Publicações do Grupo MERG
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In:
The Journal of Infectious Diseases
Authors:
Marli T. Cordeiro, Carlos A. A. Brito, Lindomar J. Pena, Priscila M. S. Castanha, Laura H. V. G. Gil, Kennya G. S. Lopes, Rafael Dhalia, Jucille A. Meneses, Ana C. Ishigami, Luisa M. Mello, Liciana X. E. Alencar, Klarissa M. Guarines, Laura C. Rodrigues and Ernesto T. A. Marques
Background. Usually, immunoglobulin M (IgM) serologic analysis is not sufficiently specific to confirm Zika virus (ZIKV) infection. However, since IgM does not cross the placenta, it may be a good marker of infection in neonates.
Methods. We tested blood from 42 mothers and neonates with microcephaly and collected cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) specimens from 30 neonates. Molecular assays were performed for detection of ZIKV, dengue virus, and chikungunya virus; IgM enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays and plaque-reduction neutralization tests (PRNTs) were performed to detect ZIKV and dengue virus. No control neonates without microcephaly were evaluated.
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Authors:
Dr Thalia Velho Barreto de Araújo, PhD, Prof Laura Cunha Rodrigues, PhD, Prof Ricardo Arraes de Alencar Ximenes, PhD, Demócrito de Barros Miranda-Filho, PhD, Ulisses Ramos Montarroyos, PhD, Ana Paula Lopes de Melo, MSc, Sandra Valongueiro, PhD, Maria de Fátima Pessoa Militão de Albuquerque, PhD, Wayner Vieira Souza, PhD, Cynthia Braga, PhD, Sinval Pinto Brandão Filho, PhD, Marli Tenório Cordeiro, PhD, Enrique Vazquez, PhD, Danielle Di Cavalcanti Souza Cruz, MD, Cláudio Maierovitch Pessanha Henriques, MSc, Luciana Caroline Albuquerque Bezerra, MSc, Priscila Mayrelle da Silva Castanha, PhD, Rafael Dhalia, PhD, Ernesto Torres Azevedo Marques-Júnior, PhD, Prof Celina Maria Turchi Martelli, PhD
Background
The microcephaly epidemic, which started in Brazil in 2015, was declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern by WHO in 2016. We report the preliminary results of a case-control study investigating the association between microcephaly and Zika virus infection during pregnancy.
Methods
We did this case-control study in eight public hospitals in Recife, Brazil. Cases were neonates with microcephaly. Two controls (neonates without microcephaly), matched by expected date of delivery and area of residence, were selected for each case. Serum samples of cases and controls and cerebrospinal fluid samples of cases were tested for Zika virus-specific IgM and by quantitative RT-PCR. Laboratory-confirmed Zika virus infection during pregnancy was defined as detection of Zika virus-specific IgM or a positive RT-PCR result in neonates. Maternal serum samples were tested by plaque reduction neutralisation assay for Zika virus and dengue virus. We estimated crude odds ratios (ORs) and 95% CIs using a median unbiased estimator for binary data in an unconditional logistic regression model. We estimated ORs separately for cases with and without radiological evidence of brain abnormalities.
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Authors:
Andrea Poretti, Adriano N. Hazin, Celina M. Turchi Martelli, Thierry A.G.M. Huisman
Within the last year, the outbreak of Zika virus infection in Brazil became a “public health emergency of international magnitude and concern”. The global discussions about the risk of Zika virus infection for pregnant women ahead of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics Games and the fact that athletes who had been training for many years considered cancelling their participation underline the significance of this threat. The Zika virus is a so-called arbovirus that is transmitted by mosquitoes (especially mosquitoes of the Aedes type) first identified in 1947 in the Zika forest in Uganda, Africa. The vast majority of people infected with Zika virus have no or minimal symptoms which may include mild fever, headache, pinkeye, joints and muscles pain, and a skin rash for 2 to 7 days.
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In:
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report
Authors:
Mariana C. Leal, PhD; Lilian F. Muniz, PhD; Tamires S.A. Ferreira, MD; Cristiane M. Santos, MD; Luciana C. Almeida; Vanessa Van Der Linden, MD; Regina C.F. Ramos, MD; Laura C. Rodrigues, PhD; Silvio S. Caldas Neto, PhD
Congenital infection with Zika virus causes microcephaly and other brain abnormalities (1). Hearing loss associated with other congenital viral infections is well described; however, little is known about hearing loss in infants with congenital Zika virus infection. A retrospective assessment of a series of 70 infants aged 0–10 months with microcephaly and laboratory evidence of Zika virus infection was conducted by the Hospital Agamenon Magalhães in Brazil and partners. The infants were enrolled during November 2015–May 2016 and had screening and diagnostic hearing tests. Five (7%) infants had sensorineural hearing loss, all of whom had severe microcephaly; however, one child was tested after receiving treatment with an ototoxic antibiotic. If this child is excluded, the prevalence of sensorineural hearing loss was 5.8% (four of 69), which is similar to that seen in association with other congenital viral infections. Additional information is needed to understand the prevalence and spectrum of hearing loss in children with congenital Zika virus infection; all infants born to women with evidence of Zika virus infection during pregnancy should have their hearing tested, including infants who appear normal at birth.
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In:
PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases
Authors:
Rafael F. O. Franca, Maria Helena L. Neves, Constancia F. Junqueira Ayres, Osvaldo P. Melo-Neto, Sinval P. Brandão Filho
In the first two days of March 2016, an International Workshop on Zika Virus was held in the city of Recife, Brazil, hosted by the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz). The workshop took place at the Research Institute Aggeu Magalhaes (IAM), the state of Pernambuco research branch of Fiocruz, responsible for hosting the meeting and its organization. Representatives from several institutions working on Zika virus science attended, including researchers and academics from several other Fiocruz research entities (based in Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte and Bahia), from major Brazilian Universities (University of Sao Paulo, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and others) and from other Brazilian research centers (such as the Evandro Chagas Institute—IEC). Foreign participants included representatives from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases NIAID-USA and the University of Glasgow, among others. The Workshop brought together more than 600 participants and was accessible, live, through the web (over four thousand accessions from 26 countries). The purpose of the meeting was to provide an updated view on Zika virus in Brazil and to discuss recent advances and challenges on its research. With the recent Zika virus outbreak in Northeast Brazil and especially the remarkable increase in newborns suffering a congenital disorder termed microcephaly—a rare neurological condition in which an infant's head is significantly smaller than the heads of other children of the same age—recently linked to Zika virus infection during pregnancy [1–5], the Brazilian public health authorities declared a National Public Health Emergency on Nov 11, 2015. This was followed by the recognition by the World Health Organization—WHO, on February 1, 2016, of the cluster of microcephaly cases and other neurological disorders as a health emergency, declaring a Global Emergency and the spread of the Zika virus an “extraordinary event” with a public health threat to other parts of the world (source: http://www.who.int/emergencies/zika-virus/en/).
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