Prevalence of Clostridium spp. and Clostridium difficile in children with acute diarrhea in São Paulo city,Brazil

Species of Clostridium are widely distributed in the environment, inhabiting both human and animal gastrointestinal tracts. Clostridium difficile is an important pathogen associated with outbreaks of pseudomembranous colitis and other intestinal disorders, such as diarrhea. In this study, the prevalence of Clostridium spp. and C. difficile, from hospitalized children with acute diarrhea, was examined. These children were admitted to 3 different hospitals for over 12 months. Eighteen (20%) and 19 (21%) stool specimens from children with (90) and without (91) diarrhea respectively, were positive to clostridia. Only 10 C. difficile strains were detected in 5.5% of the stool samples of children with diarrhea. None healthy children (without diarrhea) harbored C. difficile. From these 10 C. difficile, 9 were considered as toxigenic and genotyped as tcdA+/tcdB+ or tcdA-/tcdB+, and 1 strain as nontoxigenic (tcdA-/tdcB-). They were detected by the citotoxicity on VERO cells and by the multiplex-polymerase chain reaction. Thirty clinical fecal extracts produced minor alterations on VERO cells. The presence of C. difficile as a probable agent of acute diarrhea is suggested in several countries, but in this study, the presence of these organisms was not significant. More studies will be necessary to evaluate the role of clostridia or C. difficile in diarrhoeal processes in children.     

The effect of fragmentation on phlebotomine communities (Diptera: Psychodidae) in areas of ombrophilous forest in São Luís, state of Maranhão, Brazil

The aim of this study was to determine whether an edge effect could be observed in the structure and composition of phlebotomine assemblages in five forest fragments on S?o Luís Island. The study also investigated whether there were any differences in species along the forest edge-to-interior gradient and in species richness and abundance between the fragments studied. To capture the insects a transect was defined in each fragment, and eight light traps were set up at 15 m intervals from the edge. Phlebotomines were found in all fragments, and a total of 2972 specimens (1188 males and 1784 females) belonging to 24 species were collected. Of these, the most abundant was Lutzomyia antunesi (Coutinho), followed by Brumptomyia avellari (Costa Lima), L. infraspinosa (Mangabeira), L. flaviscutellata (Mangabeira), L. claustrei Abonnenc, Léger & Fauran, L. wellcomei (Fraiha, Shaw & Lainson), L. sordellii (Shannon & Del Ponte) and L. paraensis (Costa Lima). No significant differences were observed in the number of individuals or species along the edge-to-interior gradient. However, a higher distribution of some species in certain regions of the forest could be observed graphically. There was no correlation between fragment size and the number of species or individuals.     

Preliminary assessment of heavy metal levels in Mytella falcata (Bivalvia, Mytilidae) from Bacanga River estuary, São Luís, state of Maranhão, northeastern Brazil

The concentrations of Cu, Zn, Pb, and Cd were determined in the mussel Mytella falcata from the Bacanga River estuary, in order to evaluate the potential role of domestic effluents released "in natura" on the quality of the estuarine environment with consequences to shellfish resources. Cu concentrations ranged from 5.2 mg.g-1 to 13.1 mg.g-1, while Zn concentrations ranged from 49.1 mg.g-1 to 76.3 mg.g-1. Pb and Cd showed concentrations lower than 2 mg.g-1. The results showed low concentrations of Cu, Pb and Cd in the filter-feeding Mytella falcata in the study area in comparison with the maximum values stablished to foods by the Brazilian Government (Decree Law No 55,871). Finally, Zn presented slightly higher values than the maximum ones stablished by the Brazilian government.     

Virulence markers and antimicrobial susceptibility of bacteria of the Bacteroides fragilis group isolated from stool of children with diarrhea in São Paulo, Brazil

Bacteroides fragilis has been isolated from several human and non-human monomicrobial and mixed infections. In this study, some virulence markers and the antimicrobial susceptibility of bacteria of the B. fragilis group isolated from children's stools were evaluated. All the 64 isolates showed the following characteristics: capsulated, beta-hemolytic, hydrophilic, and serum-resistant. Only, 24 (37.5%) strains were resistant at 60 masculine C, for 30 min, and among them, 12 (18.75%) were resistant at 60 masculine C, for 60 min. Also, none strain was resistant at 100 masculine C. Four strains were able to hemagglutinate erythrocytes and D-mannose, D-galactose, D-arabinose, and D-xylose inhibited hemagglutination in 2 B. fragilis strains (p76a, p76b). The hemagglutination in the strain B. uniformis p3-2 was inhibited by D-xylose and D-galactose. The bft gene detection and the enterotoxin production were observed only in 13 EF-enterotoxigenic species. Fragilysin activity was confirmed on HT-29 cells. The antimicrobial determination confirmed that both imipenem and metronidazole were efficient against B. fragilis species; all the strains were resistant to lead and nickel. Plasmids of 2.9, 4.4, 4.8, and 8.9 kb were observed in 6 tested strains. These results show the values of the species identification from clinical infections, as well as of the periodic evaluation of the resistance patterns of the B. fragilis group at Brazilian medical institutions.     

Prevalence of Toxocara infection in schoolchildren from the Butantã region,São Paulo,Brazil

Visceral larva migrans syndrome by Toxocara affects mainly children between 2 and 5 years of age, it is generally asymptomatic, and the seroprevalence varies from 3 to 86% in different countries. A total of 399 schoolchildren from 14 public schools of the Butant? region, S?o Paulo city, Brazil, were evaluated by Toxocara serology (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay). Epidemiological data to the Toxocara infection obtained from a protocol were submitted to multiple logistic regression analysis for a risk profile definition. Blood was collected on filter paper by finger puncture, with all samples tested in duplicate. Considering titers > or = 1/160 as positive, the seroprevalence obtained was 38.8%. Among infected children, the mean age was 9.4 years, with a similar distribution between genders. A significant association was observed with the presence of onychophagia, residence with a dirty backyard, living in a slum, previous wheezing episodes, school attended, and family income (p < 0.05). All data, except "living in a slum", were considered to be determinant of a risk profile for the acquisition of Toxocara infection. A monthly income > or = 5 minimum salaries represented a protective factor, although of low relevance. Toxocara eggs were found in at least one of the soil samples obtained from five schools, with high prevalence of Toxocara infections, indicating the frequent soil contamination by this agent.     

Prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii antibodies in sera of domestic cats from Guarulhos and São Paulo,Brazil

Antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii were determined in serum samples of 502 domestic cats from Brazil by the modified agglutination test (MAT), using formalin-fixed whole tachyzoites and mercaptoethanol. Antibodies (MAT > or = 1:20) were found in 132 (26.3%) of 502 cats. With respect to origin, antibodies were found in 26.7% of 430 stray cats from S?o Paulo, 10% of 40 stray cats from Guarulhos, and 40.6% of 32 cats from a cat breeder in S?o Paulo. Antibody titers were: 1:20 in 10 cats, 1:25 in 40 cats, 1:50 in 73 cats, and > or = 1:500 in 9 cats. Exposure rates of T. gondii in cats from S?o Paulo, Brazil are similar to that in domestic cats in North America.     

Incidence of Tinea capitis in São Paulo, Brazil

To determine the incidence of tinea capitis in São Paulo, Brazil, an investigation was performed in Private and Public Pediatrics Service involving 4,500 children from 0 to 15 years old during 5 years (1996–2000). Samples were taken from 132 children with suspected fungal infection of the scalp, for direct microscopy and culture. Tinea of scalp was mycologically confirmed in 112 patients (85%). Males were more affected than females in all age groups. Children below 8 years old accounted for more than 75% of the occurrences. Only three cases of tinea capitis were diagnosed in children from 12 to 15 years of age. Tinea capitis was prevalent in 103 cases (91.96%); inflammatory kerion type lesions were diagnosed in 9 patients (8.04%). Microsporum canis (70.5%) and Trichophyton tonsurans (23.2%) were the most common agents followed by T. mentagrophytes (3.6%), M. gypseum (1.8%) and T. rubrum (0.9%).     

Prevalence and in vitro antifungal susceptibility of Candida spp isolated from clinical specimens in São Paulo, Brazil

The specifity of gene encoding the ribotoxin protein in Aspergillus fumigatus was determined by PCR amplification of a portion of the gene. All A. fumigatus strains studied showed the presence of amplifiable ribotoxin product, while none of the other fungal species, with the exception of Aspergillus restrictus, showed this amplification product. Hence, this method may be used for rapid and specific identification of A. fumigatus.     

Environmental variables and intertidal beach annelids of São Sebastião Channel (State of São Paulo,Brazil)

Benthic annelid communities were studied during a one-year period (August/95 to July/96) in two sectors of the beaches Engenho d'Agua and S?o Francisco, S?o Sebasti?o Channel (S?o Paulo, Brazil), where the substrate is composed by a mixture of sand and rock fragments. Abiotic parameters such as salinity of interstitial water and sediment properties were used to characterize the environment. The polychaetes were well represented in the two sectors and their distribution was related with sediment type. The density of individuals and the number of taxa was higher at S?o Francisco, while the diversity and the evenness were higher at Engenho d'Agua. This difference can be a consequence of organic enrichment caused by domestic input, and of the lower and more variable salinity at S?o Francisco. Due to these factors, the high density of opportunistic species, like Capitella capitata ssp., Scolelepis squamata, Laeonereis acuta and several oligochaetes, represented 75.5% of total abundance at this sector.     

Tertiary scolecodont assemblages of the Maranhão continental shelf,Northeast Brazil

Micropaleontological studies of Tertiary shales and carbonates of the continental shelf of northeast Brazil have shown the existence of several levels rich in scolecodnts, even in areas in which other taxa are absent. A systematic analysis of the vertical distribution of these worm remains in relation to the Eocene/Oligocene stratigraphical subdivision based on pollen and spores, dinoflagellates, nannoplankton and foraminifera leads to the possibility of establishing a scolecodont zonation that can be traced into areas in which other microfossils are rarely preserved. This possibility, which may be a new stratigraphical tool in the exploration for petroleum in Brazil, is applied to the off-shore Maranhão basin.     

Patterns of Migration and Risks Associated with Leprosy among Migrants in Maranh?o,Brazil

Leprosy remains a public health problem in Brazil with new case incidence exceeding World Health Organization (WHO) goals in endemic clusters throughout the country. Migration can facilitate movement of disease between endemic and non-endemic areas, and has been considered a possible factor in continued leprosy incidence in Brazil. A study was conducted to investigate migration as a risk factor for leprosy. The study had three aims: (1) examine past five year migration as a risk factor for leprosy, (2) describe and compare geographic and temporal patterns of migration among past 5-year migrants with leprosy and a control group, and (3) examine social determinants of health associated with leprosy among past 5-year migrants. The study implemented a matched case-control design and analysis comparing individuals newly diagnosed with leprosy (n = 340) and a clinically unapparent control group (n = 340) without clinical signs of leprosy, matched for age, sex and location in four endemic municipalities in the state of Maranhão, northeastern Brazil. Fishers exact test was used to conduct bivariate analyses. A multivariate logistic regression analysis was employed to control for possible confounding variables. Eighty cases (23.5%) migrated 5-years prior to diagnosis, and 55 controls (16.2%) migrated 5-years prior to the corresponding case diagnosis. Past 5 year migration was found to be associated with leprosy (OR: 1.59; 95% CI 1.07–2.38; p = 0.02), and remained significantly associated with leprosy after controlling for leprosy contact in the family, household, and family/household contact. Poverty, as well as leprosy contact in the family, household and other leprosy contact, was associated with leprosy among past 5-year migrants in the bivariate analysis. Alcohol consumption was also associated with leprosy, a relevant risk factor in susceptibility to infection that should be explored in future research. Our findings provide insight into patterns of migration to localize focused control efforts in endemic areas with high population mobility.     

Yeasts isolated from blood and catheter in children from a Public Hospital of São Paulo,Brazil

The great majority of nosocomial fungal infections, especially fungemias, are caused by yeasts, mostly of the genus Candida. In addition, such infections may be associated with intravascular catheters. In this study, 80 yeast strains were isolated from hospitalized children, being 59 from blood cultures and 21 from vascular catheter cultures. The prevalent species in both blood and catheter was C. parapsilosis (32.2% and 48.9%, respectively), followed by C. albicans (16.9% and 28.6%, respectively). Concerning enzyme production, 78.8% of the 80 isolates presented strong proteolytic activity but 78.8% showed no phospholipase activity. We also detected two prevalent killer biotypes: 511 and 888. Additionally, in five patients, it was possible to observe that the yeast species, killer biotype and proteolytic and phospholipase activity of blood and catheter were similar. In view of this, we suggest a transmission of nosocomial yeast infection from catheter to blood.This revised version was published online in October 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Leishmania infection in humans, dogs and sandflies in a visceral leishmaniasis endemic area in Maranhão, Brazil

Leishmania infection in humans, dogs and sandflies was examined in the endemic visceral leishmaniasis (VL) municipality of Raposa, state of Maranh?o, Brazil. In this study, we examined Leishmania chagasi infection in the blood serum of both humans and Canis familiaris and the natural Leishmania sp. infection rate in the sandfly vector, Lutzomyia longipalpis. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, indirect immunofluorescence reaction and polymerase chain reaction were performed to detect Leishmania infections in humans, dogs and sandflies, respectively. Overall, 186 out of 986 studied human beings were infected with L. chagasi parasites, representing an infection prevalence of 18.9%. An even higher infection rate was detected in dogs, where 66 (47.8%) out of 138 were infected. Among all Lu. longipalpis captured (n = 1,881), only 26.7% were females. The Leishmania infection frequency for the vector Lu. longipalpis was 1.56%. Remarkably, all infected sandflies were found in the peridomiciliary area. Furthermore, a high incidence of asymptomatic forms of VL in the human and canine populations was observed. The results of this study suggest autochthonous transmission of L. chagasi in this endemic area for visceral leishmaniasis because infection by Leishmania sp. was identified in all important elements of the transmission chain.     

Species, dynamics and population composition of phthirapteran in free-range chickens (Gallus gallus L.) in São Luis Island, State of Maranhão

The objective of this work was to identify the phthirapteran species, to determine the prevalence according to the anatomical region of the body and to know the dynamics and composition of the population of these ectoparasites in free-range chicken in S?o Luis Island, state of Maranh?o. Inspection was performed in 40 chickens and feathers were collected from the head, neck, wing, thigh, dorsal and ventral regions and cloacae. The phthirapteran species identified were: Menopon gallinae L., Menacanthus stramineus Nitzsch, Menacanthus pallidulus Neumann, Menacanthus cornutus Schommer (Menoponidae), and Lipeurus caponis L., Goniodes dissimilis Denny and Goniocotes gallinae De Geer (Philopteridae). L. caponis was collected from all regions sampled, including the head, which was the least infested region. The dorsum was the most infested, especially in the dry period of the year and where the greater parasitic diversity was observed, the wing and the head were the least infested regions. Considering the dynamics and the composition of the population the phthirapteran presented a prevalence of 85% of the sampled chickens, the mean intensity of infestation was 45.3 varying from <1 to 453. The egg stage was superior to the others life stages followed by nymphs and female adults, independent of the phthirapteran species.     

Phenotypic and genotypic characteristics of shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli strains isolated from children in São Paulo,Brazil

The biochemical and serological characteristics, virulence properties, and genetic relatedness of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) strains isolated in S o Paulo, from April 1989 through March 1990, were determined. This is also the first report on clinic findings of human STEC infections in Brazil. The only three STEC strains identified in that period were lysine decarboxylase negative, belonged to serotype O111ac: non-motile, were Stx1 producers, carried the eae and astA genes, and 2 of them also presented the EHEC-hly sequence. The children carrying STEC were all boys, with less than two years old, and had no previous history of hospitalization. None of them presented blood in stools. Vomiting, cough and coryza were the most common clinical manifestations observed. Although the STEC strains were isolated during summer months, and presented similar phenotypic and genotypic characteristics, carbohydrate fermentation patterns and PFGE analysis suggested that these diarrheal episodes were not caused by a single clone.     

The impact of climate on Leptospirosis in São Paulo,Brazil

In this work, we correlate the daily number of human leptospirosis cases with several climatic factors. We used a negative binomial model that considers hospital daily admissions due to leptospirosis as the dependent variable, and the climatic variables of daily precipitation pattern, and maximum and minimum temperature as independent variables. We calculated the monthly leptospirosis admission probabilities from the precipitation and maximum temperature variables. The month of February showed the highest probability, although values were also high during the spring months. The month of February also showed the highest number of hospital admissions. Another interesting result is that, for every 20 mm precipitation, there was an average increase of 31.5% in hospital admissions. Additionally, the relative risk of leptospirosis varied from 1.1 to 2.0 when the precipitation varied from 20 to 140 mm.     

Molecular diversity of serial Cryptococcus neoformans isolates from AIDS patients in the city of São Paulo, Brazil

Despite highly active anti-retroviral therapy, cryptococcal meningoencephalitis is the second most prevalent neurological disease in Brazilian AIDS patients, being frequently a defining condition with several episodes. As knowledge of Cryptococcus neoformans isolates in the same episode is critical for understanding why some patients develop several episodes, we investigated the genotype characteristics of C. neoformans isolates in two different situations. By pulsed field gel electrophoresis and random amplified polymorphic DNA analysis, 54 isolates from 12 patients with AIDS and cryptococcosis were analyzed. Group 1 comprised 39 isolates from nine patients with a single episode and hospitalization. Group 2 comprised 15 isolates from three patients with two episodes and hospitalizations. Except for three patients from group 1 probably infected with a single C. neoformans isolate, the other nine patients probably were infected with multiple isolates selected in different collection periods, or the infecting isolate might have underwent mutation to adapt and survive the host immune system and/or the antifungal therapy. However, the three patients from group 2 presented genetic diversity among isolates collected in both hospitalizations, possibly having hosted the initial isolate in both periods. These data, emphasize that Cryptococcus diversity in infection can contribute to strategies of treatment and prevention of cryptococcosis.     

Occurrence of Aleurocanthus woglumi Ashby (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) in the state of Maranhão, Brazil

Aleurocanthus woglumi Ashby in citrus and mango crops in the state of Maranh?o, Brazil, is recorded. Samples of 2003 and 2004 from several counties were identified and deposited in the Insect Collection of the Laboratório de Entomologia of the Núcleo de Biotecnologia Agron?mica, Universidade Estadual do Maranh?o.     

Density of Primates in Four Semi-deciduous Forest Fragments of São Paulo,Brazil

Populational parameters of primates in the remaining southeastern Brazilian Atlantic Forest have been estimated, but investigations are biased to coastal evergreen sites. In this study density of three primate species was assessed through line-transect surveys in four semi-deciduous forest fragments (240 to 1450 ha) in Fazenda Barreiro Rico, eastern range of central Plateau of São Paulo state, Brazil. A total of 274 km was surveyed from January to October 2000. I estimated densities via DISTANCE software. Two of the largest fragments contained five primate species while two of the smallest ones harboured, respectively, four and two species. Densities of Cebus apella (15.34–47.92 ind./km²), Alouatta guariba (8.32–34.61), and Brachyteles arachnoides (19.92–35.11) were considerable. Differently from C. apella and A. guariba, B. arachnoides presented a density higher than previously estimated for the largest patch. The hypothetical minimum total population of B. arachnoides (601) may be the largest in semi-deciduous sites. This reinforces the value of the area in terms of its relative contribution for conservation of this endangered species. The narrow spatial scale distribution of forest fragments at Barreiro Rico and its proximity to academic institutions make the site suitable for programs of forest connectivity, studies on conservation biology, and wildlife management endeavours.