O efeito da infecção por Schistosoma mansoni na morbidade infantil no Estado da Bahia, Brasil: I — Análise do nível ecológico

Esta investigação foi levada a efeito em 10 pequenas cidades do Estado da Bahia (Nordeste do Brasil), escolhidas através de um processo amostrai. O objetivo foi estudar as correlações entre as prevalências de hepatomegalia e esplenomegalia, em diferentes áreas, com a prevalência e a intensidade da infecção pelo S. mansoni nas mesmas áreas. Nossas conclusões são: a) a morbidade esquistossomótica (prevalências de hepatomegalia e esplenomegalia) foi diretamente correlacionada com a prevalência e a intensidade da infecção; b) a intensidade da infecção (medida pelo número de ovos nas fezes) mostrou ser um bom indicador do grau de morbidade, explicando a variação da morbidade entre as áreas melhor que a prevalência da infecção; c) a prevalência de esplenomegalia e o tamanho médio do fígado abaixo do rebordo costal na linha me dio-esternal são bom indicadores da prevalência e da intensidade da infecção pelo S. mansoni na comunidade. Nossas conclusões trazem a possibilidade da construção de equações de regressão definitivas entre indicadores de morbidade e indicadores de infecção, de tal forma que o valor de um possa ser usado para predizer o valor do outro

Refugee Resettlement in Boise, ID: Understanding Self-Sufficiency Through a Foucauldian Lens

The resettled refugee is managed from the moment they arrive on U.S. soil. They are subjected to a strict schedule of required activities, procedures, and benchmarks with the intent to create a manageable individual. In exchange for access to resources controlled by others, resettled refugees monitor themselves according to the U.S. ideal of the self-sufficient individual, denude of historical context and reduced to a set of statistics. This project asks how the intervention and services of refugee resettlement can become a “regime of care” (Ticktin 2011); a set of bureaucratic interventions, services, & rules that unintentionally transforms care into a tool of control and marginalization at the local level. I track when and how regimes of care produce economic dependence and social marginalization, and when they do not. How must refugees manage themselves according the ideal of the “good refugee?” To what extent is the “good refugee” defined in terms of the refugee’s ability to fit within these policies and to live well enough not to become a bother

Uma concepção popular sobre a esquistossomose mansônica: os modos de transmissão e prevenção na perspectiva de gênero A popular concept of schistosomiasis mansoni: modes of transmission and prevention in the perspective of gender differences

Estudo sobre as concepções e práticas populares acerca da transmissão e prevenção das parasitoses, com ênfase para a esquistossomose mansônica. Explora a existência de um sistema popular de cuidados de saúde que mescla elementos da biomedicina e da medicina tradicional como forma de compreender e manejar os fenômenos de saúde/doença. Descreve as diferenças entre morbidade e sexo/gênero na concepção dos sujeitos entrevistados. Apresenta o discurso popular sobre as parasitoses, discutindo as dificuldades das ações de controle. Considera as contradições entre hábitos e valores culturais e as medidas de controle conhecidas, criticando a imprecisão das ações educativas nos programas oficiais de intervenção.<br>This is a study on popular ideas, beliefs and practices concerning the transmission and prevention of parasitic diseases, specifically schistosomiasis mansoni. The author explored the existence of a popular belief system within the health care system, combining elements from biomedicine and folk medicine for the understanding and management of the health/disease phenomenon. The study describes the differences in perception of morbidity and gender among the interviewwees. Finally, the study presents popular discourse on parasitic diseases and discusses diffculties with control measures. It considers the contradiction between cultural values and habits and conventional control measures, critically assessing the lack of precision in health education measures under government prevention programs

A clinical epidemiologic study in a schistosomiasis mansoni endemic area (Tuparecê, Minas Gerais)

A population-based clinical epidemiologic study on schistosomiasis mansoni was carried out in Tuparecê, Minas Gerais. The patients were interviewed for symptoms, water contact, past history and examined for spleen and liver enlargement. From the 830 people registered in the census, 777 (93.6%) had their stools examined (Kato-Katz method) and 696 (83.9%) were clinically evaluated. The overall index of Schistosoma mansoni infection was 43.2%. Significant and increased infection risks could be detected in the young age group (2-14 years old) regarding occupation, time of residence in the area and frequency of water contact. Bloody stools were significantly more prevalent among positives, while diarrhea was significantly more prevalent among those negative. The area was shown to have a low morbidity as well as a low intensity of infection measured by the number of S. mansoni eggs per gram of feces. A close correlation was found between water contact pattern and the age prevalence curve. It has emphasized the importance of habits in determining prevalence rates, besides suggesting that schistosomiasis mansoni in the area is manifested as a light and somewhat harmless infection with little consequence for the population as a whole

Francophobia, Anti-Americanism: Narratives of the Trans-Atlantic Other in French and U.S. News on Abortion-Related Issues

This article examines the interplay of abortion and nationalism in French and U.S. print news discussions of abortion-related issues. U.S. news stories on RU-486 and French news stories on prolife direct action protesters are rife with qualifiers designating each issue as a foreign one. In American media, RU-486 is the French pill; in French media, protesters are American inspired/mobilized. Together, these cases constitute a site for the recurrent construction of the relation between nationhood, national identity, and moral goodness. In each case, media narratives of abortion-related issues reveal that more is at stake than reproductive rights issues. The authors argue that discourses on abortion are grounded in politics of nationalism that shore up the boundaries of the homeland and anchor the distinction between public and private spheres through a discourse of opposition to foreign cultural invaders. The articulation of moral conflict over abortion and myths of foreign origins situate the national collectivity as a good, innocent victim of corrupt outside influence