Genomic epidemiology of the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Brazil

The high numbers of COVID-19 cases and deaths in Brazil have made Latin America an epicentre of the pandemic. SARS-CoV-2 established sustained transmission in Brazil early in the pandemic, but important gaps remain in our understanding of virus transmission dynamics at a national scale. We use 17,135 near-complete genomes sampled from 27 Brazilian states and bordering country Paraguay. From March to November 2020, we detected co-circulation of multiple viral lineages that were linked to multiple importations (predominantly from Europe). After November 2020, we detected large, local transmission clusters within the country. In the absence of effective restriction measures, the epidemic progressed, and in January 2021 there was emergence and onward spread, both within and abroad, of variants of concern and variants under monitoring, including Gamma (P.1) and Zeta (P.2). We also characterized a genomic overview of the epidemic in Paraguay and detected evidence of importation of SARS-CoV-2 ancestor lineages and variants of concern from Brazil. Our findings show that genomic surveillance in Brazil enabled assessment of the real-time spread of emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants.

Effectiveness of the CoronaVac vaccine in older adults during a gamma variant associated epidemic of covid-19 in Brazil: test negative case-control study

Objective To estimate the effectiveness of the inactivated whole virus vaccine, CoronaVac (Sinovac Biotech), against symptomatic covid-19 in the elderly population of São Paulo state, Brazil during widespread circulation of the gamma variant. Design Test negative case-control study. Setting Community testing for covid-19 in São Paulo state, Brazil. Participants 43 774 adults aged ≥70 years who were residents of São Paulo state and underwent reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing for SARS-CoV-2 from 17 January to 29 April 2021. 26 433 cases with symptomatic covid-19 and 17 622 test negative controls with covid-19 symptoms were formed into 13 283 matched sets, one case with to up to five controls, according to age, sex, self-reported race, municipality of residence, previous covid-19 status, and date of RT-PCR test (±3 days). Intervention Vaccination with a two dose regimen of CoronaVac. Main outcome measures RT-PCR confirmed symptomatic covid-19 and associated hospital admissions and deaths. Results Adjusted vaccine effectiveness against symptomatic covid-19 was 24.7% (95% confidence interval 14.7% to 33.4%) at 0-13 days and 46.8% (38.7% to 53.8%) at ≥14 days after the second dose. Adjusted vaccine effectiveness against hospital admissions was 55.5% (46.5% to 62.9%) and against deaths was 61.2% (48.9% to 70.5%) at ≥14 days after the second dose. Vaccine effectiveness ≥14 days after the second dose was highest for the youngest age group (70-74 years)­59.0% (43.7% to 70.2%) against symptomatic disease, 77.6% (62.5% to 86.7%) against hospital admissions, and 83.9% (59.2% to 93.7%) against deaths­and declined with increasing age. Conclusions Vaccination with CoronaVac was associated with a reduction in symptomatic covid-19, hospital admissions, and deaths in adults aged ≥70 years in a setting with extensive transmission of the gamma variant. Vaccine protection was, however, low until completion of the two dose regimen, and vaccine effectiveness was observe to decline with increasing age among this elderly population.

Febre maculosa na Região Metropolitana de Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais - Brasil: Descrição dos casos e dos ambientes prováveis de infecção, 2017 / Spotted fever in the Metropolitan Region of Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais - Brazil: Description of cases and probable environments of infection, 2017

Objetivo: investigar os casos de febre maculosa, verificar os aspectos relacionados à assistência à saúde e caracterizar o perfil epidemiológico desses e do ambiente de infecção. Métodos: estudo descritivo dos casos confirmados de FM entre janeiro e novembro de 2017. Foi elaborado um formulário semiestruturado para coleta dos dados. Para as análises epidemiológicas, foram utilizados os programas EpiInfoTM 7 e Qgis® 2.18.1. Foram calculadas frequências, medidas de tendência central, dispersão e indicadores de oportunidade de assistência. Nos ambientes prováveis de infecção, foram realizadas coletas de carrapatos que foram identificados e submetidos à pesquisa de Rickettsia do grupo da FM. Resultados: foram confirmados 15 casos de FM; desses, a maioria foi do sexo masculino (93%) com média de 42 anos de idade; 10 evoluíram para óbito. Todos apresentaram febre, 13(87%) cefaleia e 12(80%) mialgia. Apresentaram mediana e média de evolução para óbito pela doença de 6 dias (1 a 9), oportunidades de hospitalização, tratamento, diagnóstico e notificação de 4,5(0 a 8); 7(0 a 26); 9(DP±6) e 33(DP±45) dias, respectivamente. Para assistência à saúde, 14(93%) casos procuraram atendimento mais de duas vezes, com tempo de internação de 4,5 dias (0 a 8 dias). O hospital foi o serviço procurado, exclusivamente, no quarto atendimento. Dengue e FM foram as hipóteses diagnósticas mais frequentes. Foram coletados 250 espécimes de carrapatos em quatro municípios, sendo em um município identificado Amblyomma sculptum naturalmente infectados. Conclusões: foram assinaladas condições assistenciais pouco sensíveis à ocorrência da FM, o que, provavelmente, colaborou para ocorrência de óbitos, além da necessidade de sensibilização de equipes de saúde e vigilância quanto à ocorrência da FM na região.

Objective: investigate the cases of spotted fever, verify aspects related to health care and characterize the epidemiological profile of these and of the environment of infection. Methods: A descriptive study of confirmed cases of SF between January and November 2017. A semi-structured form for data collection was developed. EpiInfoTM 7 and Qgis® 2.18.1. Frequencies, measures of central tendency, dispersion and indicators of opportunity of assistance were calculated. In the probable environments of infection ticks were collected, identified and submitted to Rickettsia research of the SF group. Results: Fifteen SF cases were confirmed; of these, the majority was male (93%) and averaged 42 years old; 10 evolved to death. All presented fever, 13 (87%) headache and 12 (80%) myalgia. They presented an average of evolution to death by SF of 6 days (1 to 9), opportunities for hospitalization, treatment, diagnosis and notification of 4.5(0 to 8); 7(0 to 26); 9(DP± 6) and 33(DP± 45) days respectively. For health care, 14(93%) cases sought care more than twice and were hospitalized for 4.5-days (0 to 8 days). The hospital was the only service exclusively sought in the fourth service. Dengue and SF were the most frequent diagnostic hypotheses. A total of 250 specimens of ticks were collected in four counties, and in one municipality Amblyomma sculptum was identified as naturally infected. Conclusions: It was pointed out that assistance conditions were not very sensitive to the occurrence of SF which probably contributed to the instance of deaths as well as the need for sensitization of health and surveillance teams regarding the appearance of SF in the region.

Manejo integrado de vetores / Integrated vector management

Em um cenário global, fatores sociais, demográficos e ambientais levaram ao aumento de muitas doenças transmitidas por vetores nos últimos anos, com registro de grandes surtos de dengue, malária, chikungunya, febre amarela e zika vírus desde 2014. As principais doenças respondem por cerca de 17% da carga global de doenças infecciosas, tirando mais de 700 mil vidas a cada ano, afetando principalmente as populações pobres. Mais de 80% da população mundial vive em áreas com risco de transmissão de ao menos uma das principais doenças transmitidas por vetores e, para mais da metade da população mundial, o risco é de ter duas ou mais doenças. A probabilidade de infecção para certos patógenos virais é particularmente alta em cidades onde os mosquitos Aedes proliferam, tanto pelos habitats favoráveis quanto pelo contato próximo com seres humanos. Segundo a Organização Mundial da Saúde, a maioria das doenças transmitidas por vetores é evitável, se seu controle for bem implementado. Seu impacto porém, ainda é limitado, por problemas relacionados à sua execução, resultantes de limitação nos investimentos, deficiências na organização da área de entomologia em saúde pública, da coordenação intra e intersetorial e dos sistemas de monitoramento. Além disso ainda é limitado o número de ferramentas para intervenção com evidências suficientes para sua incorporação. A dinâmica e o risco de transmissão de doenças por vetores estão mudando rapidamente devido à urbanização não planejada, maior movimentação de pessoas e bens, mudanças ambientais e desafios biológicos, como vetores emergentes resistentes a inseticidas e cepas de patógenos em evolução. Os sistemas de saúde devem estar preparados para detectar e responder de forma rápida e eficaz a essas mudanças. Tal resposta requer não apenas a disponibilidade de intervenções efetivas de controle baseadas em evidências, mas também uma equipe bem treinada que possa construir sistemas sustentáveis para oferta e monitoramento de controle de vetores flexíveis. Esses sistemas devem suportar abordagens adaptadas aos contextos locais, assim como novas ferramentas e novos métodos. Para atingir esses objetivos, é urgente reformar as estruturas programáticas de controle de vetores.

Emergence of chikungunya and Zika in a municipality endemic to dengue, Santa Luzia, MG, Brazil, 2015-2017

Abstract INTRODUCTION: The recent circulation of arboviruses transmitted by vectors, such as dengue, chikungunya, and Zika, is concerning due to the high morbidity rates, clinical complications, and increased demand on health services. The objective of this study was to analyze the clinical and epidemiological aspects of an epidemic caused by arboviruses in the municipality of Santa Luzia, Minas Gerais, Brazil. METHODS: Longitudinal study of patients with acute febrile disease and suspected arbovirus infection reported to Brazilian Notifiable Disease Information System (Sistema de Informação de Agravos de Notificação) from the epidemiological week 44 of 2015 to epidemiological week 52 of 2016. Patients with confirmed chikungunya were followed-up for 18 months and those with Zika for 15 months. Additionally, we analyzed and described the temporal distribution of confirmed cases of these arboviruses in this municipality. RESULTS: Overall 3,531 arboviruses cases, including 3,481 (98.7%) cases of dengue, 38 (1.0%) cases of chikungunya, and 12 (0.3%) cases of Zika were confirmed. The highest incidence of arbovirus infection occurred in the first quarter of 2016 (epidemiological week 7 to 14). The most frequent symptoms were for dengue, which included fever, headache, retro-orbital pain, and exanthema. Chikungunya infection was associated with fever, myalgia, arthralgia, and rash while Zika infection with pruritus and rash. CONCLUSIONS: Given the similarities in the initial clinical profiles of these arboviruses, it is important to perform a detailed clinical analysis, laboratory diagnosis, and patient follow-up.

Integralidade e integração dos serviços de saúde: desafios para redução dos óbitos por dengue / Integrality and integration of health services: challenges to reduce

A integralidade é um dos princípios doutrinários do SUS que se destina a conjugar as ações direcionadas à materialização da saúde, como direito e como serviço. Para qualificara atenção à saúde a partir da integralidade, é fundamental que os processos de trabalho sejam organizados com vistas ao enfrentamento dos principais problemas de saúde. O objetivo deste trabalho é relatar as atividades desenvolvidas pelo Ministério da Saúde, a partir de 2011,para promover a construção de um modelo de atenção integral à saúde, visando à redução do número de óbitos por dengue. Foram realizadas revisões das normas técnicas, estratégias diferenciadas de capacitação e integração das ações de vigilância e atenção à saúde no controle da dengue.

The integrality is one of the doctrinal principles of the SUS that intend to combine different actions for quality health care. It is essential that the work processes been organized with a view to addressing the major health problems for qualifying health care through integrality. The objective of this study is to report the activities of Ministry of Health, since 2011, to promotethe construction of model of integrate health care, aiming to reduce the number of dengue deaths. Review of technical standard, different training strategies and integration of surveillance and health care were conducted in dengue control.