Biological risks in professionals working in the mobile urgency service

This descriptive, cross-sectional study aims to evaluate the biological risks among professionals who work in the Mobile Emergency Service of the Metropolitan Region of São Luís - MA. The data were collected from 177 professionals from basic and advanced support units between February and April 2018, using a structured questionnaire.  While a high prevalence of exposure to biological risks was observed among all the subjects, men were found to be at a higher risk. The main source of contamination was blood, mainly affecting the whole skin during the procedure of immobilization. It was evidenced that most of the subjects did not complete the accident report and did not adhere to any post-exposure protocols. It is believed that the development of educational, safety and health measures can minimize the occupational hazards and accidents among the SAMU professionals, who are providers of indispensable service to society, even if susceptible to various environmental risks

In vitro differential activity of phospholipases and acid proteinases of clinical isolates of Candida

INTRODUCTION: Candida yeasts are commensals; however, if the balance of normal flora is disrupted or the immune defenses are compromised, Candida species can cause disease manifestations. Several attributes contribute to the virulence and pathogenicity of Candida, including the production of extracellular hydrolytic enzymes, particularly phospholipase and proteinase. This study aimed to investigate the in vitro activity of phospholipases and acid proteinases in clinical isolates of Candida spp. METHODS: Eighty-two isolates from hospitalized patients collected from various sites of origin were analyzed. Phospholipase production was performed in egg yolk medium and the production of proteinase was verified in a medium containing bovine serum albumin. The study was performed in triplicate. RESULTS: Fifty-six (68.3%) of isolates tested were phospholipase positive and 16 (44.4%) were positive for proteinase activity. C. tropicalis was the species with the highest number of positive isolates for phospholipase (91.7%). Statistically significant differences were observed in relation to production of phospholipases among species (p<0,0001) and among the strains from different sites of origin (p=0.014). Regarding the production of acid protease, the isolates of C. parapsilosis tested presented a larger number of producers (69.2%). Among the species analyzed, the percentage of protease producing isolates did not differ statistically (&#967;2=1.9 p=0.5901 (&#967;2=1.9 p=0.5901). CONCLUSIONS: The majority of C. non-albicans and all C. albicans isolates were great producers of hydrolytic enzymes and, consequently, might be able to cause infection under favorable conditions

Localização de peças, produtos e materiais

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Sickle Cell Anaemia Prevalence among Newborns in the Brazilian Amazon-Savanna Transition Region

Sickle cell anaemia is one of the most common hemoglobinopathies worldwide and an important public health problem in Brazil. This study evaluated the prevalence of sickle cell anaemia and its traits in newborns from the Amazon-Savanna Transition Region in the state of Maranh&#227;o, Brazil. A cross-sectional study was carried out, based on data from neonatal screening tests performed in 2013&#8211;2015 in Maranh&#227;o. The Hardy-Weinberg theorem was applied to analyse the frequency of expected homozygotes based on HbSS phenotype. A spatial-temporal distribution analysis was performed to delimit the regions with the greatest number of newborn cases with sickle cell anaemia. Of 283,003 newborns, 162 were found to have sickle cell anaemia, while 10,794 had a sickle cell trait, with a prevalence of 0.05% and 3.8%, respectively. The prevalence of expected homozygotes was higher in the North Region and in the state capital of Maranh&#227;o. This study may contribute to existing social and public health actions or the creation of new strategies for sickle cell disease in endemic areas in Brazil to improve the quality of life