Digitally managed larviciding as a cost-effective intervention for urban malaria: operational lessons from a pilot in São Tomé and Príncipe guided by the Zzapp system.

BACKGROUND: Once a mainstay of malaria elimination operations, larval source management (LSM)-namely, the treatment of mosquito breeding habitats-has been marginalized in Africa in favour of long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) and indoor residual spraying (IRS). However, the development of new technologies, and mosquitoes' growing resistance to insecticides used in LLINs and IRS raise renewed interest in LSM. METHODS: A digitally managed larviciding (DML) operation in three of the seven districts of São Tomé and Príncipe (STP) was launched by the Ministry of Health (MOH) and ZzappMalaria LTD. The operation was guided by the Zzapp system, consisting of a designated GPS-based mobile application and an online dashboard, which facilitates the detection, sampling and treatment of mosquito breeding sites. During the operation, quality assurance (QA) procedures and field management methods were developed and implemented. RESULTS: 12,788 water bodies were located and treated a total of 128,864 times. The reduction impact on mosquito population and on malaria incidence was 74.90% and 52.5%, respectively. The overall cost per person protected (PPP) was US$ 0.86. The cost varied between areas: US$ 0.44 PPP in the urban area, and US$ 1.41 PPP in the rural area. The main cost drivers were labour, transportation and larvicide material. CONCLUSION: DML can yield highly cost-effective results, especially in urban areas. Digital tools facilitate standardization of operations, implementation of QA procedures and monitoring of fieldworkers' performance. Digitally generated spatial data also have the potential to assist integrated vector management (IVM) operations. A randomized controlled trial (RCT) with a larger sample is needed to further substantiate findings.

Fiber optic hydrogen sensor based on an etched Bragg grating coated with palladium.

A study of a sensor for hydrogen (H2) detection based on fiber Bragg gratings coated with palladium (Pd) with self-temperature compensation is presented. The cladding around the gratings was reduced down to 50 µm diameter by a chemical etching process. One of the gratings was left uncoated, and the other was coated with 150 nm of Pd. It was observed that palladium hydride has unstable behavior in environments with high humidity level. A simple solution to overcome this problem based on a Teflon tape is presented. The sensing device studied was able to respond to H2 concentrations in the range 0%-1% v/v at room temperature and atmospheric pressure, achieving sensitivities larger than 20 pm/% v/v. Considering H2 concentrations in nitrogen up to 1%, the performance of the sensing head was characterized for different thicknesses of Pd coating ranging from 50 to 200 nm.

Air quality inside the passenger compartment of a bus.

The indoor air quality in the passenger compartment of an intercity bus is studied. A system used for the remotion of the contaminants from the compartment, based on an extraction duct, was projected using a simple, unidimensional flow model with capability to predict the air exchange rate as a function of the vehicle velocity. Some tests using tracer gan methods were performed in a real vehicle with the contaminant remotion system mounted, in order to validate the calculation model and evaluate the performances of the system. A good agreement between the predicted and the experimental results was verified and the obtained air exchange rate was quite reasonable when compared with the former situation, without extraction duct.

Características demográficas da populaçäo canina da regiäo metropolitana de Belo Horizonte - MG / Demographic characteristics of canine population of the metropolitan region of Belo Horizonte, Brazil

After a retrospective study of the chronologic series from 1987 to 1993, 707 clinical records were evaluated, concerning to 10 per cent of the dogs attended in a Veterinary Hospital located in the area of the Metropolitan Region of Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Variables such as age and sex were analyzed and a populational pyramid for the species was elaborated. In the demographic structure, it was observed a major concentration of young aninmals; 70.29 per cent of the dogs were aged below 49 months. The canine populational pyramid showed a wide form in the base, represented by young animals, and a marked decrease of the other categories, being similar to that observed in other countries

Tendência histórica dos coeficientes de mortalidade de bezerros em Minas Gerais, de 1960 a 1985 / Historic tendency of the mortality rates of calves in Minas Gerais, Brazil, from 1960 to 1985

Calf mortality in Minas Gerais, Brazil, from 1960 to 1985 was analised. District was used as a primary unit of study, grouped in homogenous micro and mesoregions. Mortality rate tended to be estable in the 25 years studied. It is discussed the determination of the epidemiological profile by the economic conditions, and organization livestock production

Variaçäo hematológica em bovinos experimentalmente infectados com Schistosoma mansoni / Hematological changes in cattle experimentally infected with Schistosoma mansoni

Foram observadas variaçöes hematológicas em cinco bezerros da raça Holandesa e cinco mestiços infectados com suspensäo de 20.000 cercárias de S. mansoni, por via transcutânea. Durante 10 semanas após a infecçäo, amostras de sangue foram colhidas semanalmente, pela punçäo da jugular, e realizado o hemograma. Com exceçäo da contagem de hemácias, näo se observou diferença significativa nos parâmetros hematológicos, nos dois grupos, durante o período estudado. Entretanto, quando se comparam tais grupos, observou-se diferença significativa entre eles, sendo que os bezerros holandeses apresentaram os menores valores para as variáveis estudadas sinalizando maior susceptibilidade para o parasita

Estudo clinico multicentrico com bactroban creme (mupirocina, 2 por cento) no tratamento de infeccoes cutaneas na infancia e adolescencia / Open multicenter trial with mupirocin 2 percent in the treatment of skin infection of children and adolescents

Em estudo aberto, nao comparativo, envolvendo quatro centros, 116 criancas e adolescentes portadores de infecoes cutaneas foram avaliados. Destes 68 eram do sexo masculino e 48 do sexo feminino, com idades entre 21 a 15 anos. O tratamento consistiu da administracao de bactroban creme (mupirocina,2 por cento) tres vezes ao dia, por um periodo nao menor que 5 dias .Impetigo foi o diagnostico mais comum em infecoes primarias enquanto escoriacao infectada foi mais prevalente em infeccoes secundarias de pele. O germe mais frequente foi Staphylococcus aureus. A duracao media do tratamento foi de 7,35 dias,ocorrendo cura do processo infeccioso em 106 pacientes (91,38 por cento) melhora em 9 pacientes (7,76 por cento) e insucesso em apenas 1 paciente (0,86 por cento). Os resultados confirmam ser o bactroban creme (mupirocina,2 por cento)um excelente antibiotico topico para o tratamento de infeccoes cutaneas em crianca e adolescentes.

[Chronic abdominal pain: a pediatric approach]. / Dores abdominais crônicas: abordagem pediátrica.

To treat chronic abdominal pain in a child is a difficult task either in a therapeutic or diagnostic point of view, by the variety of its several causes, displays and evolution. It is important not only to the clinician lent also to the child's family to try to identify the possible organic and psychic etiologies; in the organic causes there are frequently gastrointestinal and genitourinary reasons, but there are many dysfunctional mechanisms that shall not be forgotten. The author believes is useful, for a better understanding, to apply Levine and Rappaport's model, that indicates four primary intervening forces of the abdominal pain; 1. predisposition, dysfunction or somatic illness; 2. habits and life style; 3. personality and learned behavior's the necessity of a deep comprehension in the relationship between term case, sometimes frustrating.

Incidencia de ictericia em recem-nascidos de alto risco. / Occurrence of jaundice in high risk newborn infants

O estudo de 4.703 recem-nascidos da Unidade Neonatal do Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, Sao Paulo, no periodo de julho de 1979 a dezembro de 1980, revelou uma maior incidencia de ictericia nos nascimentos por cesarea, nao havendo diferenca estatisticamente significativa na incidencia de ictericia entre os recem-nascidos a termo, prematuros e com desnutricao intra-uterina. Nao se evidenciou a importancia de processos patologicos neonatais (disturbios respiratorios, metabolicos e infecciosos) como fatores responsaveis por uma maior incidencia de ictericia nesse periodo de vida