The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic affected the entire world and contributed to severe health and economic consequences. A safe and effective vaccine is a tool allowing the pandemic to be controlled. Hence, we aimed to conduct a survey on vaccinations against seasonal influenza and COVID-19 in Poland, Lithuania, and Ukraine. We also evaluated societal attitudes towards influenza and COVID-19 vaccinations. Materials and methods: We conducted the study between December 2020 and May 2021. At the time, the countries subject to the research were between the second and third waves of the COVID-19 pandemic. We used an anonymous and self-designed questionnaire comprised of eleven closed-ended questions and a short socio-demographic section. The questionnaire was administered by direct contact or mainly (due to the COVID-19 pandemic) by e-mail or Facebook. Finally, we included 2753 answers from Poland, 1852 from Ukraine, and 213 from Lithuania. Results: Between 61% (Poland) and 72.9% (Ukraine) of the study participants have never been vaccinated against influenza (p < 0.05). Totals of 67.6% of the respondents in Poland, 73.71% in Lithuania, and 29.5% in Ukraine responded that they want to be vaccinated against COVID-19 (p < 0.05). Vaccine hesitancy was mainly related to worries about its side effects. There were also vaccine non-adopters in the study. In Ukraine, 67% of the respondents were clearly opposed to mandatory COVID-19 vaccines, compared to 41.7% in Poland and 30.99% in Lithuania (p < 0.05). Conclusions: There are still many people who present vaccine hesitancy or are opposed to vaccines. Thus, societal education about vaccination and the pandemic is crucial. Vaccine hesitancy or refusal might be related to vaccine origin. Shortages of influenza vaccines made it impossible to vaccinate those who were determined to be vaccinated. There is room for discussion of mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations.
Introduction: The treatment of most diseases in dentistry is related to the local application of antiseptic drugs that allow regulating the microbiocenosis in the oral cavity. The study of pharmacodynamic and kinetic parameters of the release of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) from the dosage form (DF) is an important task. In this study, we tried to evaluate the release of API from developed dental medicinal films (DMF) produced on a polymeric basis.
Methods: To confirm the antimicrobial activity of the three developed DMF with amizon, decamethoxine and chlorhexidine digluconate, a statistical analysis and mathematical processing of the research results were carried out.
Results: Statistical processing made it possible to organize the results of our earlier studies, in which the concentrations of three API (amizon, decamethoxine and chlorhexidine digluconate) were determined during their diffusion from the polymer base of the DMF to the aqueous dispersion medium (0.9% sodium chloride solution). Due to performed statistical calculations, regarding the reliability of API release, it was determined that the time duration of complete release of the three active substances from the polymer base were different, which will ultimately affect the duration of the pharmacological effect of the API in the patient's body.
Conclusion: In the manufacture of DMF on a polymeric base of hydrophilic type, it is necessary to take into account the release time of each API, according to the composition of the polymeric coatings.
As members of a public trust profession, pharmacists are the most accessible medical team members. Therefore, every pharmacist must know the scope of their professional roles (PR) and professional functions (PF). The study aimed to detail the major PR into a pooled set of PF. The research materials were the provisions of the World Health Organization, the International Pharmaceutical Federation, and scientific works on the PR of pharmacists. Methods of critical analysis, concretization, functional decomposition, and scientific generalization were used. As a result of detailing the 10 main PR according to the “ten-star pharmacist” concept for each, a combined set of partial PFs of the pharmacist was obtained. The decomposition takes into account the principle of complexity limitation, which allowed three to six partial PF for the respective PR to be obtained, namely: three PFs for a life-long-learner, five PFs for a caregiver, a decision-maker, a teacher, a leader, a researcher, an entrepreneur, and an agent of positive change, six PFs for a communicator and a manager. Thus, due to the decomposition of each of the 10 main PR of the pharmacist into three or six corresponding partial PFs, we received a multifunctional verbal model of difficult to organize, professional activities, which is identified by a total of 50 PFs. The importance of using this model in formulating professional competencies and learning outcomes of educational programs for pharmacists is emphasized.
Due to the Russian invasion, which started on 24 February 2022, the Ukrainian healthcare system is facing multiple challenges. A great number of healthcare facilities have been destroyed, while availability of other ones is often limited due to a lack of qualified medical staff. Certain services, e.g. cancer therapies, have been seriously disrupted. Moreover, millions of Ukrainians with chronic conditions are also suffering as due to war-related problems with execution of their long-term therapies. Availability of drugs is particularly limited in the occupied regions. According to the national statistics, as of 18 August 2022, about 505 pharmacies were damaged in Eastern Ukraine and 47 completely ruined. Moreover, the invaders have been blocking humanitarian aid provided to these territories by the Ukrainian government or other countries. Fortunately, in the areas controlled by the Government of Ukraine, the acute shortage of medicines, observed at the beginning of the war, has already been eliminated. Nevertheless, not all drugs are now fully available, even in the areas where no military attacks occur. The economic availability of drugs is also profoundly influenced by the significant increase in the cost of medications and the fall in average salaries. The Government of Ukraine is trying to minimise the impact of these war-related challenges by adopting a new legislation. This includes, among others, simplification of procedures for licensing, quality control and import of medicinal products to Ukraine. Other measures involve securing displaced people with the option of benefiting from local healthcare facilities, broadening the scope of the ePrescription system, authorizing primary care doctors to issue prescriptions to refugees, increasing the number of drugs reimbursed for long-term therapies, etc. These solutions, however, cannot balance all the harmful consequences the war in Ukraine brings in terms of maintenance of long-term therapies. Therefore, in order to minimise this negative impact, Ukraine still needs urgent international support in this area.
Мета роботи – дослідити зв’язок фізичних властивостей слини з резистентністю емалі й інтенсивністю карієсу в наркозалежних хворих.
Матеріали та методи. У дослідженні взяли участь 70 пацієнтів, яких поділили на три групи: основна група (1) – 28 наркозалежних осіб, у яких діагностовано карієс; група порівняння (2) – 22 хворих на карієс твердих тканин зуба, в анамнезі яких не зафіксовано вживання наркотичних речовин; група контролю (3) – 20 осіб, у яких не виявили каріозне ураження зубів. Оцінили швидкість слиновиділення (обрахували за формулою Шс = V / Т), показник рН ротової рідини встановили за допомогою лакмусових тест-смужок (Kelilong Instruments, Китай), структурну та функціональну стійкість емалі зуба – за експрес-методом TER-test (В. Р. Окушко, Л. І. Косарева, 1983), здійснили клінічне оцінювання швидкості мінералізації за КОШРЕ-тестом (за Т. Л. Редіновою, В. К. Леонтьєвим і Г. Д. Овруцьким, 1982 р.), визначили інтенсивність карієсу зубів, використавши індекс КПВ.
Для діагностики стану твердих тканин зуба використали Міжнародну систему виявлення та оцінювання карієсу зубів – ICDAS.
Результати. У наркозалежних осіб, хворих на карієс твердих тканин зубів, швидкість слиновиділення найбільше сповільнена, а рН ротової рідини змінений у кислий бік (5,50 ± 0,09 од.) порівняно з пацієнтами з інших груп. У наркозалежних середній показник TER-test становив 9,1 ± 0,4 бала, суттєво перевищуючи параметри ненаркозалежних хворих із каріозними ураженнями зубів (5,4 ± 0,2 бала) й осіб, у котрих каріозні ураження твердих тканин зубів не діагностували (1,9 ± 0,2 бала). Результат КОШРЕ-тесту наркозалежних хворих (6,1 ± 0,3 дні) також значно вищий від показників ненаркозалежних осіб із карієсом та осіб групи контролю. Індекс КПВ у наркозалежних хворих (16,4 ± 0,2 бала) свідчив про дуже високу інтенсивність карієсу з великою часткою глибоких вогнищ уражень твердих тканин зуба.
Висновки. Результати дослідження показали зміщення рН ротової рідини в кислий бік на 23 % у наркозалежних хворих порівняно зі здоровими. Крім того, в них зафіксували зниження швидкості слиновиділення на 22 % порівняно зі здоровими особами. Ці результати пов’язані з погіршенням стійкості емалі зубів в узалежнених пацієнтів (на 79 %) і ремінералізувальної здатності ротової рідини (на 66 %) порівняно зі здоровими без каріозних порожнин. Індекс КПВ у хворих 1 групи на 50 %
відрізнявся від показника хворих 2 групи, на 98 % – від параметрів обстежених із 3 групи. У наркозалежних хворих зафіксували на 78 % більшу кількість каріозних порожнин у межах дентину порівняно з ненаркозалежними пацієнтами з карієсо