Prevalence of Oral Lesions in Hospitalized Patients with Infectious Diseases in Northern Brazil

The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of oral lesions in infectious-contagious diseases patients being treated in the University Hospital of the Federal University of Para, northern Brazil. One hundred seven patients with infectious diseases were clinically investigated for oral lesions at the University Hospital of Para, northern Brazil. From total sample, most patients were men (65.7%) with a mean age of 45.4 years. About prevalence of systemic diseases, tuberculosis was the most frequent illness, followed by AIDS, hepatitis types B and C, leishmaniasis, and meningitis. Analyzing oral manifestations, periodontal diseases and candidiasis were the most prevalent diseases in both genders, followed by recurrent aphthous ulcers, saburral tongue, simplex herpes, and squamous cell carcinoma. Of all 107 patients, only 10 males and 6 females did not present any oral manifestation. There was no statistical difference between genders with any systemic condition (P > 0.05). The great prevalence of oral manifestations in hospitalized patients with systemic disorder emphasizes the need of integral dental care in this context, aiming at a multidisciplinary approach of patients. Therefore, presence of some oral conditions, such as candidiasis, should be an alert to different systemic conditions, once in assistance with physicians; dentists can influence the early diagnosis and treatment.

Doenças infecciosas em crianças pré-escolares brasileiras assistidas em creches

The scope of this article is to analyze the prevalence and factors associated with the development of infectious diseases that affect children in daycare centers, namely respiratory infections, diarrheal disease and parasitic infections. Bibliographic research was conducted in the MEDLINE, LILACS and SciELO databases, and observational studies were included. 129 studies were identified, of which 21 were considered relevant to this study, namely two longitudinal and 19 cross-sectional studies. The systematization of the reviewed studies highlighted: i) the presence of intestinal parasites was the main outcome analyzed, followed by respiratory infections; ii) only one study investigated the occurrence of diarrheal disease; iii) the Giardia lamblia was the most prevalent parasitosis; iv) the variables that were most often associated with the development of intestinal parasitosis were child age, family income and maternal education; v) the attendance at daycare centers was a risk factor for intestinal parasites and respiratory infections. Respiratory and parasitic infections are major problems in institutionalized children in daycare centers. The reduction of such diseases involves a complex web of socio-economic, sanitation and daycare center infrastructure aspects.

Detection of antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii in wild animals in Brazil

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Epidemiological Models of Directly Transmitted Diseases: An Approach via Fuzzy Sets Theory

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Health related quality of life measure in systemic pediatric rheumatic diseases and its translation to different languages: an international collaboration

Background: Rheumatic diseases in children are associated with significant morbidity and poor health-related quality of life (HRQOL). There is no health-related quality of life (HRQOL) scale available specifically for children with less common rheumatic diseases. These diseases share several features with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) such as their chronic episodic nature, multi-systemic involvement, and the need for immunosuppressive medications. HRQOL scale developed for pediatric SLE will likely be applicable to children with systemic inflammatory diseases.Findings: We adapted Simple Measure of Impact of Lupus Erythematosus in Youngsters (SMILEY (c)) to Simple Measure of Impact of Illness in Youngsters (SMILY (c)-Illness) and had it reviewed by pediatric rheumatologists for its appropriateness and cultural suitability. We tested SMILY (c)-Illness in patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases and then translated it into 28 languages. Nineteen children (79% female, n= 15) and 17 parents participated. The mean age was 12 +/- 4 years, with median disease duration of 21 months (1-172 months). We translated SMILY (c)-Illness into the following 28 languages: Danish, Dutch, French (France), English (UK), German (Germany), German (Austria), German (Switzerland), Hebrew, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Slovene, Spanish (USA and Puerto Rico), Spanish (Spain), Spanish (Argentina), Spanish (Mexico), Spanish (Venezuela), Turkish, Afrikaans, Arabic (Saudi Arabia), Arabic (Egypt), Czech, Greek, Hindi, Hungarian, Japanese, Romanian, Serbian and Xhosa.Conclusion: SMILY (c)-Illness is a brief, easy to administer and score HRQOL scale for children with systemic rheumatic diseases. It is suitable for use across different age groups and literacy levels. SMILY (c)-Illness with its available translations may be used as useful adjuncts to clinical practice and research.

Use of Guanidine Compounds in the Treatment of Neglected Tropical Diseases

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Ultrasound examination in gastric diseases in dogs: description of cases

Ultrasound is considered the method of choice for evaluation of the gastrintestinal wall. Thickening of the wall is the most common ultrasonographic finding in gastric disorders. Inflammatory and neoplastic disorders are the most frequent causes of wall thickening. Case report 1: Boxer, with abdominal distension, ultrasound examination detected marked diffuse thickening of the gastric wall with loss of definition of wall layers. Fine needle aspiration guided by ultrasound diagnosed gastric carcinoma. Case report 2: mixed breed dog presenting oliguria, emesis and melena, the ultrasound examination showed diffuse thickening of the gastric wall, but with preserved layers and presence of calcification areas. An inflammatory process of the gastric wall was diagnosed using cytology. The distinction between inflammatory and neoplastic processes is performed based on several factors such as distribution, symmetry, size and architecture of the parietal layer in the lesions, and ultrasonography is a valuable tool to direct diagnosis and treatment.

Usefulness of vaginal cytology tests in women with previous hysterectomy for benign diseases: assessment of 53,891 tests

Objective. To assess the value of vaginal screening cytology after hysterectomy for benign disease.Methods. This cross-sectional study used cytology audit data from 2,512,039 screening tests in the metropolitan region of Campinas from 2000 to 2012; the object was to compare the prevalence of abnormal tests in women who had undergone a hysterectomy for benign diseases (n = 53,891) to that of women who had had no hysterectomy. Prevalence ratios (95% confidence intervals, 95% Cl) were determined, and chi-square analysis, modified by the Cochrane-Armitage test for trend, was used to investigate the effects of age.Results. The prevalence of atypical squamous cells (ASC), low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (LSIL), and high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion or squamous-cell carcinoma (HSIL/SCC) was 0.13%, 0.04% and 0.03%, respectively, in women who had undergone hysterectomy, and 0.93%, 0.51% and 0.26% in women who had not undergone hysterectomy. The prevalence ratios for ASC, LSIL and HSIL/SCC were 0.14(0.11-0.17), 0.08 (0.06-0.13) and 0.13 (0.08-020), respectively, in women with a hysterectomy versus those without. For HSIL/SCC, the prevalence ratios were 0.09 and 029, respectively, for women <50 or >= 50 years. The prevalence rates in women with a previous hysterectomy showed no significant variation with age.Conclusion. The prevalence rates of ASC, LSIL and HSIL/SCC were significantly lower in women with a previous hysterectomy for benign disease compared with those observed in women with an intact uterine cervix. This study reinforces the view that there is no evidence that cytological screening is beneficial for women who have had a hysterectomy for benign disease. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Acute phase proteins as markers of infectious diseases in small animals

During the acute phase response, there is an increased production and release of certain proteins known as acute phase proteins (APPs) which can be produced by hepatocytes and peripheral tissues such as C-reactive protein (CRP), serum amyloid A (SAA), haptoglobin (Hp), alpha-1 acid glycoprotein (AGP). These proteins have been investigated as markers of various infectious diseases in small animals and the purpose of this review is to update the current knowledge about APPs in infectious diseases in dogs and cats.

Immunization of Wistar female rats with 255-Gy-irradiated Toxoplasma gondii: Tissue parasitic load and lactogenic quantification

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Parasitic infections in ornamental cichlid fish in the Peruvian Amazon

The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence and seasonal distribution of the main parasite species in Amazonian ornamental cichlids that affect their trade. The study was conducted from August 2007 to September 2009. We sampled 3042 specimens from 9 different species, of which 9.47% had at least one type of external parasite. 81.25% of the cases occurred in the dry season. Crenicichla anthurus (28.57%) was the most parasitized, followed by Aequidens diadema (26.32%), Pterophyllum scalare (22.69%), Cichlasoma sp. (9.52%), Apistogramma sp. (3.88%) and Symphysodon aequifasciatus (3.66%). Monogenea was the most abundant group of parasites, occurring in 66.67% of the cases, of which 96.88% occurred in the dry season. This parasite infested 95.68% of Pterophyllum scalare, 76.67% of Apistogramma sp, 33.33% of Cichlasoma sp. and 23.81% of Symphysodon aequifasciatus cases. Ichthyophthirius multifiliis infested 100% of Aequidens diadema, 76.19% of Symphysodon aequifasciatus, 66.67% of Cichlasoma sp, 41.67% of Crenicichla anthurus and 23.33% of Apistogramma sp cases. Myxosporidia infested 58.33% of Crenicichla anthurus. Trichodina infested 4.32% of Pterophyllum scalare. The prevalence of these parasites is related to the season, preferred habitat, fish behavior, individual susceptibility and handling of animals during transportation by fishermen.