Skin cancer prevention campaign in childhood: survey based on 3676 children in Brazil.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Primary skin cancer prevention campaigns are essential and more effective among children, not only because of the importance of sun exposure effects during this period, but also because this age is when individuals are developing behaviours. The Brazilian Society of Dermatology - Regional State of Sao Paulo developed and conducted the programme named 'The Sun, Friend of Childhood', a school health education and disease prevention project for children and parents. Our objective was to evaluate the cognitive and behavioural effects of the children and parents before and after an education model-based intervention of sun protection. METHODS: We carried out a study on a school population of Social Service of Industry - Regional State of São Paulo, from the first to the fifth years of the regular course (6-10 years). Our educational project was planned to be based on two children's learning tools (comic magazine and a DVD cartoon). Questionnaires in relation to habits and knowledge in sun exposure were applied to the children (3776) before and (2748) after the intervention. A questionnaire was applied to 3663 parents regarding personal details and habits of their children. RESULTS: According to the McNemar's statistical test, all changes in the children in acquiring new knowledge about good practices for sun exposure were statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: Educative sun exposure programmes in childhood are a relevant tool to modify the history of life for next generations, to concern the skin cancer and good health practices.

Bartonella henselae survives after the storage period of red blood cell units: is it transmissible by transfusion?

Bartonella henselae is the agent of cat scratch disease and bacillary angiomatosis. Blood donors can be asymptomatic carriers of B. henselae and the risk for transmission by transfusion should be considered. The objective of this study was to demonstrate that B. henselae remains viable in red blood cell (RBC) units at the end of the storage period. Two RBC units were split into two portions. One portion was inoculated with B. henselae and the other was used as a control. All units were stored at 4 degrees C for 35 days. Aliquots were collected on a weekly basis for culture in a dish with chocolate agar, ideal for the cultivation of this agent. Samples were collected on days 1 and 35 and taken for culture in Bact/Alert R blood culture bottles. Aliquots taken simultaneously were fixed in Karnovsky's medium for subsequent electron microscopy evaluation. Samples from infected bags successfully isolated B. henselae by chocolate agar culture, although Bact/Alert R blood culture bottles remained negative. Bartonella spp. structures within erythrocytes were confirmed by electron microscopy. The viability of B. henselae was demonstrated after a storage period of RBC units. These data reinforce the possibility of infection by transfusion of blood units collected from asymptomatic blood donors.

Isolation of Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium anisopliae var. anisopliae from Boophilus microplus tick (Canestrini, 1887), in Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil.

The objective of this work were to isolate and identify strains of entomopathogenic fungi from ingurgitated female Boophilus microplus ticks, collected from the soil in the municipality of Paracambi, Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil. The ingurgitated females were inoculated in the selective medium oat dodine agar (oda), where 49 colonies of Beauveria bassiana (71%) and 20 of Metarhizium anisopliae var. anisopliae (29%) were isolated. These isolated strains characterize for the first time in Brazil the natural occurrence of these species of fungi in this tick, and will be used to conduct bioassays to evaluate the pathogenicity and virulence of these strains for ticks of the genus Boophilus microplus.

The entomopathogenic potential of Aspergillus spp. in mosquitoes vectors of tropical diseases.

Eleven strains of the most frequent Aspergillus species found in a survey of Brazilian mosquitoes collected in the states of Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, were used for bioassays in second-stage larvae of Aedes fluviatilis and Culex quinquefasciatus. Aspergillus ochraceus, A. kanagawaensis and one strain of A. sulphureus were most effective, causing mortality in at least 80% of the larvae of the two mosquito species tested. Variations in entomopathogenic capacity were observed in the experiments with strains of A. sulphureus, A. flavus and A. ochraceus.

The ultrastructural and histophotometric study of elastic and collagen fibers in type II Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and subclinical forms.

Skin disorders in type II Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) are characterized by signs of cutaneous hyperdistensibility, skin and vascular fragility, atrophic scars, and articular hypermobility. These features may have less important clinical presentation in the intermediate forms of type II EDS. The authors studied the ultrastructural and quantitative aspects of elastic and collagen fibers in the skin of individuals with subclinical signs of type II of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. A group of 27 individuals (Group I) with large atrophic scars, articular hypermobility of the hands, and cutaneous and vascular fragility were compared with 10 healthy individuals. The subjects from both groups were volunteers from Hospital das Clínicas da Universidade de São Paulo. The elastic fibers did not show alterations but collagen ultrastructural abnormalities were seen in diameter and curvature, such as torsion, collagen flower-like aspect and discrete mass enlargement by histophotometry.

Pathogenic action of Penicillium species on mosquito vectors of human tropical diseases.

In vitro bioassays were performed in order to assess the pathogenicity of 13 Penicillium strains in 2nd stage larvae of Aedes aegypti, Aedes fluviatilis, Anopheles aquasalis and Culex quinquefasciatus. Mortality rates began in the first 24 hours, ranging from 0 to 100%. P. corylophilum, P. fellutanum, P. implicatum, P. janthinellum, P. viridicatum and P. waksmanii species tested on Aedes aegypti larvae and at different concentrations presented mortality rates from 0 to 6.6%. These species, when tested on Aedes fluviatilis, Anopheles aquasalis and Culex quinquefasciatus larvae, presented a mortality rate of 3.33% to 100%. Susceptibility of Aedes fluviatilis, Aedes aegypti, Anopheles aquasalis and Culex quinquefasciatus mosquitoes to the tested agents, turn P. corylophilum and P. janthinellum into candidates for potential use in biological control of vectors.

Use of autologous fibrin glue in dermatologic surgery: application of skin graft and second intention healing.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficiency of biological sealant, an autologous fibrin glue, in dermatological surgery. DESIGN: Randomized clinical trial. SETTING: The Dermatology Service of Hospital das Clinicas, Universidade de Campinas (UNICAMP), referral center. PATIENTS: 14 patients with malign epithelial cutaneous tumors participated in the evaluation, each having two tumors, generally facial and symmetrical, in order to perform a comparative evaluation on the same individual. PROCEDURES: The glue was prepared beforehand with a sample of autologous blood. Surgical extirpation of the tumor was followed by grafts or second intention healing. OUTCOMES: The efficiency of the sealant was then evaluated in relation to hemostasis, adhesion, surgical time and evolution of the granulation tissue, clinically and histologically. RESULTS: Immediate hemostasis and graft adhesion, with a significant reduction of surgical time, and in the open wounds there was immediate hemostasis and a clinical increase in granulation tissue, but with no histological differences among the groups on the 7th day. CONCLUSION: It is an adjuvant resource in skin cancer surgery.