[Prevalence of rheumatic fever in children from a public high school in Belo Horizonte]. / Prevalência da febre reumática em crianças de uma escola da rede pública de Belo Horizonte.

PURPOSE: To determine the prevalence of rheumatic fever (RF) among children of a public high school in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. METHODS: The study was performed from March to December/92, and involved high school students coming from families of the medium and low-medium social classes. Considering the total of 1,400 students registered in a public school and the estimated RF prevalence in the developing country, 729 students were randomly chosen to be interviewed and examined by a researcher. The children suspected of being affect by RF were submitted to echocardiography in order to find any cardiac lesions. RESULTS: Due to several different factors, only 550 students aging from 10 to 20 years were admitted in this study. Four children, previously under secondary prophylactics, had already had the diagnosis of RF. Among these children, only one had heart disease (combined mitral incompetence and stenosis, and aortic incompetence). From the other three children, only one had the diagnosis of RF confirmed according to the Jones criteria. CONCLUSION: From the ata obtained, the prevalence of RF was calculated in 3.6/1000.

Evaluation of secondary prophylactic schemes, based on benzathine penicillin G, for rheumatic fever in children.

Serum concentrations of penicillin were measured in children with rheumatic fever. The adequacy of the values after administration of 1.2 million units of benzathine penicillin G every 2 or 3 weeks was confirmed; the adequacy of a 4-week regimen was questionable. The administration of 0.6 million units every 3 weeks was found to be inadequate to maintain serum levels high enough for the secondary prophylaxis of rheumatic fever.

Ectoparasitos de roedores da regiao urbana de Belo Horizonte, MG. I. Interacao entre ectoparasitos e hospedeiros. / Ectoparasites of rodents of the urban region of Belo Horizonte MG I. Interaction between ectoparasites and hosts

Um levantamento de ectoparasitos de roedores domesticos da regiao urbana de Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brasil, foi realizado no periodo de junho de 1980 a setembro de 1982. As especies de ectoparasitos capturadas de 950 Rattus norvegicus foram: Xenopsylla cheopis, Ctenocephalides felis felis, Polyplax spinulosa, Laelaps nuttalli, Eschinolaelaps echidninus e Atricholaelaps glasgowi, esta ultima apenas representada por tres exemplares intercambiados com roedores silvestres.As especies P. spinulosa e L. nuttalli, embora cosmopolitas, sao registradas pela primeira vez no Estado de Minas Gerais. A relacao entre os sexos dos ectoparasitos bem como a prevalencia de pulgas, acaros e piolho por sexos separados de roedores sao apresentadas. 66,9% dos roedores estavam infestados por acaros, quase duas vezes mais do que as infestacoes por pulgas e piolho conjuntamente (39%). L. nuttalli foi a especie mais numerosa e a que apresentou o maior indice de infestacao: 55,1%. As infestacoes simples e associadas se equivaleram numericamente. P. spinulosa, ao contrario de L. nuttalli, raramente ocorreu em infestacoes simples. Dados sobre a distribuicao dos ectoparasitos nos roedores sao tambem assinalados. A infestacao observada em Belo Horizonte e confrontada com aquelas obtidas por outros autores em algumas cidades do mundo