Tipologia de mensagens falsas sobre a covid-19 no Brasil / Typology of fake news about the covid-19 in Brazil / Tipología de mensajes falsos sobre el covid-19 en Brasil

O estudo apresentado neste artigo analisou características de notícias falsas e de rumores falsos, que têm como principal diferença a incorporação, ou não, do que caracteriza a imprensa oficial e a grande mídia. A pesquisa avaliou material sobre a pandemia de covid-19 no Brasil, entre janeiro e dezembro de 2020, utilizando o banco de dados do projeto Latam Chequea Coronavirus, que continha 838 mensagens falsas disseminadas em mídias sociais, além de blogs e sites de notícias, e, após submetidas a critérios de corte, 473 delas foram analisadas. A análise utilizou 33 categorias previstas na literatura, divididas em: caracterização, tipo, tema e técnicas de persuasão. Os resultados revelaram que: 86,89% das mensagens eram rumores; os temas mais frequentes foram "profilaxia e cura", "políticas" e "prevenção pública"; o apelo à autoridade esteve presente em 76,74% delas e foi a técnica de persuasão mais frequente, seguida do apelo emocional (64,90%). A pesquisa mostrou como as técnicas de persuasão empregadas apoiam os temas identificados nas mensagens falsas e rumores falsos sobre a pandemia.

The study presented in this article analyzed characteristics of fake news and false rumours, differentiated by the incorporation or absence of features of official press and of the media. The research evaluated mate-rial about the covid-19 pandemic in Brazil, between January and December 2020, using the database from the Latam Chequea Coronavirus project, containing 838 false messages disseminated on social media, as well as blogs and newsbrands, and after being subjected to cut-off criteria 473 of them were analysed. The analysis employed 33 categories outlined in the literature, divided among characterization, type, theme, and persuasion techniques. The results revealed that: 86,89% of the messages were rumors; the most frequent themes were "prophylaxis and cure", "politics", and "public prevention"; the appeal to authority was present in 76,74% of the messages and it was the most frequent persuasion technique, followed by emotional appeal (64,90%). The research has demonstrated how persuasion techniques support the themes of fake news and false rumors regarding the pandemic

El estudio presentado en este artículo analizó las características de las noticias falsas y de los rumores falsos, cuya la principal diferencia es si incorporan o no lo que caracteriza a la prensa oficial y a los principales medios de comunicación. La investigación evaluó material sobre la pandemia de covid-19 en Brasil, entre enero y diciembre de 2020, utilizando la base de datos del proyecto Latam Chequea Coronavirus, que contenía 838 mensajes falsos difundidos en redes sociales, además de blogs y sitios de noticias, y después de ser sometidos a criterios de corte se analizaron 473 de ellos. El análisis utilizó 33 categorías previstas en la literatura, divididas en: caracterización, tipo, tema y técnicas de persuasión. Los resultados revelaron que 86,89% de los mensajes eran rumores; los temas más frecuentes fueron "profilaxis y cura", "políticas" y "prevención pública"; la apelación a la autoridad estuvo presente en 76,74% de ellos, y fue la técnica de persuasión más frecuente, seguida de la apelación emocional (64,90). La investigación muestró como las técnicas de persuasión respaldan los temas de noticias falsas y rumores sobre la pandemia

A higher number of SARS-COV-2 infections in quilombola communities than in the local population in Brazil.

The historical and social vulnerability of quilombola communities in Brazil can make them especially fragile in the face of COVID-19, considering that several individuals have precarious health systems and inadequate access to water. This work aimed to characterize the frequency of SARS-COV-2 infections and the presence of IgM and IgG SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in quilombola populations and their relationship with the presence of risk factors or preexisting chronic diseases in the quilombola communities. We analyzed the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, serological status, comorbidities, and symptoms of 1,994 individuals (478 males and 1,536 females) from 18 Brazilian municipalities in the State of Sergipe of quilombola communities, which were evaluated at different epidemiological weeks, starting at the 32nd (August 6th) and ending at the 40th (October 3rd) epidemiological week. More than 70% of studied families live in rural areas and they have an extreme poverty social status. Although we found a higher number of SARS-COV-2 infections in quilombola communities than in the local population, their SARS-CoV-2 reactivity and IgM and IgG positivity varied across the communities investigated. Arterial hypertension was the most risk factor, being found in 27.8% of the individuals (9.5% in stage 1, 10.8% in stage 2, and 7.5% in stage 3). The most common COVID-19 symptoms and comorbidities were headache, runny nose, flu, and dyslipidemia. However, most individuals were asymptomatic (79.9%). Our data indicate that mass testing must be incorporated into public policy to improve the health care system available to quilombola populations during a future pandemic or epidemic.

Challenges in Direct Detection of Flaviviruses: A Review.

Arthropods transmit arboviruses via mosquito and tick bites to humans and other animals. The genus flavivirus, which causes diseases, sequelae, and thousands of deaths, mainly in developing and underdeveloped countries, is among the arboviruses of interest to public health. Given the importance of early and accurate diagnosis, this review analyzes the methods of direct detection of flaviviruses, such as reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification, microfluidics, localized surface plasmon resonance, and surface-enhanced Raman scattering, and presents the advantages, disadvantages, and detection limits identified in studies reported in the literature for each methodology. Among the different methods available, it is essential to balance four fundamental indicators to determine the ideal test: good sensitivity, high specificity, low false positive rate, and rapid results. Among the methods analyzed, reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification stands out, owing to result availability within a few minutes, with good sensitivity and specificity; in addition, it is the best-characterized methodology.

Nanoparticles as Vaccines to Prevent Arbovirus Infection: A Long Road Ahead.

Arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses) are a significant public health problem worldwide. Vaccination is considered one of the most effective ways to control arbovirus diseases in the human population. Nanoparticles have been widely explored as new vaccine platforms. Although nanoparticles' potential to act as new vaccines against infectious diseases has been identified, nanotechnology's impact on developing new vaccines to prevent arboviruses is unclear. Thus, we used a comprehensive bibliographic survey to integrate data concerning the use of diverse nanoparticles as vaccines against medically important arboviruses. Our analysis showed that considerable research had been conducted to develop and evaluate nanovaccines against Chikungunya virus, Dengue virus, Zika virus, Japanese encephalitis virus, and West Nile virus. The main findings indicate that nanoparticles have great potential for use as a new vaccine system against arboviruses. Most of the studies showed an increase in neutralizing antibody production after mouse immunization. Nevertheless, even with significant advances in this field, further efforts are necessary to address the nanoparticles' potential to act as a vaccine against these arboviruses. To promote advances in the field, we proposed a roadmap to help researchers better characterize and evaluate nanovaccines against medically important arboviruses.

Combination therapy with benznidazole and doxycycline shows no additive effect to monotherapy with benznidazole in mice infected with the VL-10 strain of the Trypanosoma cruzi.

BACKGROUND: Chagas heart disease is the most important clinical manifestation of Trypanosoma cruzi infection. Pharmacological therapies have been proposed aiming to reduce inflammatory response and cardiac damage in infected hosts. In this study, we investigated the use of doxycycline (Dox), in a sub-antimicrobial dose, in monotherapy and in combination with benznidazole (Bz) during the acute phase of infection with the VL-10 strain of T. cruzi, evaluating the therapeutic effect during the acute and chronic phases of the infection. METHODS AND RESULTS: C57BL/6 mice were treated for 20 days with Dox (30 mg/kg), Bz (100 mg/kg), or both drugs in combination starting 9 days after infection. Parasitemia was measured during the acute phase and the animals were monitored for 12 months, after which echocardiography analysis was performed. Blood samples were obtained from euthanized mice for CCL2, CCL5, IL-10 analysis, and cardiac fragments were collected for histopathological evaluation. Dox treatment did not ameliorate parasitological/inflammatory parameters but reduced the cardiac collagen neoformation (CN) in 35%. In contrast, Bz administration reduced parasitemia, plasma levels of CCL2 and CCL5, and cardiac infiltration during acute infection, and reduced the level of IL-10 and CN (95%) at 12 months. Dox was unable to improve ejection fraction, while Bz treatment ameliorated the ejection fraction. No additive effect was observed in combination therapy. CONCLUSION: Dox monotherapy is not effective in the acute or chronic phases of experimental cardiomyopathy induced by the VL-10 strain of T. cruzi. Furthermore, combination therapy with Dox does not potentiate the effects of Bz monotherapy.

Antigenic Peptides Capable of Inducing Specific Antibodies for Detection of the Major Alterations Found in Type 2B Von Willebrand Disease.

Von Willebrand disease (VWD) is an inherited hemorrhagic disorder promoted by either quantitative or qualitative defects of the von Willebrand factor (VWF). The disease represents the most common human coagulopathy afflicting 1.3% of the population. Qualitative defects are subdivided into four subtypes and classified according to the molecular dysfunction of the VWF. The differential diagnosis of the VWD is a difficult task, relying on a panel of tests aimed to assess the plasma levels and function of the VWF. Here, we propose biochemical approaches for the identification of structural variants of the VWF. A bioinformatic analysis was conducted to design seven peptides among which three were representatives of specific amino acid sequences belonging to normal VWF and four encompassed sequences found in the most common VWD subtype 2B. These peptides were used to immunize mice, after which, peptide-specific immunoglobulins were purified. This resulted in four Ig preparations capable of detecting alterations in the subtype 2B VWD plus additional three antibody fractions targeting the normal VWF. The panel of antibodies could serve many applications among them (1) assessment of VWF: antigen interaction, (2) VWF multimer analysis, and (3) production of monoclonal antibodies against VWF for therapeutic purposes as in thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura.