Genotypic identification of Cryptosporidium spp. isolated from hiv-infected patients and immunocompetent children of São Paulo, Brazil

Cryptosporidium isolates identified in fourteen stool samples, collected from five HIV-infected patients and nine immunocompetent children, living in the Sate of São Paulo, Brazil, were submitted to a molecular analysis using a nested PCR followed of restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), for genetic characterization. The analysis was based on digestion with RsaI restriction enzyme of a DNA fragment amplified from the Cryptosporidium oocyst wall protein (COWP) gene. Based on this analysis, four samples were identified as Cryptosporidium parvum, eight as Cryptosporidium hominis and two presented a profile that correspondedto Cryptosporidium meleagridis when compared to the standards used in the analysis. The use of molecular methods can be helpful to identify source of infections and risk factors related to Cryptosporidium infection in our communities.

Clinical outcome and risk factors related to extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing Klebsiella spp. infection among hospitalized patients

Over the past two decades, nosocomial infections caused by extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Klebsiella spp. have become a major problem all around the world. This situation is of concern because there are limited antimicrobial options to treat patients infected with these pathogens, and also because this kind of resistance can spread to a wide variety of Gram-negative bacilli. Our objectives wereto evaluate among in-patients at a publicuniversity tertiary-care hospital with documented infection due to Klebsiella spp., which were the risk factors (cross-sectional analysis) and the clinical impact (prospective cohort) associated with an ESBL-producing strain. Study subjects were all patients admitted at the study hospital between April 2002 and October 2003, with a clinically and microbiologically confirmed infection caused by Klebsiella spp. at any body site, except infections restricted to the urinary tract. Of the 104 patients studied, 47 were infected with an ESBL-producing strain and 57 with a non-ESBL-producing strain. Independent risk factors associated with infection with an ESBL-producing strain were young age, exposure to mechanical ventilation, central venous catheter, use of any antimicrobial agent, and particularly use of a 4th generation cephalosporin or a quinolone. Length of stay was significant longer for patients infected with ESBL-producing strains than for those infected with non-ESBL-producing strains, although fatality rate was not significantly affected by ESBL-production in this cohort. In fact, mechanical ventilation and bacteremia were the only variables withindependent association withdeath detected in this investigation.

Capillaria spp. eggs in Patagonian archaeological sites: statistical analysis of morphometric data

Discriminant analysis was used to identify eggs of Capillaria spp. at specific level found in organic remains from an archaeological site in Patagonia, Argentina, dated of 6,540 ± 110 years before present. In order to distinguish eggshell morphology 149 eggs were measured and grouped into four arbitrary subsets. The analysis used on egg width and length discriminated them into different morphotypes (Wilks' lambda = 0.381, p < 0.05). The correlation analysis suggests that width was the most important variable to discriminate among the Capillaria spp. egg morphotypes (Pearson coefficient = 0.950, p < 0.05). The study of eggshell patterns, the relative frequency in the sample, and the morphometric data allowed us to correlate the four morphotypes with Capillaria species.

Determinação do tempo ótimo do enraizamento de miniestacas de clones de Eucalyptus spp.

Foi feita uma análise temporal da curva de enraizamento de dois clones híbridos de eucalipto (C1 - E. grandis x E. urophylla; C2 - E. grandis x E. saligna), visando determinar o tempo ótimo de permanência dos propágulos vegetativos na casa de enraizamento, sob o ponto de vista técnico e do risco de incidência de doenças. Constatou-se que o tempo ótimo necessário para induzir a rizogênese depende do clone de eucalipto e que o conhecimento do modelo temporal pode fornecer subsídios ao gerenciamento de viveiros florestais. Além disso, foram estabelecidos dois critérios úteis para determinar o tempo ótimo de indução do enraizamento, sendo estes o intercepto da curva de incremento corrente diário (ICD) e incremento médio diário (IMD) e o tempo em que ocorre o máximo valor da velocidade de enraizamento. Para os clones 1 e 2, pelo critério do intercepto das curvas de ICD e IMD, 20 e 30 dias foram definidos como tempo ótimo, enquanto pelo critério de máxima velocidade de enraizamento os valores foram de 15 e 22 dias, respectivamente, sendo este último critério o mais indicado, levando-se em consideração o custo das instalações e o risco de incidência de doenças na propagação clonal do eucalipto.