Evaluation of antiviral treatment for hepatitis B with tenofovir and entecavir at the viral hepatitis outpatient clinic of the tropical medicine research center in Rondônia / Avaliação do tratamento antiviral da hepatite B com tenofovir e entecavir no ambulatório de hepatites virais do centro de pesquisa em medicina tropical de Rondônia

The emergence of treatment-resistant strains has been an obstacle in antiviral treatment of hepatitis B, which is carried out when the disease evolves to the chronic phase. In 2017, the Ministry of Health limited the therapeutic arsenal to the use of Tenofovir and Entecavir, due to their greater effectiveness and genetic barrier. However, there are no comparative studies of the antiviral activity of these two drugs in the state of Rondônia; such studies would improve the treatment of this disease. Thus, the objective of this study is to evaluate the therapeutic response of hepatitis B patients treated with Entecavir and Tenofovir at state of Rondônia. Patient data were analyzed in medical records containing information about the treatment used and the evolution of each patient’s clinical condition. The tests observed are those that detect HBV DNA to assess viral load, HBV serological markers and liver transaminases, to monitor the evolution of the disease. As a result, the samplings and correlations carried out in this study indicated that the efficacy of both Entecavir and Tenofovir was satisfactory in view of the different profiles of chronic HBV patients evaluated, since they reduced the viral load and normalized transaminases. The data obtained may help to understand the profile and therapeutic response of patients infected with the HBV virus who are treated with Tenofovir and Entecavir, as well as to disseminate pharmacoepidemiological data

Comorbidities and causes of death in SARS-CoV-2-infected patients from the Amazon region / Comorbidades e causas de morte em pacientes infectados com SARS-CoV-2 na região amazônica

COVID-19 may be more severe in elder people and/or people presenting comorbidities, possibly leading to death. Therefore, we analyzed the profile of deaths caused by SARS-CoV-2 in part of the Amazon region, associating them to risk factors. 467 cases of death caused by COVID-19 from October 2020 to July 2021 were analyzed and correlated to age group, gender, comorbidities, and other risk factors, using the Chi-squared Test or Fisher's Exact Test as necessary. Deaths occurred in the age group between 17 and 98 years, with a predominance of men (57.4%) and higher concentration in the period between March and April 2021. Systemic arterial hypertension was the most prevalent disease, followed by smoking, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes mellitus. Smoker men and obese women (and/or with cardiovascular disease) presented higher chances to die, as well as obese people under 65 years and people over 65 years with cardiovascular disease, smokers, or hypertensive (p<0.05). The description of risk groups contributes for the adoption of strategies directed to the most vulnerable populations, as disease monitoring and an increase in vaccination rate, reducing the probability of overloading Brazil's Unified Health System

Phylodynamic and Phylogeographic Analysis of Hepatitis Delta Virus Genotype 3 Isolated in South America

The hepatitis delta virus (HDV) is a globally distributed agent, and its genetic variability allows for it to be organized into eight genotypes with different geographic distributions. In South America, genotype 3 (HDV-3) is frequently isolated and responsible for the most severe form of infection. The objective of this study was to evaluate the evolutionary and epidemiological dynamics of HDV-3 over the years and to describe its distribution throughout this continent in an evolutionary perspective. While using Bayesian analysis, with strains being deposited in the Nucleotide database, the most recent common ancestor was dated back to 1964 and phylogenetic analysis indicated that the dispersion may have started in Brazil, spreading to Venezuela and then to Colombia, respectively. Exponential growth in the effective number of infections was observed between the 1950s and 1970s, years after the first report of the presence of HDV on the continent, during the Labrea Black Fever outbreak, which showed that the virus continued to spread, increasing the number of cases decades after the first reports. Subsequently, the analysis showed a decrease in the epidemiological levels of HDV, which was probably due to the implantation of the vaccine against its helper virus, hepatitis B virus, and serological screening methods implemented in the blood banks

Genomic Variability of Hepatitis B Virus Circulating in Brazilian Western Amazon

The emergence of clinically relevant mutations in the hepatitis B virus (HBV) genome has been a matter of great debate because of the possibility of escape from the host’s immune system, the potential to cause more severe progression of liver diseases and the emergence of treatment-resistant variants. Here we characterized the circulating variants of HBV in Rondônia State, in the north of Brazil. Serum samples of 62 chronic HBV carriers were subjected to PCR assays and clinical data were collected. Mutations and genotypes were characterized through direct sequencing. The findings show the presence of subgenotypes A1 (54.83%, 34/62), D3 (16.13%, 10/62), F2 (16.13%, 10/62), A2 (4.84%, 3/62), D2 (3.23%, 2/62), D1 (1.61%, 1/62), D4 (1.61%, 1/62) and F4 (1.61%, 1/62). Deletions in the pre-S2 region were found in 13.79% (8/58) of the samples, mutations in the S gene in 59.68% (37/62) and RT mutations in 48.39% (30/62). We found a variable genotypic distribution in different locations and important mutations related to immune escape and drug resistance in Western Amazonia, which contributed to genetic surveillance and provided important information to help control the disease

Development of quantitative multiplex RT-qPCR one step assay for detection of hepatitis delta virus

Abstract Hepatitis Delta is a disease caused by exposure to hepatitis B (HBV) and hepatitis D (HDV) viruses, usually with a more severe clinical outcome when compared to an HBV monoinfection. To date, the real prevalence of HDV infection is underestimated and detection methods are poorly available, especially in more endemic regions. Therefore, a one-step RT-qPCR method for quantification of HDV-RNA was developed. Biological samples were selected between 2017 and 2023 from patients at the Ambulatório Especializado em Hepatites Virais of the Centro de Pesquisa em Medicina Tropical de Rondônia and Serviço de Assistência Especializada and underwent the test developed by this study and a second quantitative RT-qPCR assay. The slope of the initial quantitative assay was − 3.321 with an efficiency of 100.04% and amplification factor equal to 2. Analysis of the repeatability data revealed a Limit of Quantification of 5 copies/reaction and Limit of Detection (95%) of 2.83 copies per reaction. In the diagnostic sensitivity tests, there was an accuracy of 97.37% when compared to the reference test. This assay proved to be highly efficient and reproducible, making it a valuable tool to monitor hepatitis Delta patients and assess the risk of disease progression, as well as the effectiveness of treatment