Absence of molecular evidence of Leptospira spp. in urine samples collected from rodents captured in Yucatán, México

Leptospira spp. is a spirochete bacteria, causal agent of leptospirosis, zoonotic disease endemic in México that represents a serious public health and veterinary problem. Rodents are recognised as the most important reservoirs of this bacteria, which is transmitted mainly through direct or indirect contact with the Leptospira spp. excreted in the urine of infected individuals. Theaim of this study was to evaluate the circulation of Leptospira spp. in urine samples of wild and synanthropic rodents from Yucatán, México. Eighty-four rodents were captured in the community of Cenotillo, Yucatán. Twenty-six urine samples were collected from the bladder and were used in the total DNA extraction. The identification of Leptospira spp. was intended through the polymerase chain reaction test in its endpoint variant. No evidence of Leptospira spp. was found in the urine samples. It is necessary to use other tissues for the identification of Leptospira spp., before concluding that the rodents used in the present study are not reservoirs of this bacteri

FRECUENCIA DE LA INFECCIÓN POR VIRUS DE LA HEPATITIS C EN PACIENTES CON CIRROSIS HEPÁTICA EN YUCATÁN.

Introducción. La hepatitis C es causada por el virus de la hepatitis C (VHC), la Organización Mundial de la Salud estima 170 millones de personas se encuentran infectadas por el virus. El 80% de los infectados no elimina el virus de manera natural volviéndose crónico y llevando al desarrollo de cirrosis hepática en el 20% de los casos y carcinoma hepatocelular en el 10%. México se estima una seroprevalencia de 1.5% en la población general, y en Yucatán de 1.6%. En pacientes con cirrosis hepática se estima 32% en el Estado. Objetivo. Detectar la presencia de la infección activa de los VHC en los pacientes con cirrosis hepática que son atendidos en el Hospital General “Dr. Agustín O’Horán” de Mérida Yucatán. Metodología. Se tomaron 62 muestras séricas, se realizó la extracción de ARN total seguido de la síntesis de ADNc, la amplificación de la región 5' no codificante de los VHC con la técnica de reacción en cadena de la polimerasa, obteniendo un amplicon de 144 pares de bases. Resultado y Conclusión. 46.16% de las muestras séricas de los pacientes presentaron genoma viral circulante; hubo un aumento de la cirrosis causada por el VHC en un periodo de 10 años

Detection of hand, foot and mouth disease in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico

We report a case of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) in a 5-year-old male from Merida City in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. A clinical and physical examination revealed that the patient had symptoms typical of HFMD, including fever, fatigue, odynophagia, throat edema, hyperemia, lesions on the hands and feet, and blisters in the oral cavity. The patient fully recovered after a convalescence period of almost three weeks. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and nucleotide sequencing revealed that the etiological agent was enterovirus 71 (EV71). The sequence has greatest (90.4%) nucleotide identity to the corresponding regions of EV71 isolates from the Netherlands and Singapore. Although HFMD is presumably common in Mexico, surprisingly there are no data in the PubMed database to support this. This case report provides the first peer-reviewed evidence of HFMD in Mexico