Clinical and Demographic Features of Paracoccidioidomycosis in Argentina: A Multicenter Study Analysis of 466 Cases.

Information on paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM) in Argentina is fragmented and has historically been based on estimates, supported only by a series of a few reported cases. Considering the lack of global information, a national multicentric study in order to carry out a more comprehensive analysis was warranted. We present a data analysis including demographic and clinical aspects of a historical series of 466 cases recorded over 10 years (2012-2021). Patients were aged from 1 to 89 years. The general male: female (M:F) ratio was 9.5:1 with significant variation according to the age group. Interestingly, the age range 21-30 shows an M:F ratio of 2:1. Most of the cases (86%) were registered in northeast Argentina (NEA), showing hyperendemic areas in Chaco province with more than 2 cases per 10,000 inhabitants. The chronic clinical form occurred in 85.6% of cases and the acute/subacute form occurred in 14.4% of cases, but most of these juvenile type cases occurred in northwestern Argentina (NWA). In NEA, the incidence of the chronic form was 90.6%; in NWA, the acute/subacute form exceeded 37%. Diagnosis by microscopy showed 96% positivity but antibody detection displays 17% of false negatives. Tuberculosis was the most frequent comorbidity, but a diverse spectrum of bacterial, fungal, viral, parasitic, and other non-infectious comorbidities was recorded. This national multicenter registry was launched in order to better understand the current status of PCM in Argentina and shows the two endemic zones with a highly diverse epidemiology.

Antifungal susceptibility testing of Malassezia yeast: comparison of two different methodologies.

All Malassezia species are lipophilic; thus, modifications are required in susceptibility testing methods to ensure their growth. Antifungal susceptibility of Malassezia species using agar and broth dilution methods has been studied. Currently, few tests using disc diffusion methods are being performed. The aim was to evaluate the in vitro susceptibility of Malassezia yeast against antifungal agents using broth microdilution and disc diffusion methods, then to compare both methodologies. Fifty Malassezia isolates were studied. Microdilution method was performed as described in reference document and agar diffusion test was performed using antifungal tablets and discs. To support growth, culture media were supplemented. To correlate methods, linear regression analysis and categorical agreement was determined. The strongest linear association was observed for fluconazole and miconazole. The highest agreement between both methods was observed for itraconazole and voriconazole and the lowest for amphotericin B and fluconazole. Although modifications made to disc diffusion method allowed to obtain susceptibility data for Malassezia yeast, variables cannot be associated through a linear correlation model, indicating that inhibition zone values cannot predict MIC value. According to the results, disc diffusion assay may not represent an alternative to determine antifungal susceptibility of Malassezia yeast.

Pseudoaneurisma de arteria femoral asociado a fístula arteriovenosa producido por tornillo de bloqueo distal / Femoral artery pseudoaneurysm associated with arteriovenous fistula caused by distal locking screw Abstract

Femoral artery pseudoaneurysm associated with arteriovenous fistula is a complication of endovascular interventional procedures. However, no cases have been described in which both lesions occur as the result of trauma surgery and specifically that they are side effects to the placement of a gamma nail in the femur with a distal locking screw. We describe the case of a patient who presented femoral artery pseudoaneurysm concomitant with arteriovenous fistula, in which there were no suspicious clinical signs. The diagnosis was established using computed tomography, confirmed by arteriography and treated with the placement of metallic coils.

El pseudoaneurisma de arteria femoral asociado a fístula arteriovenosa es una complicación de los procedimientos intervencionistas endovasculares. Sin embargo, no se han descrito casos en los que ambas lesiones se produzcan como consecuencia de cirugía traumatológica y, en concreto, que sean secundarias a la colocación de clavo gamma en fémur con tornillo de bloqueo distal. Se describe el caso de una paciente que presentó pseudoaneurisma de arteria femoral concomitante con fístula arteriovenosa, en la que no existieron signos clínicos de sospecha. El diagnóstico se estableció mediante tomografía computarizada, se confirmó con arteriografía y se trató mediante la colocación de coils metálicos.

Cold Season Mortality Under Natural Conditions and Subsequent Hatching Response of Aedes (Stegomyia) aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) Eggs in a Subtropical City of Argentina.

In temperate and subtropical regions, populations of Aedes (Stegomyia) aegypti (L.) survive unfavorable winter conditions in the egg stage. Knowing their survival rates can be of great interest for the health authorities in charge of control activities. In this study, we analyzed the mortality of Ae. aegypti eggs exposed to the cold season as well as their hatching patterns under laboratory conditions in the city of Resistencia, Chaco, Argentina. The mortality rate was 48.6%. No statistically significant differences were observed in the mortality of eggs exposed at different sites. Hatching response differed significantly among the successive postexposure immersions, with the highest proportion of hatched eggs during the first immersion. These results show that the mortality rate of Ae. aegypti eggs exposed to the cold season in a subtropical city of Argentina was higher than those from temperate climate region. The additional mortality of eggs in our study might be related to fungal development (an unexpected event), which was not observed in research in temperate climate. The hatching pattern observed in this study ensures a rapid increase of the population at the beginning of the favorable breeding season, but it also maintains a batch with delayed hatching eggs, posing a risk for the community.

Culicidae (Diptera) selection of humans, chickens and rabbits in three different environments in the province of Chaco, Argentina.

Studies were conducted to determine the selection of humans, chickens and rabbits by Culicidae in three different environments in the province of Chaco, Argentina. Mosquitoes were collected fortnightly using cylindrical metal traps containing animal bait (chickens and rabbits). The mosquitoes were collected between June 2001-May 2002. During the same period and with the same frequency, mosquitoes biting the human operators of the traps were collected during the first 15 min of exposure within different time intervals: from 09:00 am-11:00 am, 01:00 pm-03:00 pm, 05:00 pm-07:00 pm and 09:00 pm-10:00 pm. A total of 19,430 mosquitoes of 49 species belonging to 10 genera were collected. Culex species mainly selected chicken bait and Wyeomyia species selected rabbit bait. Ochlerotatus and Psorophora species were more abundant in rabbit-baited traps. Anopheles triannulatus, Coquillettidia nigricans, Ochlerotatus scapularis, Mansonia titillans and Psorophora albigenu showed a strong attraction for human bait. The Anopheles, Coquillettidia, Culex and Mansonia species were more active between 05:00 pm-09:00 pm, while Ochlerotatus, Psorophora, Haemagogus and Wyeomyia were most active from 09:00 am-07:00 pm. This study provides additional information about the biology and ecology of arbovirus vectors in Chaco.

Culicidae (Diptera) selection of humans, chickens and rabbits in three different environments in the province of Chaco, Argentina

Studies were conducted to determine the selection of humans, chickens and rabbits by Culicidae in three different environments in the province of Chaco, Argentina. Mosquitoes were collected fortnightly using cylindrical metal traps containing animal bait (chickens and rabbits). The mosquitoes were collected between June 2001-May 2002. During the same period and with the same frequency, mosquitoes biting the human operators of the traps were collected during the first 15 min of exposure within different time intervals: from 09:00 am-11:00 am, 01:00 pm-03:00 pm, 05:00 pm-07:00 pm and 09:00 pm-10:00 pm. A total of 19,430 mosquitoes of 49 species belonging to 10 genera were collected. Culex species mainly selected chicken bait and Wyeomyia species selected rabbit bait. Ochlerotatus and Psorophora species were more abundant in rabbit-baited traps. Anopheles triannulatus, Coquillettidia nigricans, Ochlerotatus scapularis, Mansonia titillans and Psorophora albigenu showed a strong attraction for human bait. The Anopheles, Coquillettidia, Culex and Mansonia species were more active between 05:00 pm-09:00 pm, while Ochlerotatus, Psorophora, Haemagogus and Wyeomyia were most active from 09:00 am-07:00 pm. This study provides additional information about the biology and ecology of arbovirus vectors in Chaco.

[Entomofauna associated to horticultural crops under organic and conventional practices in Córdoba, Argentina]. / Entomofauna asociada a cultivos hortícolas orgánicos y convencionales en Córdoba, Argentina.

Farming practices and the addition of chemical synthetic substances in conventional agroecosystems are detrimental mainly to natural enemies of phytophagous insects, diminishing the natural regulation of pest insects. On the other hand, in organic agriculture, biological processes and care of the environment are favoured, hence an increase in insect biodiversity is predicted in this type of systems. In this work, abundance, richness of insects and proportion of functional groups were compared through a single quantitative sampling of insects in horticultural crop fields, three under organic and three under conventional management practices. Insect species richness, total and for guilds (phytophagous and entomophagous insects) were significantly higher in organic orchards, and also was the abundance of entomophagous insects. Richness and abundance of all insect orders (with exception of Homoptera abundance), were higher in orchards under organic management, being significative the differences for richness of Coleoptera and richness and abundance of Hymenoptera. Similar tendencies were observed in data obtained through sweep net in weeds. These results suggest that organic practices increase the diversity of species, particularly that of natural enemies.

Entomofauna asociada a cultivos hortícolas orgánicos y convencionales en Córdoba, Argentina / Entomofauna associated to horticultural crops under organic and conventional practices in Córdoba, Argentina

Las prácticas de laboreo y las sustancias químicas sintéticas agregadas en los agroecosistemas convencionales perjudican principalmente a los enemigos naturales de los insectos fitófagos, disminuyendo la regulación de los insectos plaga. En la agricultura orgánica, en cambio, se favorecen los procesos biológicos y el cuidado del ambiente, por lo que se predice en este tipo de sistema un aumento de la biodiversidad. En este trabajo se compararon los niveles de abundancia y riqueza de insectos y la proporción de grupos funcionales realizando un único muestreo cuantitativo en tres campos de cultivo con prácticas de manejo orgánicas y tres convencionales. Mediante conteo visual de insectos en los cultivos se observó que la riqueza de especies, total y por gremio (fitófagos-entomófagos), fue significativamente mayor en huertas orgánicas, así como la abundancia de entomófagos. Igualmente, la riqueza y abundancia para los distintos órdenes (excepto abundancia de Homoptera) fue superior en huertas bajo manejo orgánico, con diferencias significativas en la riqueza de Coleoptera y en la riqueza y abundancia de Hymenoptera. Tendencias similares se observaron en datos obtenidos mediante red de arrastre en malezas. Estos resultados sugieren que la práctica de manejo orgánica incrementa la diversidad de especies, particularmente la de enemigos naturales.

Farming practices and the addition of chemical synthetic substances in conventional agroecosystems are detrimental mainly to natural enemies of phytophagous insects, diminishing the natural regulation of pest insects. On the other hand, in organic agriculture, biological processes and care of the environment are favoured, hence an increase in insect biodiversity is predicted in this type of systems. In this work, abundance, richness of insects and proportion of functional groups were compared through a single quantitative sampling of insects in horticultural crop fields, three under organic and three under conventional management practices. Insect species richness, total and for guilds (phytophagous and entomophagous insects) were significantly higher in organic orchards, and also was the abundance of entomophagous insects. Richness and abundance of all insect orders (with exception of Homoptera abundance), were higher in orchards under organic management, being significative the differences for richness of Coleoptera and richness and abundance of Hymenoptera. Similar tendencies were observed in data obtained through sweep net in weeds. These results suggest that organic practices increase the diversity of species, particularly that of natural enemies.