Subnotificação da comorbidade tuberculose e aids: uma aplicação do método de linkage

OBJETIVO: Analisar a subnotificação da comorbidade tuberculose (TB) e aids. MÉTODOS: Estudo de vigilância utilizando os registros do Sistema de Informação de Agravos de Notificação de Tuberculose e de aids no Brasil de 2000 a 2005. Registros de TB sem informação da presença de aids foram considerados subnotificações da comorbidade quando pareados a registros de aids que apresentassem ano de diagnóstico de aids igual ou anterior ao ano de notificação da TB, assim como os registros de um mesmo paciente cujos registros anteriores apresentavam essa informação. Criou-se um indicador: comorbidade TB-aids reconhecida, a partir dos registros de TB com a informação de presença de aids. RESULTADOS: A subnotificação de TB-aids foi de 17,7%. Esse percentual variou entre estados. A incorporação dos registros subnotificados aos previamente reconhecidos elevou a proporção de TB-aids no Brasil de 6,9% para 8,4%. As maiores proporções de subnotificação foram observadas no Acre, Alagoas, Maranhão e Piauí (mais de 35% cada) e as menores em São Paulo e Goiás (cerca de 10% cada). CONCLUSÕES: A subnotificação da comorbidade TB-aids encontrada no Brasil deve deflagrar modificações no sistema de vigilância para prover informações aos programas nacionais.

Tuberculosis in indigenous children in the Brazilian Amazon

OBJECTIVE: Assess the epidemiological aspects of tuberculosis in Brazilian indigenous children and actions to control it. METHODS: An epidemiological study was performed with 356 children from 0 to 14 years of age in Rondônia State, Amazon, Brazil, during the period 1997-2006. Cases of TB reported to the Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System were divided into indigenous and non-indigenous categories and analyzed according to sex, age group, place of residence, clinical form, diagnostic tests and treatment outcome. A descriptive analysis of cases and hypothesis test (&#967;²) was carried out to verify if there were differences in the proportions of illness between the groups investigated. RESULTS: A total of 356 TB cases were identified (125 indigenous, 231 non-indigenous) of which 51.4% of the cases were in males. In the indigenous group, 60.8% of the cases presented in children aged 0-4 years old. The incidence mean was much higher among indigenous; in 2001, 1,047.9 cases/100,000 inhabitants were reported in children aged < 5 years. Pulmonary TB was reported in more than 80% of the cases, and in both groups over 70% of the cases were cured. Cultures and histopathological exams were performed on only 10% of the patients. There were 3 cases of TB/HIV co-infection in the non-indigenous group and none in the indigenous group. The case detection rate was classified as insufficient or fair in more than 80% of the indigenous population notifications, revealing that most of the diagnoses were performed based on chest x-ray. CONCLUSIONS: The approach used in this study proved useful in demonstrating inequalities in health between indigenous and non-indigenous populations and was superior to the conventional analyses performed by the surveillance services, drawing attention to the need to improve childhood TB diagnosis among the indigenous population.

Histopatologia da leishmaniose tegumentar por Leishmania braziliensis braziliensis. 3. Reação celular nos tecidos

Os A.A. analisam as alterações histopatológicas observadas em 378 casos de Leishmaniose Tegumentar da localidade de Três Braços Estado da Bahia, dos quais 307 eram de portadores de lesões exclusivamente cutâneas, 54 de portadores de lesões exclusivamnte mucosas e 17 de portadores de lesões cutâneo-mucosas. A infiltração histiolinfoplasmocitária, na maioria dos casos, parece desempenhar o papel de resposta celular inespecífica à presença de um irritante tecidual, porém, nos casos de forma mucosa, não se pode afastar a possibilidade de que esse infiltrado esteja participando de uma reação de tipo autoagressivo. O plasmócito constitui um elemento quase constante nas lesões desenvolvidas, mas não tem sido observado nas lesões residuais, quer em via de cura ou já cicatrizadas; sua presença nestes casos denota, quase sempre, tendência à recidiva. Os mastdcitos foram observados em lesões tanto da forma cutânea como da forma mucosa, mas predominavam nas primeiras. Seu número foi significantemente maior no padrão de Reação Exsudativa e Neerótico Granulomatosa, onde os fenômenos necróticos são bem desenvolvidos. Os eosinófilos apresentaram associação significativa com os mastócitos, confirmando a existência de um eixo bidirecional entre estás duas células, o qual deve participar da modulação inflamatória, na Leishmaniose Tegumentar. Dois tipos de reação granulomatosa foram observados: um desorganizado, em relação, muitas vezes, com a necrose tissular, e outro organizado, mais raro, do tipo tuberculóide. O primeiro foi interpretado como de origem pós-necrótica, surgindo com a redução da carga parasitária, propiciada pelos fenômenos necróticos: eliminado o antígeno e mantidos os níveis de anticorpos, surgem as condições necessárias ao estabelecimento do granuloma, semelhante àquele observado nas lesões por imunocomplexo em excesso de anticorpos. O outro tipo de reação foi o granuloma de células epiteliódes, que surgiu em dois grupos de pacientes. Nos pacientes jovens, com doença de curto tempo de evolução e intradermorreação não exacerbada, este tipo de granuloma talvez seja a expressão da Hipersensibilidade Granulomatosa Específica, descrita por EPSTEIN (1977). No outro grupo de pacientes, havia em todos intradermorreação exacerbada. Nestes casos a hipersensibilidade granulomatosa, associando-se ã hipersensibilidade mediada por células — agora ampliada pelo seqüestro do antígeno —, reforçaria o processo granulomatoso, através da reverberação do estímulo antígênico; isso tornaria o tratamento mais difícil e pior o prognóstico para o caso.

Tuberculosis in patients with chronic renal failure

Nine cases of tuberculosis (TB) were diagnosed among 800 uremic patients, followed-up during 11 years, a prevalence of 1125%, 2.5 times higher than that in the general population. Six patients (66.7%) had lymph node involvement (4 cervical and 2 mediastinal). Three patients (33.3%) had pulmonary involvement (2 pleuro-pulmonary and 1 bilateral apical pulmonary). Eight patients were undergoing dialysis and 1 was pre-dialytic. The duration of dialysis ranged from 1 to 60 months. Three patients had previously received immunosuppressive drugs for unsuccessful renal transplantation. Daily fever was present in all but one patient; he was asymptomatic and TB was suspected after routine chest radiography. Biopsy was the diagnostic procedure in 7 patients (77.8%), four by direct cervical lymph node biopsy, 2 by mediastinal, performed by mediastinoscopy and 1 by pleural biopsy. In 2 other patients TB was confirmed by the presence of tubercle bacilli; in sputum (1 patient) and in a bronchial flushing specimen (the other patient). Triple therapy was used in all patients (isoniazid and ethambutol in all), plus rifampicin in 8 and streptomycin in 1. One patient had jaundice and another had optical neuritis. Five patients were cured. The other four died during treatment of causes unrelated to TB or its treatment.

Indicadores das condições nutricionais na região Polonoroeste: V. Desnutrição protéico-energética e parasitoses intestinais em um grupo de crianças de 3 a 72 meses de idade da cidade de Mirassol D'Oeste, Mato Grosso, Brasil

Este trabalho tem por objetivo caracterizar a desnutrição protéico-energética associada a parasitose intestinal em grupo de 149 crianças de ambos os sexos, na faixa etária de 3 a 72 meses, da cidade de Mirassol D'Oeste, na região do Projeto Polonoroeste em Mato Grosso. De cada criança foram coletados os seguintes dados: sexo, peso, idade e amostra de fezes para exame parasitológico. Os dados peso/idade obtidos foram analisados pelos critérios de GOMEZ. Utilizou-se como padrão de referência o National Center for Health Statistic (NCHS). Para diagnóstico dos parasitas intestinais executou-se o método de Hoffman, Pons e Janer. O grupo estudado constitui-se em sua maioria de crianças desnutridas, sendo a forma leve de desnutrição mais comum que as formas moderada e grave. As enteroparasitoses foram encontradas em 69% das amostras examinadas. A "Giardia lamblia" foi o protozoário mais comum e o "Ancilostomídeo" o helminto mais encontrado. O teste X² não mostrou relação de dependência entre o estado nutricional e a freqüência de enteroparasitoses.

Schistosoma mansoni: aspectos quantitativos da fertilidade e sobrevida de vermes oriundos de cercárias irradiadas com 3 Krad, em camundongos

Quatro grupos de camundongos albinos (Mus musculus) não isogênicos foram infectados transcutaneamente com cerca de 450 cercárias (das cepas LE e SJ do S. mansoni) não irradiadas (grupos controles) e irradiadas com 3 Krad de radiação gama proveniente de cobalto-60, com a finalidade de observar o efeito da irradiação gama sobre a fertilidade das fêmeas e a sobrevida dos vermes no sistema porta. A partir do 33º dia ocorre uma certa estabilidade na população dos vermes sobreviventes, ficando esta população constante, notadamente em relação à cepa LE, até o final das observações (90º dia). Concluiu-se que esta dose de radiação gama impede a produção de ovos dos vermes em 98,1% dos camundongos infectados, sendo mortos todos os ovos detectados; as fêmeas são mais resistentes à irradiação e o efeito desta sobre a mortalidade dos machos somente se torna estatisticamente significativo a partir do 61º dia de infecção. O longo tempo de permanência de vermes adultos irradiados estéreis no sistema porta de camundongos e o seu provável envolvimento no desenvolvimento de imunoproteção, tipo imunidade concomitante sem as implicações imunopatológicas para o hospedeiro, são discutidos nesse trabalho.

Respiratory complications in Brazilian patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus

PURPOSE: To determine how often and by what means an indentifiable pulmonary pathogen can be recognized in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infected patients with respiratory disorders in Brazil, which are the most frequently observed microorganisms and what impact specific therapy has on these agents. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Thirty-five HIV seroposiüve subjects with respiratory complaints were studied. All patients had a complete history, physical examination and blood counts. The pulmonary assessment included chest radiograms; sputum examination for bacterial and fungal pathogens; bronchoscopy with bronchoalveolar lavage and transbronchial biopsy. Patients with treatable complications received standard antimicrobial therapy. RESULTS: One or more microorganisms were found in 24 subjects and another 3 individuals showed nonspecific interstitial pneumonitis. The sputum examination identified the pulmonary pathogens in 7 cases. The bronchoalveolar lavage and the histopathologic examination were diagnostic in 14% and 83%, respectively, of the 28 individuals that were submitted to bronchoscopy. The most frequently identified microorganism was P. carinii (55%), followed by M. tuberculosis (41%) and cytomegalovirus (8%). The clinical, laboratory and radiographic findings failed to distinguish the specific pulmonary pathogens. Twenty-three individuals with P. carinii pneumonitis and/or tuberculosis received specific therapy; among the evaluable patients the therapeutic response rates were 79% for PCP and 100% for TB. CONCLUSIONS: We have determined that tuberculosis, P. carinii and cytomegalovirus pneumonitis are the most common respiratory opportunistic diseases in Brazilian patients infected with HIV. The histologic evaluation was crucial in order to identify the pulmonary pathogens. Tuberculosis in AIDS individuals displayed clinical and radiographic findings atypical for reactivation disease. However, most of the features observed in HIV infected patients had been previously described in infection of the normal host. Furthermore, the AIDS subjects showed a good therapeutic response to anti-tuberculous drugs.

Antibodies against non-structural c100/3 and structural core antigen of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in hemodialysis patients

Two groups of patients undergoing hemodialysis (HD) maintenance were evaluated for their antibody response to non-structural c100/3 protein and structural core protein of hepatitis C virus (HCV). Forty-six patients (Group 1) never presented liver abnormalities during HD treatment, while 52 patients (Group 2) had either current or prior liver enzyme elevations. Prevalence rates of 32.6% and 41.3% were found for anti-c100/3 and anti-HCV core antibodies, respectively, in patients with silent infections (Group 1). The rate of anti-c100/3 in patients of Group 2 was 71.15% and reached 86.5% for anti-HCV core antibodies. The recognition of anti-c100/3 and anti-core antibodies was significantly higher in Group 2 than in Group 1. A line immunoassay composed of structural and non-structural peptides was used as a confirmation assay. HBV infection, measured by the presence of anti-HBc antibodies, was observed in 39.8% of the patients. Six were HBsAg chronic carriers and 13 had naturally acquired anti-HBs antibodies. The duration of HD treatment was correlated with anti-HCV positivity. A high prevalence of 96.7% (Group 2) was found in patients who underwent more than 5 years of treatment. Our results suggest that anti-HCV core ELISA is more accurate for detecting HCV infection than anti-c100/3. Although the risk associated with the duration of HD treatment and blood transfusion was high, additional factors such as a significant non-transfusional spread of HCV seems to play a role as well. The identification of infective patients by more sensitive methods for HCV genome detection should help to control the transmission of HCV in the unit under study.

Studies on human anti-rabies immunization in Brazil: I - Evaluation of the 3 + 1 pre-exposure vaccination schedule under field conditions

The currently used pre-exposure anti-rabies immunization schedule in Brazil is the one called 3+1, employing suckling mouse brain vaccine (3 doses on alternate days and the last one on day 30). Although satisfactory results were obtained in well controlled experimental groups using this immunization schedule, in our routine practice, VNA levels lower than 0.5 IU/ml are frequently found. We studied the pre-exposure 3+1 schedule under field conditions in different cities on the State of São Paulo, Brazil, under variable and sometimes adverse circumstances, such as the use of different batches of vaccine with different titers, delivered, stored and administered under local conditions. Fifty out of 256 serum samples (19.5%) showed VNA titers lower than 0.5 IU/ml, but they were not distributed homogeneously among the localities studied. While in some cities the results were completely satisfactory, in others almost 40% did not attain the minimum VNA titer required. The results presented here, considered separately, question our currently used procedures for human pre-exposure anti-rabies immunization. The reasons determining this situation are discussed.

Histopathology and immunocytochemical study of type 3 and type 4 complement receptors in the liver and spleen of dogs naturally and experimentally infected with Leishmania (Leishmania) chagasi

The objective of this study was to compare the histopathological changes and expression of CR3 and CR4 in the liver and spleen of dogs naturally and experimentally infected with L. chagasi. The basic histopathological lesions observed mainly in naturally infected dogs were: epithelioid hepatic granulomas, hyperplasia and hypertrophy of Kupffer cells, Malpigui follicles and mononucleated cells of the red pulp of the spleen. Sections from the liver and spleen by immunocytochemistry technique showed the presence of CD11b,c\CD 18 antigens in the control and infected animals and no qualitative or quantitative differences in the liver. Nevertheless, CD18 was always increased in the spleen of naturally and experimentally infected dogs. These results indicate that there is a difference in the activaton of CD 18 in both experimental and natural cases of canine visceral leishmaniasis that should play an important role in the immunological response to Leishmania chagasi infection.

A 3-YEAR FOLLOW-UP OF A BRAZILIAN AIDS PATIENT WITH PROTRACTED DIARRHEA CAUSED BY Enterocytozoon bieneusi

Enterocytozoon bieneusi is the most prevalent microsporidian parasite that causes gastrointestinal infection in persons with AIDS. Microsporidia are increasingly recognized as important opportunistic pathogens all over the world but in Brazil only few cases have been reported due either to the non awareness of the clinical presentation of the disease or to difficulties in the laboratory diagnosis. We report a 3-year follow-up of a Brazilian HIV-positive patient in whom microsporidial spores were detected in stools and were identified as E. bieneusi using electron microscopy and PCR. The patient presented with chronic diarrhea, CD4 T-lymphocytes count below 100/mm3 and microsporidial spores were consistently detected in stools. Albendazole was given to the patient in several occasions with transient relief of the diarrhea, which reappeared as soon as the drug was discontinued. Nevertheless, a diarrhea-free period with weight gain up to 18 Kg occurred when a combination of nucleoside and protease inhibitors was initiated as part of the antiviral treatment.

First isolation of dengue 3 in Brazil from an imported case

The authors report the isolation of dengue 3 virus for the first time in Brazil. The patient, resident in Limeira-SP, traveled to Nicaragua on May 16th, 1998, where he stayed for two months. Starting on August 14th he had fever, headache, myalgia, arthralgia, retro-orbital pain and diarrhea. He returned to Brazil on August 16th and was hospitalized in the next day. The patient had full recovery and was discharged on August 20th. The virus was isolated in C6/36 cell culture inoculated with serum collected on the 6th day after the onset of the symptoms. The serotype 3 was identified by indirect immunofluorescence assays performed with type-specific monoclonal antibodies. This serotype was further confirmed by polymerase chain reaction analysis. The introduction of a new dengue serotype in a susceptible population is a real threat for the occurrence of severe forms of the disease. The isolation and identification of dengue virus are important in order to monitoring the serotypes circulating in Brazil and to take the measures necessary to prevent and control an epidemic.