Avaliação acerca do conhecimento sobre a dengue em jovens em idade escolar / Evaluation about dengue knowledge of children at school age

INTRODUÇÃO: A dengue é uma arbovirose, transmitida para o homem através da picada do mosquito Aedes aegypti, e que acomete grande número de indivíduos no mundo. Nos últimos 50 anos, junto com o aumento da expansão geográfica, a incidência de dengue aumentou aproximadamente 30 vezes. Ao longo dos anos, diversas medidas de combate à dengue foram implementadas, a partir daí, no ano de 2004 foi possível evidenciar que houve redução de 290% nos casos de dengue em relação ao ano anterior. OBJETIVO: Descrever o conhecimento de escolares do Rio Grande do Sul sobre o tema dengue. MÉTODOS: Estudo com abordagem quantitativa do tipo descritiva realizado com jovens alunos da rede pública de educação da cidade de Tupãnciretã, por meio de um questionário estruturado. RESULTADOS: Evidenciou-se que a maioria dos alunos tinha conhecimento sobre como a dengue é transmitida, sendo que 35% acreditavam que a fêmea do mosquito transmite a doença e ainda, 58,8% afirmaram que conseguem reconhecer o mosquito. Uma parcela dos alunos acredita que o mosquito pica preferencialmente durante o dia, onde a principal forma de transmissão selecionada foi "O mosquito pica uma pessoa doente e transmite a doença à outra pessoa" e os principais sintomas assinalados foram febre, dor de cabeça e cansaço. CONCLUSÃO: O estudo demonstrou que boa parte dos jovens possuem conhecimentos sobre a dengue, entretanto, ainda há crianças e adolescentes que não conhecem o assunto, trazendo à tona a importância deste tema nas campanhas de saúde.

INTRODUCTION: Dengue is an arbovirus, transmitted to humans through the bite of the Aedes aegypti mosquito, and which affects a large number of individuals in the world. Over the past 50 years, along with increased geographic expansion, the incidence of dengue increased approximately 30-fold. Over the years, several measures to combat dengue have been implemented and due to this factor, in 2004, there was a 290% reduction in dengue cases in relation to the previous year. OBJECTIVE: To describe the knowledge of schoolchildren from Rio Grande do Sul on the subject of dengue. METHODS: A quantitative descriptive study carried out with young students of the public education system of the city of Tupãnciretã, through a structured questionnaire. RESULTS: It was evidenced that most of the students had knowledge about how dengue is transmitted, 35% believed that the mosquito female transmits the disease and 58.8% claim to be able to recognize the mosquito. A significant portion of the students believe that the mosquito bites preferentially during the day, where the main form of transmission selected was "The mosquito bites a sick person and transmits the disease to the other person" and the main symptoms were fever, headache and tiredness. CONCLUSION: The study showed that most of the young people have knowledge about dengue, however, there are still children and adolescents who do not know the subject, bringing to the fore the importance of this theme in health campaigns.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis population structure shift in a 5-year molecular epidemiology surveillance follow-up study in a low endemic agro-industrial setting in São Paulo, Brazil.

Starting with 257 outpatients attending the specialized health service for tuberculosis (TB) between 2002 and 2006 in Araraquara, an agro-industrial area with low tuberculosis (TB) incidence in São Paulo state, Brazil, positive mycobacterial cultures were obtained in 130 cases, of which 121 were confirmed as Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex. This report assesses the genetic diversity observed on 69.42% (n=84) of the clinical isolates, for which both spoligotyping and 12-loci MIRU typing data were fully interpretable. In order to monitor changes in the population dynamics of circulating M. tuberculosis strains over time, spoligotypes were compared from this study (n=84) with an earlier study from 1998 to 2001 (n=70 strains); and these two datasets from low-incidence Araraquara area were also compared with a 2-year cohort in the nearby higher-incidence São Paulo city area from 2006 to 2008 (n=93). The results obtained showed that with 58.3% (49/84) of the strains, the Latin-American-Mediterranean (LAM) was the predominant lineage in the present follow-up study; major patterns being SIT42/LAM9 11.9% (10/84), and SIT20/LAM1 10.7% (9/84). As compared with the 1998-2001 period when 40% (28/70) of the isolates belonged to the ill-defined T family, it was replaced by LAM strains between 2002 and 2006 with a visible shift to a population structure characteristic of the metropolitan São Paulo city. Further typing of the follow-up isolates from 2002 to 2006 using 12 loci MIRUs in conjunction with conventional epidemiology did not link this population structure shift to an increase in ongoing transmission or drug-resistance. Instead, it is most probably linked to movements of the important migrant community of Araraquara to higher TB incidence metropolitan areas such as São Paulo city. This is of particular concern owing to the increment in the global burden of LAM strains and the recent association of certain LAM sublineages with multidrug- and extensively drug-resistant TB. These observations suggest the need for further molecular monitoring of the TB population structure and the evaluation of transmission trends amongst migrant workers and other risk groups, such as persons in homeless shelters, in correctional facilities, drug users, and those with HIV infection, etc.

Assessment of the quality of dna extracted by two techniques from Mycobacterium tuberculosis for fast molecular identification and genotyping

We report a comparative study of two DNA extraction techniques, thermolysis and chemical lysis (CTAB), for molecular identification and genotyping of M. tuberculosis. Forty DNA samples were subjected to PCR and the results demonstrated that with thermolysis it is possible to obtain useful data that enables fast identification and genotyping.

Assessment of the quality of dna extracted by two techniques from Mycobacterium tuberculosis for fast molecular identification and genotyping.

We report a comparative study of two DNA extraction techniques, thermolysis and chemical lysis (CTAB), for molecular identification and genotyping of M. tuberculosis. Forty DNA samples were subjected to PCR and the results demonstrated that with thermolysis it is possible to obtain useful data that enables fast identification and genotyping.

Rhodococcus equi isolation from sputum of patients with suspected tuberculosis.

Rhodococcus equi has emerged as an opportunistic pathogen associated with pulmonary, invasive or systemic infections in immunocompromised patients. We report the identification of 51 R. equi isolates found in sputum samples of 546 individuals suspected to have pulmonary tuberculosis in two Public Health Hospital Units in Brazil. The epidemiology of R. equi infection as well as the phenotypic identification and drug susceptibility profile of isolates are described in this paper.

Rhodococcus equi isolation from sputum of patients with suspected tuberculosis

Rhodococcus equi has emerged as an opportunistic pathogen associated with pulmonary, invasive or systemic infections in immunocompromised patients. We report the identification of 51 R. equi isolates found in sputum samples of 546 individuals suspected to have pulmonary tuberculosis in two Public Health Hospital Units in Brazil. The epidemiology of R. equi infection as well as the phenotypic identification and drug susceptibility profile of isolates are described in this paper.