Suchergebnisse

No hay mal que por bien no venga. El cierre manu militari de RCTV, sin mediar procedimiento judicial y contra la opinión del 80 por ciento del país, hizo que la "libertad de expresión" pasara a ser en Venezuela el tema de discusión por antonomasia. Una cosa es la exégesis académica, otra el peso de apabullantes realidades: una ocasión preciosa para convertir un tópico en valor a repensar, reasumir y actualizar.

Hearing loss following unsafe listening practices is a rapidly increasing condition for children, teenagers and young adults. Exposed subjects, their parents, involved professionals and legislators often underestimate the related risks. Many sound sources of common use, such as ear- phones and loudspeakers, can produce decibel levels that may result in permanent hearing damage if not used care- fully. Recently, the World Health Organization released a document stating that 1.1 billion young people, worldwide, could be at risk of hearing loss due to unsafe listening practices; of these, about 50% of teenagers and young adults between 12 and 35 years in middle- and high-income countries could be exposed to unsafe levels of noise following the use of personal audio devices and 40% may be exposed to potentially damaging sound levels during social leisure activities.

PURPOSE: To compare and analyze the incidence of otitis media with effusion (OME), before and during the COVID-19-related pandemic period, to evaluate the effects of the social changes (lockdown, continuous use of facial masks, social distancing, reduction of social activities) in the OME incidence in children and adults. METHODS: The number of diagnosed OME in e five referral centers, between 1 March 2018 and 1 March 2021, has been reviewed and collected. To estimate the reduction of OME incidence in children and adults during the COVID-19 pandemic period the OME incidence in three period of time were evaluated and compared: group 1—patients with OME diagnosis achieved between 1/03/2018 and 01/03/2019 (not pandemic period). Group 2—patients with OME diagnosis achieved between 1/03/2019 and 1/03/2020 (not pandemic period). Group 3—patients with OME diagnosis achieved between 1/03/2020 and 1/03/2021 (COVID-19 pandemic period). RESULTS: In the non-pandemic periods (group 1 and 2), the incidence of OME in the five referral centers considered was similar, with 482 and 555 diagnosed cases, respectively. In contrast, the OME incidence in the same centers, during the pandemic period (group 3) was clearly reduced with a lower total number of 177 cases of OME estimated. Percentage variation in OME incidence between the first non-pandemic year considered (group 1) and the pandemic period (group 3) was—63, 3%, with an absolute value decrease value of—305 cases. Similarly, comparing the second non-pandemic year (group 2) and the pandemic year (group 3) the percentage variation of OME incidence was—68, 1% with an absolute value of—305 cases decreased. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings showed a lower incidence of OME during the pandemic period compared with 2 previous non pandemic years. The drastic restrictive anti-contagion measures taken by the Italian government to contain the spread of COVID-19 could have had a positive impact on the lower OME incidence during the last pandemic year.