Conhecimento dos profissionais de saúde acerca da toxoplasmose gestacional e congênita

O objetivo do presente estudo foi avaliar o conhecimento dos profissionais de saúde acerca da toxoplasmose gestacional e congênita. Para tanto, foi realizado estudo transversal, quantitativo, de outubro a dezembro de 2021, através da aplicação de um questionário digital. Um total de 37 profissionais de nível médio e superior (03 médicos, 20 enfermeiros, 03 técnicos em enfermagem e 11 agentes comunitários de saúde) participaram da pesquisa. O estudo demonstrou que 89,2% (33) dos profissionais tinham conhecimento sobre o agente etiológico da toxoplasmose. O alimento contaminado foi considerado importante meio de transmissão por 91,3% (21) dos profissionais de nível superior, e por 35,7% (5) dos de nível técnico/médio. O aborto foi classificado como manifestação clínica da doença por 78,4% (18) dos profissionais entrevistados. Dentre as medidas profiláticas recomendadas pelos profissionais, 86,5% (32) afirmaram que orientavam a não ingestão de carnes cruas ou mal passadas. Apenas 2,7% (1) deles afirmaram ter realizado algum curso ou treinamento sobre o tema toxoplasmose. A educação em saúde é realizada com mais frequência por enfermeiros como foi relatado por 69,6% (16) do grupo do nível superior. Já entre o grupo de nível médio/técnico, 50,0% (7) relataram que os técnicos de enfermagem são os que realizam educação em saúde na unidade (p = 0,048). Apesar do conhecimento sobre alguns aspectos relacionados à toxoplasmose pelos profissionais de saúde, faz-se necessário ampliar o conhecimento destes profissionais através da oferta de capacitações e treinamentos para estarem aptos na realização de ações preventivas contra esta zoonose negligenciada

Competência vetorial de Culex quinquefasciatus Say, 1823 exposto a diferentes densidades de microfilárias de Dirofilaria immitis (Leidy, 1856)

The metropolitan region of Recife, Brazil is endemic for Dirofilaria immitis and has an environment favorable to the development of Culex quinquefasciatus. The goal of this study was to evaluate the vector competence of the Cx. quinquefasciatus RECIFE population for D. immitis transmission. A total of 2,104 females of Cx. quinquefasciatus RECIFE population were exposed to different densities of D. immitis microfilariae blood meals, ranging from 1,820 to 2,900 mf/ml of blood, in a natural membrane apparatus. The results showed a variation between 92.3% and 98.8% of females fed. The exposure of the Cx. quinquefasciatus RECIFE population to different densities of microfilariae did not influence the mortality of the mosquitoes. Infective larvae from D. immitis were observed in the Malpighian tubules beginning on the 12th day, whereas larvae were observed in the head and proboscis beginning on the 13th day following infection. The vector efficiency index (VEI) presented by the mosquitoes ranged from 7.8 to 56.5. The data demonstrates that the Cx. quinquefasciatus RECIFE population has great potential for the transmission of D. immitis, as it allowed the development of the filarid until the infectious stage at the different densities of microfilariae to which it was exposed.A Região Metropolitana do Recife é endêmica para Dirofilaria immitis e possui ambiente favorável para o desenvolvimento de Culex quinquefasciatus. Neste estudo avaliou-se a competência vetorial de Cx. quinquefasciatus população RECIFE para a transmissão de D. immitis. Para tanto, 2.104 fêmeas de Cx. quinquefasciatus população RECIFE foram expostas a diferentes densidades de microfilárias de D. immitis, variando de 1.820 a 2.900 mf/ml de sangue por meio de membrana natural. Os resultados obtidos demonstraram variação de 92,3% a 98,8% de fêmeas ingurgitadas após a alimentação. A exposição de Cx. quinquefasciatus população RECIFE a diferentes densidades de microfilárias não influenciou na mortalidade dos mosquitos. Larvas infectantes de D. immitis foram observadas nos túbulos de Malpighi a partir do 12º dia, enquanto na cabeça e na probóscide foram observadas a partir do 13º dia após a infecção. Os índices de eficiência vetorial (IEV) apresentados pelo culicídeo variaram de 7,8 a 56,5. Os dados obtidos demonstraram que Cx. quinquefasciatus população RECIFE tem grande potencial para a transmissão de D. immitis, pois permitiu o desenvolvimento do filarídeo até o estágio infectante nas diferentes densidades de microfilárias às quais foi exposto.65866

DILEMAS DA EPISTEMOLOGIA AMBIENTAL

The perception crisis as part of the scientific knowledge crisis is expanded by inversions caused by merchandise development. They are interdependent dimensions of the environmental epistemology dilemmas which have been analyzed in this study, such as the customization of goods and the reification of people. These and other inversions obstruct the understanding of essential aspects relating to the current environmental issues, arising from a particular development model driven by production and consumption. Environmental epistemology is part of a science driven by the permanent conflict due to the inversion that maintains the inverted reality since the development of merchandise. Such science constitutes itself through interdisciplinary exercise, having in knowledge dialogue its own dynamism.A crise de percepção como parte da crise do conhecimento científico é expandida pelas inversões provocadas pelo desenvolvimento da mercadoria. São dimensões interdependentes dos dilemas da epistemologia ambiental analisadas por este texto, tais como a personalização das mercadorias e a coisificação das pessoas. Essas e outras inversões obstaculizam a compreensão de aspectos imprescindíveis, referentes à questão ambiental atual, advindos de um determinado modelo de desenvolvimento impulsionado pela produção e pelo consumo. A epistemologia ambiental é parte de uma ciência impulsionada pela conflituosidade permanente devido à inversão que mantém a realidade invertida desde o desenvolvimento da mercadoria. Tal ciência se constitui por intermédio do exercício interdisciplinar tendo no diálogo dos saberes o seu dinamismo

Mini-FLOTAC and McMaster egg counting method for detection of gastrointestinal parasites in small ruminants: a comparison study

The proper diagnosis of gastrointestinal parasites of small ruminants requires the development of multivalent techniques characterized by high sensitivity, specificity, precision, reproducibility, and the ability to quickly detect and monitor infections that pose risks to animal health. The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of Mini-FLOTAC technique and McMaster egg counting (gold standard) in the detection of gastrointestinal parasites of goats and sheep. A total of 789 fecal samples were analyzed (401 of sheep and 388 of goats). From those, nematode eggs were detected in 80.86% (638/789), being 72.57% (291/401) from sheep and 89.43% (347/388) from goats. The Mini-FLOTAC technique presented a better performance to detect helminth eggs in both goats (88.40%; 343/388) and sheep (71.57%; 287/401) (?2 = 10.358; p < 0.0001). Kappa analysis revealed a weak concordance between techniques for goats (k = 0.342; p < 0.001) and sheep (k = 0.281; p < 0.001). Data herein reported suggests that the Mini-FLOTAC is a technique more sensitive than the McMaster egg counting, therefore its use might be adopted for the diagnosis of gastrointestinal infection in small ruminants

Release of Lungworm Larvae from Snails in the Environment: Potential for Alternative Transmission Pathways

Background: Gastropod-borne parasites may cause debilitating clinical conditions in animals and humans following the consumption of infected intermediate or paratenic hosts. However, the ingestion of fresh vegetables contaminated by snail mucus and/or water has also been proposed as a source of the infection for some zoonotic metastrongyloids (e.g., Angiostrongylus cantonensis). In the meantime, the feline lungworms Aelurostrongylus abstrusus and Troglostrongylus brevior are increasingly spreading among cat populations, along with their gastropod intermediate hosts. The aim of this study was to assess the potential of alternative transmission pathways for A. abstrusus and T. brevior L3 via the mucus of infected Helix aspersa snails and the water where gastropods died. In addition, the histological examination of snail specimens provided information on the larval localization and inflammatory reactions in the intermediate host. Methodology/Principal Findings: Twenty-four specimens of H. aspersa received ~500 L1 of A. abstrusus and T. brevior, and were assigned to six study groups. Snails were subjected to different mechanical and chemical stimuli throughout 20 days in order to elicit the production of mucus. At the end of the study, gastropods were submerged in tap water and the sediment was observed for lungworm larvae for three consecutive days. Finally, snails were artificially digested and recovered larvae were counted and morphologically and molecularly identified. The anatomical localization of A. abstrusus and T. brevior larvae within snail tissues was investigated by histology. L3 were detected in the snail mucus (i.e., 37 A. abstrusus and 19 T. brevior) and in the sediment of submerged specimens (172 A. abstrusus and 39 T. brevior). Following the artificial digestion of H. aspersa snails, a mean number of 127.8 A. abstrusus and 60.3 T. brevior larvae were recovered. The number of snail sections positive for A. abstrusus was higher than those for T. brevior. Conclusions: Results of this study indicate that A. abstrusus and T. brevior infective L3 are shed in the mucus of H. aspersa or in water where infected gastropods had died submerged. Both elimination pathways may represent alternative route(s) of environmental contamination and source of the infection for these nematodes under field conditions and may significantly affect the epidemiology of feline lungworms. Considering that snails may act as intermediate hosts for other metastrongyloid species, the environmental contamination by mucus-released larvae is discussed in a broader context

Boletim COVID-PA: relatos sobre projeções baseadas em inteligência artificial no enfrentamento da pandemia de COVID-19 no estado do Pará

Objective: Report the university research and extension product denominated ‘Boletim COVID-PA’ which presented projections about the pandemic in the State of Pará, Brazil, with practical, mathematically rigorous and computationally efficient approaches. Methods: The artificial intelligence technique known as Artificial Neural Networks was used to generate thirteen bulletins with short-term projections based on historical data from the State Department of Public Health system. Results: After eight months of projections, the technique generated reliable results with an average accuracy of 97% (147 days observed) for confirmed cases, 96% (161 observed days) for deaths and 86% (72 days observed) for occupancy of intensive care unit beds. Conclusion: These bulletins have become a useful tool for decision making by public managers, assisting in reallocating hospital resources and optimizing COVID-19 control strategies for the various regions of the State of Pará.Objetivo: Relatar o produto de pesquisa e extensão universitária denominado Boletim COVID-PA, que apresentou projeções sobre o comportamento da pandemia no estado do Pará, Brasil. Métodos: Utilizou-se da técnica de inteligência artificial conhecida como ‘redes neurais artificiais’, para gerar 13 boletins com projeções de curto prazo baseadas nos dados históricos do sistema da Secretaria de Estado de Saúde Pública. Resultados: Após oito meses de projeções, a técnica gerou resultados confiáveis, com precisão média de 97% (147 dias observados) para casos confirmados, 96% (161 dias observados) para óbitos e 86% (72 dias observados) para ocupação de leitos de unidade de terapia intensiva. Conclusão: Esses boletins tornaram-se um instrumento útil para a tomada de decisão de gestores públicos, auxiliando na realocação de recursos hospitalares e otimização das estratégias de controle da COVID-19 nas diversas regiões do estado do Pará

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear un derstanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5–7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8–11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world’s most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepre sented in biodiversity databases.13–15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may elim inate pieces of the Amazon’s biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological com munities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple or ganism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region’s vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most ne glected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lostinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Global, regional, and national burden of traumatic brain injury and spinal cord injury, 1990-2016: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) and spinal cord injury (SCI) are increasingly recognised as global health priorities in view of the preventability of most injuries and the complex and expensive medical care they necessitate. We aimed to measure the incidence, prevalence, and years of life lived with disability (YLDs) for TBI and SCI from all causes of injury in every country, to describe how these measures have changed between 1990 and 2016, and to estimate the proportion of TBI and SCI cases caused by different types of injury. METHODS: We used results from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors (GBD) Study 2016 to measure the global, regional, and national burden of TBI and SCI by age and sex. We measured the incidence and prevalence of all causes of injury requiring medical care in inpatient and outpatient records, literature studies, and survey data. By use of clinical record data, we estimated the proportion of each cause of injury that required medical care that would result in TBI or SCI being considered as the nature of injury. We used literature studies to establish standardised mortality ratios and applied differential equations to convert incidence to prevalence of long-term disability. Finally, we applied GBD disability weights to calculate YLDs. We used a Bayesian meta-regression tool for epidemiological modelling, used cause-specific mortality rates for non-fatal estimation, and adjusted our results for disability experienced with comorbid conditions. We also analysed results on the basis of the Socio-demographic Index, a compound measure of income per capita, education, and fertility. FINDINGS: In 2016, there were 27·08 million (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 24·30-30·30 million) new cases of TBI and 0·93 million (0·78-1·16 million) new cases of SCI, with age-standardised incidence rates of 369 (331-412) per 100 000 population for TBI and 13 (11-16) per 100 000 for SCI. In 2016, the number of prevalent cases of TBI was 55·50 million (53·40-57·62 million) and of SCI was 27·04 million (24·98-30·15 million). From 1990 to 2016, the age-standardised prevalence of TBI increased by 8·4% (95% UI 7·7 to 9·2), whereas that of SCI did not change significantly (-0·2% [-2·1 to 2·7]). Age-standardised incidence rates increased by 3·6% (1·8 to 5·5) for TBI, but did not change significantly for SCI (-3·6% [-7·4 to 4·0]). TBI caused 8·1 million (95% UI 6·0-10·4 million) YLDs and SCI caused 9·5 million (6·7-12·4 million) YLDs in 2016, corresponding to age-standardised rates of 111 (82-141) per 100 000 for TBI and 130 (90-170) per 100 000 for SCI. Falls and road injuries were the leading causes of new cases of TBI and SCI in most regions. INTERPRETATION: TBI and SCI constitute a considerable portion of the global injury burden and are caused primarily by falls and road injuries. The increase in incidence of TBI over time might continue in view of increases in population density, population ageing, and increasing use of motor vehicles, motorcycles, and bicycles. The number of individuals living with SCI is expected to increase in view of population growth, which is concerning because of the specialised care that people with SCI can require. Our study was limited by data sparsity in some regions, and it will be important to invest greater resources in collection of data for TBI and SCI to improve the accuracy of future assessments