First record of sharksucker Echeneis naucrates (Perciformes, Echeneidae) associated to a young Guiana dolphin Sotalia guianensis (Cetartiodactyla, Delphinidae) in north-eastern Brazil

Funding: Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico - 208203/2014-1.Suckerfish attached to dolphin species have been extensively reported worldwide, yet such association has been rarely seen in the tropical and shallow waters of South America. In Brazil, the Guiana dolphin Sotalia guianensis is distributed along almost the entire coastal extension and only one case of association with suckerfish has been published. Here we report on a sharksucker Echeneis naucrates associated with a young Guiana dolphin for north-eastern coast of Brazil. The juvenile dolphin with an attached sharksucker was observed in two occasions separated by a 47-day period; we hypothesize the occurrence of host attachment fidelity. The present report adds information to better discuss the ecological interactions between echeneids and dolphins, and expands the baseline information on cetacean species serving as host to suckerfish.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Influence of psychosocial factors on smoking cessation: Longitudinal evidence from the Pro-Saude Study

OBJETIVO Analisar a incidência de cessação de tabagismo e sua associação com fatores psicossociais. MÉTODOS Foram analisados dados de três fases consecutivas do Estudo Pró-Saúde, estudo longitudinal entre funcionários técnico-administrativos de uma universidade no Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. Os critérios de inclusão foram ter participado das Fases 1 e 3 e ser fumante na linha de base (Fase 1 – 1999). Foram excluídos indivíduos que, no seguimento (Fase 3 – 2007), tinham parado de fumar há menos de um ano. A população final de estudo foi composta de 661 funcionários (78% dos elegíveis). Os riscos relativos (RR) da cessação do tabagismo foram avaliados pelo modelo de regressão de Poisson com variância robusta. RESULTADOS A incidência acumulada de cessação do fumo em oito anos de seguimento foi de 27,7%. Entre os fatores psicossociais avaliados, ausência de experiência de violência física apresentou-se associada à maior cessação de tabagismo na análise multivariada (RR = 1,67; IC95% 1,09;2,55). CONCLUSÕES A incidência de cessação de tabagismo foi alta, e o fato de não terem sido encontradas associações com a maioria dos fatores avaliados sugere que grande parte do efeito encontrado seja decorrente do impacto relativamente homogêneo das políticas públicas implementadas no Brasil nas últimas décadas. A associação encontrada entre ausência de exposição à violência e maior incidência de cessação de tabagismo aponta para a importância desse fator nas políticas de controle do tabagismo.OBJETIVO Analizar la incidencia de la suspensión del tabaquismo y su asociación con factores psicosociales. MÉTODOS En estudio de cohorte, bajo el punto de vista longitudinal, se analizaron datos de tres fases consecutivas del Estudio Pro-Salud entre funcionarios técnicos-administrativos de una universidad en Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. Los criterios de inclusión fueron haber participado en las Fases 1 y 3 y ser fumador en la línea de base (Fase 1 – 1999). Se excluyeron individuos que, en el seguimiento (Fase 3 – 2007), habían dejado de fumar hace menos de un año. La población final de estudio estuvo compuesta por 661 funcionarios (78% de los elegibles). Los riesgos relativos (RR) de la suspensión del tabaquismo fueron evaluados por el modelo de regresión de Poisson con varianza robusta. RESULTADOS La incidencia acumulada por la suspensión del hábito de fumar en ocho años de seguimiento fue de 27,7%. Entre los factores psicosociales evaluados, ausencia de experiencia de violencia física se presentó asociada a la mayor suspensión de tabaquismo en el análisis multivariado (RR= 1,67; IC95% 1,09;2,55). CONCLUSIONES La incidencia de suspensión de tabaquismo fue alta y el hecho de no haberse encontrado asociaciones con la mayoría de los factores evaluados sugiere que gran parte del efecto encontrado sea decurrente del impacto relativamente homogéneo de las políticas públicas implementadas en Brasil en las últimas décadas. La asociación encontrada entre ausencia de exposición a la violencia y mayor incidencia de interrupción de tabaquismo señala la importancia de éste factor en las políticas de control del tabaquismo.OBJECTIVE To evaluate the incidence of smoking cessation and its association with psychosocial factors. METHODS Data came from three consecutive waves of the Pro-Saude Study, a longitudinal study of non-faculty civil servants working at a university in Rio de Janeiro, Southeastern Brazil. Inclusion criteria were having participated in Phases 1 and 3 and being a smoker at baseline (Phase 1 – 1999). Those who had stopped smoking less than a year before the follow-up (Phase 3 – 2007) were excluded. The final study population consisted of 661 employees (78% of those eligible). Relative risks (RR) of smoking cessation were evaluated through Poisson regression with robust variance. RESULTS The cumulative incidence of smoking cessation in eight years of follow-up was 27.7%. Among the psychosocial factors evaluated in the multivariate analysis, only lack of experience of physical violence was associated with higher smoking cessation (RR = 1.67, 95%CI 1.09;2.55). CONCLUSIONS The incidence of smoking cessation was high, and the fact that associations were not found with most factors evaluated suggests that much of the effect found is due to the impact of public policies implemented in Brazil over the past decades. The association between no exposure to violence and higher incidence of smoking cessation draws attention to the importance of this factor in tobacco control policies

Risk Factors for Death in Children with Visceral Leishmaniasis

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a deadly disease caused by a protozoan called Leishmania. It is transmitted to humans from infected animals by a sandfly bite. Most people actually manage to control the infection and do not get sick, while others develop a range of symptoms. VL impairs the production of blood components and causes the immune system to malfunction, thus anemia, bleeding, and bacterial infections often complicate the disease and can lead to death. To identify risk factors for death from VL, the authors studied 546 children in a referral center in Recife, Brazil. They looked at clinical history, physical examination and full blood counts on the assumption these could be easily assessed in peripheral health facilities. They found that the presence of fast breathing, jaundice, mucosal (e.g. gum) bleeding and bacterial infections would each increase the risk of death in three to four-fold. The presence of very low counts of neutrophils and platelets would increase the risk of death in three and 12-fold respectively. This knowledge can help clinicians to anticipate the use of antibiotics or transfusion of blood products in high risk patients, who would potentially benefit from transfer to centers with advanced life support facilities

Persistent symptoms and decreased health-related quality of life after symptomatic pediatric COVID-19: A prospective study in a Latin American tertiary hospital

OBJECTIVES: To prospectively evaluate demographic, anthropometric and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in pediatric patients with laboratory-confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) METHODS: This was a longitudinal observational study of surviving pediatric post-COVID-19 patients (n=53) and pediatric subjects without laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 included as controls (n=52) was performed. RESULTS: The median duration between COVID-19 diagnosis (n=53) and follow-up was 4.4 months (0.8-10.7). Twenty-three of 53 (43%) patients reported at least one persistent symptom at the longitudinal follow-up visit and 12/53 (23%) had long COVID-19, with at least one symptom lasting for >12 weeks. The most frequently reported symptoms at the longitudinal follow-up visit were headache (19%), severe recurrent headache (9%), tiredness (9%), dyspnea (8%), and concentration difficulty (4%). At the longitudinal follow-up visit, the frequencies of anemia (11% versus 0%, p=0.030), lymphopenia (42% versus 18%, p=0.020), C-reactive protein level of >30 mg/L (35% versus 0%, p=0.0001), and D-dimer level of >1000 ng/mL (43% versus 6%, p=0.0004) significantly reduced compared with baseline values. Chest X-ray abnormalities (11% versus 2%, p=0.178) and cardiac alterations on echocardiogram (33% versus 22%, p=0.462) were similar at both visits. Comparison of characteristic data between patients with COVID-19 at the longitudinal follow-up visit and controls showed similar age (p=0.962), proportion of male sex (p=0.907), ethnicity (p=0.566), family minimum monthly wage (p=0.664), body mass index (p=0.601), and pediatric pre-existing chronic conditions (p=1.000). The Pediatric Quality of Live Inventory 4.0 scores, median physical score (69 [0-100] versus 81 [34-100], p=0.012), and school score (60 [15-100] versus 70 [15-95], p=0.028) were significantly lower in pediatric patients with COVID-19 at the longitudinal follow-up visit than in controls. CONCLUSIONS: Pediatric patients with COVID-19 showed a longitudinal impact on HRQoL parameters, particularly in physical/school domains, reinforcing the need for a prospective multidisciplinary approach for these patients. These data highlight the importance of closer monitoring of children and adolescents by the clinical team after COVID-19

Multiple effects of toxins isolated from Crotalus durissus terrificus on the hepatitis C virus life cycle

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is one of the main causes of liver disease and transplantation worldwide. Current therapy is expensive, presents additional side effects and viral resistance has been described. Therefore, studies for developing more efficient antivirals against HCV are needed. Compounds isolated from animal venoms have shown antiviral activity against some viruses such as Dengue virus, Yellow fever virus and Measles virus. In this study, we evaluated the effect of the complex crotoxin (CX) and its subunits crotapotin (CP) and phospholipase A2 (PLA2-CB) isolated from the venom of Crotalus durissus terrificus on HCV life cycle. Huh 7.5 cells were infected with HCVcc JFH-1 strain in the presence or absence of these toxins and virus was titrated by focus formation units assay or by qPCR. Toxins were added to the cells at different time points depending on the stage of virus life cycle to be evaluated. The results showed that treatment with PLA2-CB inhibited HCV entry and replication but no effect on HCV release was observed. CX reduced virus entry and release but not replication. By treating cells with CP, an antiviral effect was observed on HCV release, the only stage inhibited by this compound. Our data demonstrated the multiple antiviral effects of toxins from animal venoms on HCV life cycle

IFNG +874T/A polymorphism is not associated with American tegumentary leishmaniasis susceptibility but can influence Leishmania induced IFN-γ production

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Interferon-gamma is a key cytokine in the protective responses against intracellular pathogens. A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) located in the first intron of the human IFN-γ gene can putatively influence the secretion of cytokine with an impact on infection outcome as demonstrated for tuberculosis and other complex diseases. Our aim was to investigate the putative association of IFNG+874T/A SNP with American tegumentary leishmaniasis (ATL) and also the influence of this SNP in the secretion of IFN-γ <it>in vitro</it>.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Brazilian ATL patients (78 cutaneous, CL, and 58 mucosal leishmaniasis, ML) and 609 healthy volunteers were evaluated. The genotype of +874 region in the IFN-γ gene was carried out by Amplification Refractory Mutational System (ARMS-PCR). <it>Leishmania</it>-induced IFN-γ production on peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) culture supernatants was assessed by ELISA.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>There are no differences between +874T/A SNP frequency in cases and controls or in ML versus CL patients. Cutaneous leishmaniasis cases exhibiting AA genotype produced lower levels of IFN-γ than TA/TT genotypes. In mucosal cases, high and low IFN-γ producers were clearly demonstrated but no differences in the cytokine production was observed among the IFNG +874T or A carriers.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our results suggest that +874T/A polymorphism was not associated with either susceptibility or severity to leishmaniasis. Despite this, IFNG +874T/A SNP could be involved in the pathogenesis of leishmaniasis by influencing the amount of cytokine released by CL patients, although it could not prevent disease development. On the other hand, it is possible that in ML cases, other potential polymorphic regulatory genes such as TNF-α and IL-10 are also involved thus interfering with IFN-γ secretion.</p