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Maternal, neonatal and community factors influencing neonatal mortality in Brazil.

Child mortality (the mortality of children less than five years old) declined considerably in the developing world in the 1990s, but infant mortality declined less. The reductions in neonatal mortality were not impressive and, as a consequence, there is an increasing percentage of infant deaths in the neonatal period. Any further reduction in child mortality, therefore, requires an understanding of the determinants of neonatal mortality. 209,628 birth and 2581 neonatal death records for the 1998 birth cohort from the city of São Paulo, Brazil, were probabilistically matched. Data were from SINASC and SIM, Information Systems on Live Births and Deaths of Brazil. Logistic regression was used to find the association between neonatal mortality and the following risk factors: birth weight, gestational age, Apgar scores at 1 and 5 minutes, delivery mode, plurality, sex, maternal education, maternal age, number of prior losses, prenatal care, race, parity and community development. Infants of older mothers were less likely to die in the neonatal period. Caesarean delivery was not found to be associated with neonatal mortality. Low birth weight, pre-term birth and low Apgar scores were associated with neonatal death. Having a mother who lives in the highest developed community decreased the odds of neonatal death, suggesting that factors not measured in this study are behind such association. This result may also indicate that other factors over and above biological and more proximate factors could affect neonatal death.

Adolescent↗

Sterilization and union instability in Brazil.

Brazilian women rely on sterilization as the main source of birth control. Sterilization has been one of the causes of the steep decline in fertility in Brazil, at least since the second half of 1970. It is hypothesized that understanding couples' relationships might be key to explaining this high rate of female sterilizations. Possible reasons for the higher level of fertility among women in unstable unions than among women in stable ones could be the less effective use of contraceptive methods, or that women in unstable unions tend to use less effective or reversible contraceptive methods. In this paper discrete time modelling of the timing of sterilization according to union histories is presented. The analysis uses the calendar data of the 1996 Brazilian DHS. It is shown that women in second or higher order unions have a lower risk of sterilization. This result should be taken into account in the analysis of the determinants of female sterilization in Brazil.

Adolescent↗

Prevalence of antibody against influenza A viruses in the Kren-Akorore, an Indian tribe of Central Brazil, first contacted in 1973.

Influenza A antibodies in serum samples obtained in 1980 from two Indian populations in Central Brazil were compared. The Kren-Akorore, who were first contacted in 1973 and two years later transferred to the Xingu Indian Park (PIX), were compared with Indians from other tribes already living in the PIX before 1975. An analysis was made of the prevalence and distribution of antibodies against the influenza A viruses which have circulated in the civilized world since 1918. Antibodies to the early influenza A viruses were absent in both Indian populations, but A/Hong Kong/1/68 (H3N2) virus apparently circulated in the PIX. No antibody to influenza A/Bangkok/1/79 or to A/Brazil/11/78 (H1N1) was found in any of the sera, whereas antibodies to these viruses were commonly found in urban populations in Brazil. The evidence from influenza antibodies agrees with the information that the Kren-Akorore Indians had been living in complete isolation until 1973, when they were first contacted.

Antibodies, Viral↗

The parasitism of Schistosoma mansoni (Digenea-Trematoda) in a naturally infected population of water rats, Nectomys squamipes (Rodentia-Sigmodontinae) in Brazil.

Schistosomiasis is a health problem in Brazil and the role of rodents in maintaining the schistosome life-cycle requires further clarification. The influence of Schistosoma mansoni on a population of Nectomys squamipes was studied by capture-recapture (1st phase, from June 1991 to November 1995) and removal (2nd phase, from April 1997 to March 1999) studies at Sumidouro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. During both phases coproscopic examinations were performed. At the 2nd phase the rodents were perfused and worms were counted. The population dynamics of parasites was studied. During the 1st phase, female reproductive parameters, longevity, recruitment and survivorship rates and migration patterns were studied in relation to schistosome prevalence. Water contamination (source of miracidia), abundance intermediate host and rodent migration were related to prevalence. The N. squamipes population was not obviously influenced by the infection, as shown by the high number of reproductive infected females, high longevity of infected individuals and the absence of a relationship between recruitment or survivorship rates and the intensity of schistosome infection. The data indicate that N. squamipes can increase transmission of S. mansoni in endemic areas and carry it to non-infected areas. Furthermore, this rodent can be used as an indicator of a transmission focus.

Animals↗

Minor psychiatric disorder in primary care in Brazil: a pilot study.

The General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) and the Clinical Interview Schedule (CIS) were translated into Portuguese and were used in a pilot study of psychiatric morbidity in primary care at 'The Health Centre Barra Funda/Bom Retiro' of the Faculty of Medicine of Santa Casa Hospital at Sao Paulo, Brazil. The Portuguese translation of the CIS was found to be a feasible instrument for community studies in Brazil, but the Portuguese translation of the GHQ-30 was shown to be of limited use in this particular setting. The extent of minor psychiatric morbidity was very high (46%); 33% was regarded as conspicuous (CPM) and 13% as hidden (HPM).

Brazil↗

A comparison of the validity of two psychiatric screening questionnaires (GHQ-12 and SRQ-20) in Brazil, using Relative Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis.

The General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) (Goldberg, 1972) and the Self Report Questionnaire (SRQ-20) (Harding et al. 1980) were simultaneously validated against the criterion of the Clinical Interview Schedule (CIS) (Goldberg et al. 1970) in three primary care clinics in the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil. A comparison between the two screening instruments was carried out. The product-moment correlation between the two sets of scores was +0.72, and the validation coefficients for the GHQ-12 and the SRQ-20 were respectively: sensitivity 85% and 83%; specificity 79% and 80%; overall misclassification rate 18% and 19%. The two screening instruments were further compared by the application of Relative Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis and, again, were found to be very similar in performance. The area under the ROC curve was 0.87 for the GHQ and 0.90 for the SRQ-20 (Z = 0.92, NS). Both psychiatric screening instruments were therefore found to be acceptably valid when assessed against the CIS in three primary care settings in Brazil. The application of ROC analysis to studies of this kind was feasible and straightforward. It was found to be superior to the conventional method of presentation of validity data. It is recommended that the application of ROC analysis to psychiatric screening studies be further utilized and explored.

Brazil↗

Cost-effectiveness analysis of the treatment of end-stage renal disease in Brazil.

Cost-effectiveness analysis compared four treatments of end-stage renal disease in Brazil: continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD), in-center hemodialysis (HD), cadaver donor transplantation (CD-Tx), and living related donor transplantation (LR-Tx). After 2 years, the costs per year of survival were CAPD, $12,134; HD, $10,065; CD-Tx, $6,978; and LR-Tx, $3,022. The HD cost was lower than CAPD partially because of the reuse of hemodialyzers in Brazil. Although less cost-effective, both dialysis treatments yielded more years of survival after 2 years. This analysis reveals a trade-off between cost per year of survival and years of survival.

Adolescent↗

Rubella seroepidemiology in a non-immunized population of São Paulo State, Brazil.

A rubella serological survey of 476 individuals selected by cluster sampling technique from Caieiras, a small town located in the outskirts of São Paulo city, southeastern Brazil, was carried out over the period November 1990-January 1991. The aim of the study was to characterize rubella epidemiology in a representative non-immunized community in south east Brazil. The survey comprised a seroprevalence study, stratified by age (0-40 years) and a seroconversion study of rubella vaccine in non-infected children below 2 years of age. Mathematical techniques were applied to resultant data sets to determine the age dependent rates of decay in the proportion of individuals with maternally derived antibodies, vaccine seroconversion, and infection of susceptibles, termed the force of infection, and to estimate the average age at first infection.

Adolescent↗

Speciated ambient carbonyls in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Carbonyls in urban air continue to receive scientific and regulatory attention as toxic air contaminants and for their important role in photochemical smog. However, few data are available for speciated carbonyls in urban air. Ambient concentrations of up to 61 carbonyls have been measured in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The most abundant carbonyls were formaldehyde and acetaldehyde (study-averaged concentrations of 10.8 +/- 4.1 and 10.4 +/- 4.6 microg m(-3), respectively, in samples of 3-h duration collected from May to November 2000 at a downtown location during the morning vehicle commute) followed by acetone, 2-butanone, and benzaldehyde. Ambient concentrations of other carbonyls (except acetophenone) correlated well with those of acetaldehyde and of formaldehyde. This study examines the ambient acetaldehyde/ambient formaldehyde concentration ratio in Brazilian cities since the mid-1980s in the context of changes in Brazil's reliance on ethanol as a vehicle fuel. This ratio has begun to decrease in recent years due to fleet turnover and is likely to decrease further as older cars fueled with ethanol are replaced by lower-emitting models that run on a gasoline-ethanol blend. The carbonyls measured are ranked with respect to ozone formation potential (using MIR coefficients) and reaction with OH (using carbonyl-OH reaction rate constants). Ozone formation is dominated by formaldehyde (43% of total) followed by acetaldehyde (32%) and methylglyoxal (8%); other carbonyls each contributed < or = 4% of total. For reaction with OH, acetaldehyde ranks first closely followed by formaldehyde.

Air Pollutants↗

Challenges and rewards of research in marine natural products chemistry in Brazil.

Brazil is blessed with a great biodiversity, which constitutes one of the most important sources of biologically active compounds, even if it has been largely underexplored. As is the case of the Amazon and Atlantic rainforests, the Brazilian marine fauna remains practically unexplored in the search for new biologically active natural products. Considering that marine organisms have been shown to be one of the most promising sources of new bioactive compounds for the treatment of different human diseases, the 8000 km of the Brazilian coastline represents a great potential for finding new pharmacologically active secondary metabolites. This review presents the status of marine natural products chemistry in Brazil, including results reported by different research groups with emphasis on the isolation, structure elucidation, and evaluation of biological activities of natural products isolated from sponges, ascidians, octocorals, and Opistobranch mollusks. A brief overview of the first Brazilian program on the isolation of marine bacteria and fungi, directed toward the production of biologically active compounds, is also discussed. The current multidisciplinary collaborative program under development at the Universidade de São Paulo proposes to establish a new paradigm toward the management of the Brazilian marine biodiversity, integrating research on the species diversity, ecology, taxonomy, and biogeography of marine invertebrates and microorganisms. This program also includes a broad screening program of Brazilian marine bioresources, to search for active compounds that may be of interest for the development of new drug leads.

Animals↗

Epidemiological aspects of Babesia equi in horses in Minas Gerais, Brazil.

The prevalence of Babesia equi in two climatic regions of Minas Gerais state was determined using the indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT) with blood samples obtained from horses in two slaughterhouses. Of 399 samples, 241 (60.4%) showed a positive reaction. Anti-B. equi antibody was detected in every county studied, the prevalence being 59.7% for horses in the area where the temperature rises above 18 degrees C in winter and 61.4% in the area where it remains below 18 degrees C, indicating that climatic variation has no substantial effect on the prevalence of the infection in Brazil. Blood samples collected from all 95 horses on a ranch in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, on which clinical babesiosis had never been reported, were subjected to the IFAT Anti-B. equi antibodies were detected in horses of all ages, but with a significantly lower prevalence in animals less than 6 months old.

Animals↗

Isolation of Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium anisopliae var. anisopliae from Boophilus microplus tick (Canestrini, 1887), in Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil.

The objective of this work were to isolate and identify strains of entomopathogenic fungi from ingurgitated female Boophilus microplus ticks, collected from the soil in the municipality of Paracambi, Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil. The ingurgitated females were inoculated in the selective medium oat dodine agar (oda), where 49 colonies of Beauveria bassiana (71%) and 20 of Metarhizium anisopliae var. anisopliae (29%) were isolated. These isolated strains characterize for the first time in Brazil the natural occurrence of these species of fungi in this tick, and will be used to conduct bioassays to evaluate the pathogenicity and virulence of these strains for ticks of the genus Boophilus microplus.

Animals↗

Variants of human papillomavirus types 53, 58 and 66 identified in Central Brazil.

The present study on molecular characterization of human papillomaviruses occurring in Central Brazil, describes two variants each of HPV-53 and HPV-58 and one variant of HPV-66 detected in samples from smears of women showing cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade II (CIN II). Samples were assayed by PCR using MY09/ MY11 consensus primers, followed by restriction fragment length polymorphism typing. The five isolates showed atypical restriction fragment length profile and MY09/MY11 L1 PCR products were subsequently sequenced. Isolate Bsb-02 and Bsb-08 showed, respectively, 99% similarity to HPV-58 IS404 and 100% to HPV-58 IS417 previously described in the African Continent. Isolates Bsb-61 and Bsb-63 showed 98% similarity to HPV-53, and isolate Bsb-68, 97% similarity to HPV-66. Amino acid substitutions were found in two samples: one in Bsb-02 (T to N) at position 375 and the other in Bsb-61 (S to C) at position 343. Although all the substitutions in Bsb-68 proved to be silent, this sample showed the highest value of pairwise evolutionary distance (2.05%). In countries such as Brazil, where the virus prevalence is high and ethnicity, as well as socio-demographic characteristics, vary according to different regions, HPV variability must be wider and not yet clearly defined.

Amino Acid Substitution↗

The CBCL and the identification of children with autism and related conditions in Brazil: pilot findings.

UNLABELLED: The Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL)/4-18 is one of the few standardized means available for assessing child mental health in Brazil. In this context, the identification of a specific pathology such as autism by the CBCL/4-18 is relevant. To examine the validity of the CBCL/4-18 for the identification of autism, the CBCL/4-18 was applied to 101 children: 36 with autism and related conditions, 31 with other psychiatric disorders, and 34 schoolchildren. Children ranged in age from 4 to 11 years. A CBCL factor called Autistic/Bizarre and the narrow-band Thought Problems scale differentiated autistic conditions from other psychiatric disorders and schoolchildren. CONCLUSION: The CBCL/4-16 can identify autistic children in clinical and school settings in Brazil.

Autistic Disorder↗

Dental caries and sugar intake of children from rural areas with different water fluoride levels in Paraíba, Brazil.

UNLABELLED: Few reports have investigated caries prevalence in rural areas of Brazil. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to observe the caries prevalence (DMFT, DMFS) in 12-year-old children living in rural villages of Paraíba, Brazil with low and moderate fluoride levels in the drinking water and to relate it to sugar intake and oral hygiene. METHODS: One hundred and ninety four children from 13 villages were grouped according to the water fluoride levels: low fluoride (LF, <0.2 ppm F, 96 children) and moderate fluoride (MF, 0.7-1.0 ppm F, 98 children). Caries and oral hygiene (OHI-S) were scored according to WHO criteria. Sugar intake was assessed through interviews. A sub-set of subjects (n=23) from the LF group was re-examined 2 years later. RESULTS: For the LF and MF groups the DMFT (mean, SD) observed was 3.9 (3.7) and 2.5 (2.1) respectively, the DMFS was 9.2 (10.6) and 5.4 (5.7). Both indexes (DMFT, DMFS) showed significant differences (P<0.01, Mann-Whitney U-test) according to the fluoride levels in the drinking water. The mean increment of caries in the sub-set group of subjects was approximately 1.5 surfaces per subject/year. The reported sugar intake was low for both water fluoride groups (P>0.05). In a regression analysis the water fluoride levels, the use of fluoridated toothpaste and oral hygiene index were related to DMFS (R2=0.08, P< or =0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Caries prevalence was lower in MF than in LF rural areas of Paraíba. Caries and sugar intake seems to be lower in rural areas than in urban areas of Paraíba with similar fluoride levels in the drinking water.

Brazil↗

Prevalence of traumatic dental injury and associated factors among 12-year-old school children in Florianópolis, Brazil.

The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence and type of accidents that resulted in traumatic injuries to the permanent dentition of 12-year-old school children in Florianópolis, Brazil. A dental trauma cross-sectional survey was carried out through clinical examination of upper and lower permanent incisors and interviews with 307 12-year-old school children enrolled in public primary schools. Intra-examiner diagnosis variability was good, measured by kappa values on tooth-by-tooth basis. The prevalence of dental injury was 18.9%. There was no statistical difference in the prevalence between boys and girls (P = 0.103). The main types of accidents that resulted in dental injuries were falls and collisions with objects or people. It can be concluded that the prevalence of dental injuries in Florianópolis, Brazil is high and they have a great potential to be considered an emerging public health problem.

Accidental Falls↗

Tree species impoverishment and the future flora of the Atlantic forest of northeast Brazil.

Estimates of species extinction due to human impact on tropical forests have previously been based on the relationship between species number and area. Here we use a different approach to estimate loss of tree species in the Atlantic forest of northeast Brazil. We evaluate the characteristics of plant species, their avian dispersers and the distribution of the forest remnants on the landscape to estimate that about 33.9% of tree species in this region will become extinct on a regional scale. Because northeast Brazil is the most threatened sector of South American Atlantic forest, our results highlight the need to change the current conservation paradigm for this region. Rather than focus on the creation of isolated reserves in any medium-to-large forest remnant, a bioregional planning approach is urgently required to rescue this unique biota from extinction.

Animals↗

Insolation-driven changes in atmospheric circulation over the past 116,000 years in subtropical Brazil.

During the last glacial period, large millennial-scale temperature oscillations--the 'Dansgaard/Oeschger' cycles--were the primary climate signal in Northern Hemisphere climate archives from the high latitudes to the tropics. But whether the influence of these abrupt climate changes extended to the tropical and subtropical Southern Hemisphere, where changes in insolation are thought to be the main direct forcing of climate, has remained unclear. Here we present a high-resolution oxygen isotope record of a U/Th-dated stalagmite from subtropical southern Brazil, covering the past 116,200 years. The oxygen isotope signature varies with shifts in the source region and amount of rainfall in the area, and hence records changes in atmospheric circulation and convective intensity over South America. We find that these variations in rainfall source and amount are primarily driven by summer solar radiation, which is controlled by the Earth's precessional cycle. The Dansgaard/Oeschger cycles can be detected in our record and therefore we confirm that they also affect the tropical hydrological cycle, but that in southern subtropical Brazil, millennial-scale climate changes are not as dominant as they are in the Northern Hemisphere.

Air Movements↗