Epidemiologic aspects of the malaria transmission cycle in an area of very low incidence in Brazil

BACKGROUND: Extra-Amazonian autochthonous Plasmodium vivax infections have been reported in mountainous regions surrounded by the Atlantic Forest in Espírito Santo state, Brazil. METHODS: Sixty-five patients and 1,777 residents were surveyed between April 2001 and March 2004. Laboratory methods included thin and thick smears, multiplex-PCR, immunofluorescent assay (IFA) against P. vivax and Plasmodium malariae crude blood-stage antigens and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for antibodies against the P. vivax-complex (P. vivax and variants) and P. malariae/Plasmodium brasilianum circumsporozoite-protein (CSP) antigens. RESULTS: Average patient age was 35.1 years. Most (78.5%) were males; 64.6% lived in rural areas; 35.4% were farmers; and 12.3% students. There was no relevant history of travel. Ninety-five per cent of the patients were experiencing their first episode of malaria. Laboratory data from 51 patients were consistent with P. vivax infection, which was determined by thin smear. Of these samples, 48 were assayed by multiplex-PCR. Forty-five were positive for P. vivax, confirming the parasitological results, while P. malariae was detected in one sample and two gave negative results. Fifty percent of the 50 patients tested had IgG antibodies against the P. vivax-complex or P. malariae CSP as determined by ELISA. The percentages of residents with IgM and IgG antibodies detected by IFA for P. malariae, P. vivax and Plasmodium falciparum who did not complain of malaria symptoms at the time blood was collected were 30.1% and 56.5%, 6.2% and 37.7%, and 13.5% and 13%, respectively. The same sera that reacted to P. vivax also reacted to P. malariae. The following numbers of samples were positive in multiplex-PCR: 23 for P. vivax; 15 for P. malariae; 9 for P. falciparum and only one for P. falciparum and P. malariae. All thin and thick smears were negative. ELISA against CSP antigens was positive in 25.4%, 6.3%, 10.7% and 15.1% of the samples tested for "classical" P. vivax (VK210), VK247, P. vivax-like and P. malariae, respectively. Anopheline captures in the transmission area revealed only zoophilic and exophilic species. CONCLUSION: The low incidence of malaria cases, the finding of asymptomatic inhabitants and the geographic separation of patients allied to serological and molecular results raise the possibility of the existence of a simian reservoir in these areas

Long-term background denudation rates of southern and southeastern Brazilian watersheds estimated with cosmogenic 10Be

© 2016 Elsevier B.V.In comparison to humid temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, less is known about the long-term (millennial scale) background rates of erosion in Southern Hemisphere tropical watersheds. In order to better understand the rate at which watersheds in southern and southeastern Brazil erode, and the relationship of that erosion to climate and landscape characteristics, we made new measurements of in situ produced 10Be in river sediments and we compiled all extant measurements from this part of the country. New data from 14 watersheds in the states of Santa Catarina (n = 7) and Rio de Janeiro (n = 7) show that erosion rates vary there from 13 to 90 m/My (mean = 32 m/My; median = 23 m/My) and that the difference between erosion rates of basins we sampled in the two states is not significant. Sampled basin area ranges between 3 and 14,987 km2, mean basin elevation between 235 and 1606 m, and mean basin slope between 11 and 29°. Basins sampled in Rio de Janeiro, including three that drain the Serra do Mar escarpment, have an average basin slope of 19°, whereas the average slope for the Santa Catarina basins is 14°. Mean basin slope (R2 = 0.73) and annual precipitation (R2 = 0.57) are most strongly correlated with erosion in the basins we studied. At three sites where we sampled river sand and cobbles, the 10Be concentration in river sand was greater than in the cobbles, suggesting that these grain sizes are sourced from different parts of the landscape. Compiling all cosmogenic 10Be-derived erosion rates previously published for southern and southeastern Brazil watersheds to date (n = 76) with our 14 sampled basins, we find that regional erosion rates (though low) are higher than those of watersheds also located on other passive margins including Namibia and the southeastern North America. Brazilian basins erode at a pace similar to escarpments in southeastern North America. Erosion rates in southern and southeastern Brazil are directly and positively related to mean basin slope (R2 = 0.33) and weakly but significantly to mean annual precipitation (R2 = 0.05). These relationships are weaker when considering all southern and southeastern Brazil samples than they are in our smaller, localized data set. We find that smaller, steeper headwater catchments (many on escarpments) erode faster than the larger, higher-order but lower slope catchments. Erosion in southern and southeastern Brazil appears to be controlled largely by mean basin slope with lesser influence by climate and lithology

Caracterização dos casos de violência contra a mulher atendidos em três serviços na cidade de Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, Brasil Violence against women: analysis of cases treated at three services in the city of Uberlândia, Minas Gerais State, Brazil

Este estudo apresenta aspectos epidemiológicos e clínicos da violência contra a mulher, utilizando três fontes de dados: prontuários médicos do Hospital de Clínicas de Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, Brasil, (HCU); fichas de atendimento da ONG SOS Ação Mulher Família (ONG SOS Mulher); laudos de perícia de lesões corporais e de necropsias do Posto Médico Legal (PML). No HCU e no PML, os atendimentos foram decorrentes principalmente por agressão física, não havendo alusão à violência psicológica nos prontuários médicos e nos laudos, revelando que em serviços de atenção primária à saúde esta violência é evidenciada somente em pesquisas pós-entrevistas com as vítimas. Na ONG SOS Mulher foram observadas principalmente as violências psicológica e física. Nas três fontes pesquisadas houve baixa ocorrência da violência sexual, corroborando dados da literatura que retrata a invisibilidade desta questão, principalmente da violência sexual conjugal sofrida pelas mulheres que buscam ajuda nesses serviços. Os dados da presente pesquisa permitem concluir que os tipos de violência contra a mulher nesses três diferentes serviços públicos de saúde e social, em Uberlândia, diferenciam-se conforme as características específicas dos serviços oferecidos nessas instituições.<br>This study analyzes epidemiological and clinical aspects of violence against women, using three data sources: medical records at the University Hospital in Uberlândia, Minas Gerais State, Brazil; treatment forms from the nongovernmental organization SOS Action for Women and Families; forensic reports on bodily injuries and autopsies from the Medical Examiner's Office. At the University Hospital and Medical Examiner's Office, the records related mainly to physical aggression, with no reference to psychological abuse in the medical charts or forensic reports, revealing that in primary health care services, such violence is only identified through post-aggression interviews with victims. Records at the nongovernmental organization referred mainly to psychological and physical abuse. The three sources showed little reference to sexual violence, corroborating data from the literature on this issue's invisibility, especially conjugal sexual violence suffered by women that seek treatment at these services. According to the current study's findings, the types of violence against women recorded at these three public health and social services differ according to the specific characteristics of the services they provide