Doctors’ awareness concerning primary immunodeficiencies in Brazil

BACKGROUND: PIDs are a heterogeneous group of genetic illnesses, and delay in their diagnosis is thought to be caused by a lack of awareness among physicians concerning PIDs. The latter is what we aimed to evaluate in Brazil. METHODS: Physicians working at general hospitals all over the country were asked to complete a 14-item questionnaire. One of the questions described 25 clinical situations that could be associated with PIDs and a score was created based on percentages of appropriate answers. RESULTS: A total of 4026 physicians participated in the study: 1628 paediatricians (40.4%), 1436 clinicians (35.7%), and 962 surgeons (23.9%). About 67% of the physicians had learned about PIDs in medical school or residency training, 84.6% evaluated patients who frequently took antibiotics, but only 40.3% of them participated in the immunological evaluation of these patients. Seventy-seven percent of the participating physicians were not familiar with the warning signs for PIDs. The mean score of correct answers for the 25 clinical situations was 48.08% (±16.06). Only 18.3% of the paediatricians, 7.4% of the clinicians, and 5.8% of the surgeons answered at least 2/3 of these situations appropriately. CONCLUSIONS: There is a lack of medical awareness concerning PIDs, even among paediatricians, who have been targeted with PID educational programmes in recent years in Brazil. An increase in awareness with regard to these disorders within the medical community is an important step towards improving recognition and treatment of PIDs

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Larval settlement and spat recovery rates of the oyster Crassostrea brasiliana (Lamarck, 1819) using different systems to induce metamorphosis / Taxas de assentamento larval e recuperação de sementes da ostra Crassostrea brasiliana (Lamarck, 1819) com uso de diferentes sistemas de indução à metamorfose

This study aimed at the assessment, in the laboratory, of the larval settlement and spat recovery rates of oysters of the species Crassostrea brasiliana using plastic collectors, epinephrine (C9H13NO3 C4H6O6) and shell powder in settlement tanks. Polypropylene was used attached to bamboo frames. The material was chosen due to its pliability - that favours the spat detachment. Two experiments were carried out; the first between February and April 2008, and the second between November and December 2008 at the Marine Mussel Laboratory of Santa Catarina Federal University (Laboratório de Moluscos Marinhos da Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina). In the first experiment, the scratched plastic collectors were tested consorting them with shell powder; on the second, the plastic collectors were tested consorted with shell powder, only shell powder and epinephrine as the metamorphosis stimulator. The quantification was carried out of the larvae settled in the plastic collectors, and of the recovery and integrity of the spats after their detachment. The first experiment has shown a recovery rate of 48.83 percent of the spats in comparison with the D larvae used. From this percentage, 4.9 percent settled in the plastic collectors and 43.93 percent in shell powder. The second experiment revealed 55.78 percent regarding the settled spats in comparison with the total of larvae used (using epinephrine), 78.62 percent in the treatment with the collector plus shell powder and 58.33 percent in the treatment only with shell powder. Thus, the use of the collector plus shell powder resulted in a greater spat recovery when compared to the other treatments.

O presente estudo teve como objetivo avaliar a taxa de assentamento larval e recuperação de sementes de ostras da espécie Crassostrea brasiliana, em laboratório, através do uso de coletores plásticos, epinefrina (C9H13NO3 C4H6O6) e pó de concha em tanques de assentamento. Foram utilizados coletores plásticos de polipropileno, presos a armações de bambu. O material foi escolhido devido à boa maleabilidade, o que facilita o destacamento das sementes. Foram realizados dois experimentos, o primeiro entre fevereiro e abril de 2008, e o segundo entre novembro e dezembro de 2008 no Laboratório de Moluscos Marinhos da Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina. No primeiro experimento, testaram-se coletores de plástico arranhado consorciado com pó de concha em um tanque de assentamento, enquanto que no segundo foram utilizados dois tanques de assentamento, um contendo os coletores de plástico consorciado com pó de concha e apenas pó de concha, e, no outro tanque, utilizou-se epinefrina como estimulador da metamorfose. Foi realizada a quantificação das larvas assentadas nos coletores plásticos e a taxa de recuperação e integridade das sementes após o destacamento. No primeiro experimento, recuperaram-se 48,83 por cento de sementes em relação às larvas D utilizadas. Deste percentual, 4,9 por cento assentaram em coletores plásticos e 43,93 por cento em pó de concha. No segundo experimento, a porcentagem de sementes assentadas em relação ao total de larvas utilizadas foi de 55,78 por cento com o uso de epinefrina, 78,62 por cento no tratamento com coletor mais pó de concha e de 58,33 por cento no tratamento só com pó de concha. Assim, verifica-se que o uso de coletor mais pó de concha resulta em maior recuperação de sementes se comparado com os demais tratamentos.