Sea urchin granuloma

Injuries caused by venomous and poisonous aquatic animals may provoke important morbidity in humans. The phylum Echinoderma include more than 6000 species of starfish, sea urchins, sand dollars, and sea cucumbers some of which have been found responsible for injuries to humans. Initial injuries by sea urchins are associated with trauma and envenomation, but later effects can be observed. Sea urchin granuloma is a chronic granulomatous skin disease caused by frequent and successive penetration of sea urchin spines which have not been removed from wounds. The authors report a typical case of sea urchin granuloma in a fisherman and its therapeutic implications.

Detection of parvovirus B19 infection in formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded placenta and fetal tissues

Parvovirus B19 infection was first discovered in 1975 and it is implicated in fetal death from hydrops fetalis the world over. Diagnosis is usually made through histological identification of the intranuclear inclusion in placenta and fetal organs. However, these cells may be scarce or uncharacteristic, making definitive diagnosis difficult. We analyzed histologically placentas and fetal organs from 34 cases of non-immune hydrops fetalis, stained with Hematoxylin and Eosin (HE) and submitted to immunohistochemistry and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Of 34 tissue samples, two (5.9%) presented typical intranuclear inclusion in circulating normoblasts seen in Hematoxylin and Eosin stained sections, confirmed by immunohistochemistry and PCR. However, PCR of fetal organs was negative in one case in which the placenta PCR was positive. We concluded that parvovirus B19 infection frequency is similar to the literature and that immunohistochemistry was the best detection method. It is highly specific and sensitive, preserves the morphology and reveals a larger number of positive cells than does HE with the advantage of showing cytoplasmic and nuclear positivity, making it more reliable. Although PCR is more specific and sensitive in fresh or ideally fixed material it is not so in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues, frequently the only one available in such cases.

Viability and molecular authentication of Coccidioides spp. isolates from the Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo culture collection, Brazil

Coccidioidomycosis is an emerging fungal disease in Brazil; adequate maintenance and authentication of Coccidioides isolates are essential for research into genetic diversity of the environmental organisms, as well as for understanding the human disease. Seventeen Coccidioides isolates maintained under mineral oil since 1975 in the Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo (IMTSP) culture collection, Brazil, were evaluated with respect to their viability, morphological characteristics and genetic features in order to authenticate these fungal cultures. Only five isolates were viable after almost 30 years, showing typical morphological characteristics, and sequencing analysis using Coi-F and Coi-R primers revealed 99% identity with Coccidioides genera. These five isolates were then preserved in liquid nitrogen and sterile water, and remained viable after two years of storage under these conditions, maintaining the same features.

FIRST CASE OF HUMAN INFECTION BY Bertiella studeri (Blanchard, 1891) Stunkard,1940 (Cestoda; Anoplocephalidae) IN BRAZIL

SUMMARY Cestodes of the Bertiella genus are parasites of non-human primates found in Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas. Species Bertiella studeri and Bertiella mucronatacould, accidentally, infect human beings. The infection occurs from ingestion of mites from the Oribatida order containing cysticercoid larvae of the parasite. The objective of this report is to register the first case of human infection by Bertiella studeri in Brazil. Proglottids of the parasite, found in the stool sample of a two-and-a-half-year-old child, were fixed, stained and microscopically observed to evaluate its morphological characteristics. Eggs obtained from the proglottids were also studied. The gravid proglottids examined matched the description of the genus Bertiella. The eggs presented a round shape, with the average diameter of 43.7 µm, clearly showing the typical pyriform apparatus of B. studeri. The authors concluded that the child was infected with Bertiella studeri,based on Stunkard's (1940) description of the species. This is the fifth case of human Bertiellosis described in Brazil through morphometric analysis of the parasite, the third in Minas Gerais State and the first diagnosed case of Bertiella studeriin Brazil.