Bats and zoonotic viruses: can we confidently link bats with emerging deadly viruses?

An increasingly asked question is 'can we confidently link bats with emerging viruses?'. No, or not yet, is the qualified answer based on the evidence available. Although more than 200 viruses - some of them deadly zoonotic viruses - have been isolated from or otherwise detected in bats, the supposed connections between bats, bat viruses and human diseases have been raised more on speculation than on evidence supporting their direct or indirect roles in the epidemiology of diseases (except for rabies). However, we are convinced that the evidence points in that direction and that at some point it will be proved that bats are competent hosts for at least a few zoonotic viruses. In this review, we cover aspects of bat biology, ecology and evolution that might be relevant in medical investigations and we provide a historical synthesis of some disease outbreaks causally linked to bats. We provide evolutionary-based hypotheses to tentatively explain the viral transmission route through mammalian intermediate hosts and to explain the geographic concentration of most outbreaks, but both are no more than speculations that still require formal assessment.

A comparison of sonographic image quality between the examinations using gel and olive oil, as sound media.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the quality of real-time sonographic images obtained from the examinations using two different sound media, ultrasound gel and olive oil. MATERIAL AND METHOD: A randomized controlled trial was conducted on the study population recruited from the routine ultrasound service with written informed consent. Each patient underwent scan using both ultrasound gel and olive oil as sound media, but only one media at a time. During each patient examination, the first type of sound media was randomly used and then followed by the other media. The sonographic images of the same plane were recorded as video clips for each type of sound media. The quality of images were blindly evaluated by one experienced sonographer and the quality of ultrasound images was rated as 0 (very poor), 1 (poor), 2 (fair), and 3 (good), respectively. RESULTS: Of 346 cases (692 video clips), the image quality scores in ultrasound gel group and olive oil group were poor, fair, and good quality in 7, 182, and 157 and 9, 190, and 147 cases, respectively. The difference of quality scores between both groups was not statistically significant. (Chi square test; p = 0.687). CONCLUSION: The quality of images obtained from the scan using olive oil is similar to that using ultrasound gel. Therefore, the olive oil may be used as alternative sound media for ultrasound examination. Furthermore, it could possibly be a preferred media because of its lower cost, pleasant smell, and it facility of cleaning.

Consumo alimentar de azeite e vinho: realidade paulistana e as recomendaçöes da dieta mediterrânea / The food consumption of olive oil and wine: the reality in Säo Paulo´s population and the recommendations of the Mediterranean diet

Objetivo: determinar a evoluçäo do consumo de azeite e vinho nos últimos anos pela populaçäo paulistana através de dados coletados nas últimas Pesquisas de Orçamento Familiar (POFs), realizadas pela Fundaçäo Instituto de Pesquisas Econômicas (FIPE. Metodologia: analisar os dados coletados pelas POFs e Indice de Preços ao Consumidor (IPC) sobre o consumo e preço relativo de azeite e vinho no município de Säo Paulo, nos últimos anos, por meio de uma amostra de 5954 domicílios. Resultados: a participaçäo de gastos com vinho e azeite está presente praticamente em todas as classes de renda nos últimos anos, sendo mais expressivo nas classes com renda inferior a 2 salários mínimos. Já em relaçäo à frequência, o consumo apresenta-se significativamente maior nas clasees de maior renda e grau de escolaridade. O preço relativo do azeite oscilou praticamente sempre acima da inflaçäo nos últimos anos, enquanto que o do vinho apresentou grandes oscilaçöes. Conclusäo: a divulgaçäo dos benefícios do consumo regular e moderado de alguns alimentos chaves da Dieta Mediterrânea, ou de seus adequados substitutos, de acordo com o hábito da populaçäo pode ser indicada em determinados casos. O consumo de vinho em uma perspectiva de saúde pública deve ser visto com muita cautela, principalmente naquelas situaçöes em que pode oferecer algum risco, como durante a gravidez e antes de dirigir. Para recomendaçöes individuais, é opcional, de forma moderada, considerando vários fatores, entre eles a história familiar e condiçöes sociais e de saúde. Em relaçäo ao azeite o consumo adequado deve ser orientado, de forma a maximizar os seus efeitos benéficos