Análise faunística dos helmintos de pardais (Passer domesticus L., 1758) capturados em Campo Grande, Rio de Janeiro, RJ

Sparrows captured in Campo Grande, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, were examined through necropsy and the helmints found were identified. The prevalence, intensity of infection and the habitat of each helminth species found are showed. An analysis of the helminth fauna using the importance value of the species collected indicated that in the sparrow the dominant species are: Leucochloridium parcum, Tanaisia inopina, Choanotaenia passerina, Dispharynx nasuta and Tetrameres minima; and the co-dominant species are: Echinostoma revolutum, Eumegacetes mediximus and Mediorhynchus papillosus. According to the host specificity were classified as specialist species: L. parcum, T. inopina, C. passerina and T. minima; and as generalist species: E. revolutum, E. medioximus, D. nasuta and M. papillosus. Echinostoma revolutum was found for the first time in P. domesticus. The species E. medioximus , T. minima and D. nasuta were found for the first time in the sparrow in Brazil. The species C. passerina and M. papillosus were found for the first time in Brazil, expanding their distribution to the Neotropical region.

Contribuição para o conhecimento do gênero Dimecoenia Cresson, 1916: V. Sobre uma espécie nova do Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Diptera: Ephydridae)

New species of several speciemens of several specimens from Rio de Janeiro county, caught on the Spinosa platensis microalgae breeding in the concret thanks is described.

Nova espécie de Hyla da Serra da Mantiqueira, Itatiaia, Estado do Rio de Janeiro, (Amphibia, Anura, Hylidae)

Hyla gouveai n. sp. is described and illustrated and it is closest to the bigger individuals of the species in the group "circumdata", not presenting, however, the characteristic pattern of dark transversal bands on the posterior inner coxal surface.

Lista dos exemplares-tipos de triatomíneos depositados na coleçao entomológica do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro (Hemiptera: Reduviidae)

It was made a list in the Entomological Collection of Oswaldo Cruz Institute of the specimens of Triatominae subfamily deposited in the closed collections Cesar Pinto and Costa Lima, and Herman Lent. Thirty seven holotypes, fifteen allotypes and a hundred ninety two paratypes were related with their respective data and literature.

V3 peptide binding pattern and HIV-1 transmission route in Rio de Janeiro

To characterize antibody binding to a panel of V3 loop peptides representing diverse HIV-1 neutralization epitopes, 149 HIV-1 infected individuals from Rio de Janeiro (RJ) were investigated. Results were analyzed with respect to risk factors for infection and other epidemiological and clinical data. Peptide reactivity was not associated with sex, clinical status, CD4 counts, antigenemia or ß2-microglobulin serum level. A segregation of peptide reactivity according to route of infection was encountered. This finding suggests that more then one viral strain may be circulating in RJ, in subjects with different risk factors for HIV-1 infection. An investigation of prevalent HIV-1 genotypes, serotypes and immunotypes may be of importance for the design and selection of potential vaccines to be used in Brazil as well as for the selection of populations to be included in future vaccine efficacy trials.

Comportamento de dípteros muscóides frente a substratos de oviposição, em laboratório, no Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil

How adult females of calyptrate Diptera recognize the appropriate breeding substrate is a matter of controversy. Among holometabolic insects, the feeding opportunities of immature stages are generally determined by the adult female choice of an oviposition site. The ovipositional and larvipositional substrate preference for the synanthropic flies (Chrysomya megacephala, C. putoria, Phaenicia cuprina: Calliphoridae; Atherigona orientalis, Synthesiomyia nudiseta: Muscidae; Ravinia belforti, Parasarcophaga ruficornis, Peckia chrysostoma: Sarcophagidae) is presented in this work. The substrate used for testing were the following: bovine minced meat, fish (sardine), bovine liver, shrimp, squid, human faeces and banana. Bovine minced meat was the ovipositional and larvipositional substrate preferred by seven species. Human faeces were preferred by R. belforti.

Human parvovirus B19 infection and hydrops fetalis in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Formalin-fixed paraffin embedded lung and liver tissue from 23 cases of non immune hydrops fetalis and five control cases, in which hydrops were due to syphilis (3) and genetic causes (2), were examined for the presence of human parvovirus B19 by DNA hybridisation. Using in situ hybridisation with a biotynilated probe one positive case was detected. Using 32P-labelled probes in a dot blot assay format, five further positives were obtained. These were all confirmed as positive by a nested polymerase chain reaction assay. Electron microscopy revealed virus in all these five positive cases. The six B19 DNA positive cases of hydrops fetalis were from 1974, 1980, 1982, 1987 and 1988, four of which occurred during the second half of the year, confirming the seasonality of the disease.

HIV Specific Humoral Immune Response in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Efforts to characterize HIV-1 polymorphism and anti-HIV immune response are being made in areas where anti-HIV/AIDS vaccines are to be employed. Anti-HIV-1 humoral immune response is being studied in infected individuals resident in Rio de Janeiro, in distinct cohorts involving recent seroconvertors, pregnant women or intravenous drug users (IDU). Comparative analyses of specificity of antibody response towards epitopes important for anti-HIV-1 immune response indicate quantitative differences between cohorts, with an exceptionally strong response in IDUs and weakest response in pregnant women. However, a comparative analysis between pregnant women cohorts from Rio de Janeiro and Rio Grande do Sul indicated an even lower response (with exception of the anti-V3-C clade peptide recognition) for the southern cohort. Studies analysing the immune function of the humoral response indicate a quite elevated occurrence of antibodies capable of neutralizing heterologous primary HIV-1 isolates from Rio de Janeiro. Attempts to correlate seroreactivity with HIV-1 neutralization with respect to HIV-1 polymorphism were not very successfull: while the Brazilian B clade B" variant could be recognized by binding assays, no significant distinction of HIV-1 clades/variants was observed in viral neutralization assays.

Drug Resistance Patterns among Hospitalized Tuberculous Patients in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1993-1994

The purpose of this study was to analyze the prevalence and risk factors for drug resistance among hospitalized patients in two tertiary care centers, an acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) reference center and a sanatorium, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. From 1993-1994, 389 patients were diagnosed as having tuberculosis (TB). Isolates from 265 patients were tested for in vitro susceptibility to rifampin and isoniazid. Resistance to one or more drugs was detected in 44 patients (16.6%) and was significantly more common among recurrent cases in both hospitals (p=0.03 in the AIDS center and p=0.001 in the sanatorium). Twenty seven patients (10.2%) had isolates resistant to both isoniazid and rifampin. Multi-drug resistance was associated with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection among patients who had never been treated for TB. In conclusion, drug-resistant TB is high in hospitalized patients in Rio de Janeiro, especially among HIV infected patients. Therefore, measures to control TB and prevent nosocomial transmission need urgently to be set up in the Brazilian hospitals.

Trypanosoma cruzi infection in Leontopithecus rosalia at the Reserva Biológica de Poço das Antas, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Wild golden lion tamarins (Leontopithecus rosalia) -- endangered primates that are native to the Brazilian Atlantic coastal forest -- were surveyed for the presence of Trypanosoma cruzi with the use of Giemsa-stained blood smears, hemocultures and an indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFAT). Positive IFAT with titers ranging from 1:20 to 1:1280 were observed in 52% of the 118 wild tamarins examined and the parasite was isolated from 38 tamarins. No patent parasitemia was observed among the tamarins from which T. cruzi was isolated. Serum conversion and positive hemoculture was observed for three animals that had yielded negative results some months earlier, which indicates that T. cruzi is actively transmitted among tamarins. In contrast to observations with other sylvatic isolates, those from the tamarins were significantly more virulent and most of them produced mortality in experimentally infected Swiss mice. Some variation in the kDNA restriction profiles among the isolates was observed. Electrophoresis with GPI, G6PDH, IDH, MDH and ME enzymes showed a Z2 profile.

Sporotrichosis: an emergent zoonosis in Rio de Janeiro

During the period from 1987 to 1998, 13 cases of human sporotrichosis were recorded at the Research Center Evandro Chagas Hospital (CPqHEC) in Rio de Janeiro. Two of these patients related scratch by a sick cat. During the subsequent period from July 1998 to July 2000, 66 human, 117 cats and 7 dogs with sporotrichosis were diagnosed at the CPqHEC. Fifty-two humans (78.8%) reported contact with cats with sporotrichosis, and 31 (47%) of them reporting a history of a scratch or bite. This epidemic, unprecedented in the literature, involving cats, dogs and human beings may have started insidiously before 1998.

Lista dos exemplares tipos de Ceratopogonidae (Diptera: Nematocera) depositados na Coleção Entomológica do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil

A list of all type specimens of the Family Ceratopogonidae, present in the Entomological Collection of Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil is presented. This list includes the genera Bahiahelea, Culicoides, Dasyhelea, Downeshelea, Forcipomyia, Leptoconops, Mallochohelea, Monohelea, Neobezzia, Palpomyia and Sphaerohelea.

Viral Hepatitis Markers in Antepartum and Postpartum Women in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

A seroprevalence study was carried out among a group of women in Rio de Janeiro to determine the prevalence of different markers for viral hepatitis given the limited data among healthy populations. Blood samples collected and tested from 874 women before or after delivery in a public county maternity hospital demonstrated age to be directly related to markers for hepatitis A virus and hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. The prevalence of HBV and hepatitis C virus infection were lower than that observed in the blood donor population and might be explained by the younger age group and gender.

Hepatitis A Outbreak in a Public School in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

From June 1 to July 1 1999, an outbreak involving 25 cases of hepatitis A occurred in a public school in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Since these cases were notified to the State Health Department, the National Reference Center for Hepatitis Viruses (CNRHV) was required to investigate the extent of hepatitis A virus (HAV) dissemination. Blood samples from all students were tested for IgM and total anti-HAV antibodies using a commercial enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA). At the same time, a questionnaire was completed in order to identify possible risk factors for HAV infection. The environmental investigation showed that there was no fecal contamination of the water supply. The epidemiological investigation demonstrated that almost 50% of this population was susceptible to HAV infection and probably person-to-person transmission was the principal mode of virus dissemination. In this situation, a massive vaccination campaign could control the HAV infection.