Potential Antivirals: Natural Products Targeting Replication Enzymes of Dengue and Chikungunya Viruses.

Dengue virus (DENV) and chikungunya virus (CHIKV) are reemergent arboviruses that are transmitted by mosquitoes of the Aedes genus. During the last several decades, these viruses have been responsible for millions of cases of infection and thousands of deaths worldwide. Therefore, several investigations were conducted over the past few years to find antiviral compounds for the treatment of DENV and CHIKV infections. One attractive strategy is the screening of compounds that target enzymes involved in the replication of both DENV and CHIKV. In this review, we describe advances in the evaluation of natural products targeting the enzymes involved in the replication of these viruses.

Natural products as source of potential dengue antivirals.

Dengue is a neglected disease responsible for 22,000 deaths each year in areas where it is endemic. To date, there is no clinically approved dengue vaccine or antiviral for human beings, even though there have been great efforts to accomplish these goals. Several approaches have been used in the search for dengue antivirals such as screening of compounds against dengue virus enzymes and structure-based computational discovery. During the last decades, researchers have turned their attention to nature, trying to identify compounds that can be used as dengue antivirals. Nature represents a vast reservoir of substances that can be explored with the aim of discovering new leads that can be either used directly as pharmaceuticals or can serve as lead structures that can be optimized towards the development of new antiviral agents against dengue. In this review we describe an assortment of natural products that have been reported as possessing dengue antiviral activity. The natural products are organized into classes of substances. When appropriate, structure-activity relationships are outlined. The biological assays used to assess antiviral activity are briefly described.

Investigação de surto de hepatite A no Município de Ibiracatu, Estado de Minas Gerais, Brasil, 2008 / Investigation of hepatitis A outbreak in the Municipality of Ibiracatu, State of Minas Gerais, Brazil, 2008

OBJETIVO: descrever a investigação de um surto de hepatite A no município de Ibiracatu, estado de Minas Gerais, Brasil, e relatar as medidas de controle adotadas. MÉTODOS: estudo descritivo do tipo série de casos; a investigação seguiu o roteiro de investigação de epidemia/surto do Ministério da Saúde. RESULTADOS: foram contabilizados 16 casos, sendo três confirmados por vínculo clínico-epidemiológico e 13 por pesquisa de anticorpo anti-VHAIgM; a maior incidência da doença foi em infantes de até dez anos de idade, dos quais a metade era de estudantes de uma escola pública local. CONCLUSÃO: as condições oferecidas pela escola favoreceram a disseminação da doença e as medidas realizadas para conter a veiculação viral foram adequadas e promoveram queda considerável na incidência da doença; o monitoramento epidemiológico e as medidas de intervenção colaboraram efetivamente para o rápido controle do surto.

OBJECTIVE: to describe the investigation of a hepatitis A outbreak in the municipality of Ibiracatu, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, and to report the control measures taken. METHODS: descriptive study of case series type; the investigation followed the guideline for outbreak investigation of the Brazilian Ministry of Health. RESULTS: 16 cases were accounted, from which three were confirmedby clinical-epidemiological criteria and 13 by seropositiveness for anti-HAV Ig Mantibody; the highest prevalence was observed in children aged up to ten years old, from which 50 per cent were students of a local public school. CONCLUSION: the school conditions contributed to spreading the disease. The control measures taken to contain the viral transmission were appropriate and promoted a significant decrease in the disease incidence; the surveillance and control measures applied contributed to the quick control of the outbreak.