal development and result in long-lasting changes in the offspring. However, the association between maternal exposure to stressful events during pregnancy and the achievement of pre-reading skills in the offspring is unknown. Here we examined the association between prenatal exposure to the Chilean high-magnitude earthquake that occurred on February 27th, 2010 and the development of early reading precursors skills (listening comprehension, print knowledge, alphabet knowledge, vocabulary, and phonological awareness) in children at kindergarten age.

Climate change and environmental health in undergraduate health degrees in Latin America.

Objective: Analyze the incorporation of climate change and environmental health courses in the curriculum grids of Medicine, Nursing, Nutrition and Clinical Psychology undergraduate courses in Latin American universities.

Methods: Descriptive and cross-sectional document review. Curriculum grids of the top ten Latin American universities were analyzed according to the rankings of QS Latin American University 2020, Times Higher Education World University 2020 and Academic Ranking of World Universities 2019.

[The threat of climate change on population health and the urgent need to act].

Climate change is associated with negative health outcomes, such as cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. This article analyses the threat of climate change on population health and the urgent need to implement measures to avoid this damage. Heat vulnerability, heatwave exposures, and wildfire exposure to forest fires have increased in Chile.

Effects of Daily Consumption of an Aqueous Dispersion of Free-Phytosterols Nanoparticles on Individuals with Metabolic Syndrome: A Randomised, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial.

Metabolic syndrome (MS) affects up to 40% of the population and is associated with heart failure, stroke and diabetes. Phytosterols (PS) could help to manage one or more MS criteria. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the therapeutic effect of daily supplementation of an aqueous dispersion of 2 g of free-phytosterols nanoparticles in individuals with MS over six months of intervention, compared with placebo.

Effects of earthquake on perinatal outcomes: A Chilean register-based study.

Background: Natural disasters increase the level population stress, including pregnant women, who can experience prenatal maternal stress, affecting the fetus and triggering perinatal complications, such as low birth weight, smaller head circumference, etc. However, little is known about effects of earthquake on perinatal outcomes.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of earthquake occurred on February 27, 2010 and perinatal outcomes of Chilean pregnant women, and to examine these effects by timing of exposure during pregnancy and newborn gender.

Effort-Reward Imbalance and Burnout Among ICU Nursing Staff: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Occupational stress is commonly observed among staff in intensive care units (ICUs). Sociodemographic, organizational, and job-related factors may lead to burnout among ICU health workers. In addition, these factors could modify the balance between efforts done and rewards perceived by workers; consequently, this imbalance could increase levels of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization and decrease a sense of personal accomplishment.