Oswaldo Cruz Foundation

About: Oswaldo Cruz Foundation is a facility organization based out in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Trypanosoma cruzi. The organization has 18673 authors who have published 36752 publications receiving 802378 citations. The organization is also known as: Fundação Oswaldo Cruz & FIOCRUZ.

Masculinidade e violência no Brasil: contribuições para a reflexão no campo da saúde

Abstract: Efetua-se uma reflexao sobre a condicao masculina diante da violencia, situando o tema no campo interdisciplinar da Saude Publica. Usam-se dados do Sistema de Informacao sobre Mortalidade e do Sistema de Autorizacao para Internacao Hospitalar referentes as causas externas para o Brasil e suas capitais, de 1991 a 2000. As populacoes usadas nas taxas foram estimadas pelo IBGE e disponibilizadas na home page do Datasus/MS. Destaca-se que os homens sao as maiores vitimas da violencia. A taxa media de mortalidade masculina por essas causas na decada foi de 119,6/100.000 habitantes, sendo 5 vezes maior que a taxa media observada para as mulheres (24/100.000 habitantes). Dos 15 aos 19 anos, os homens morrem 6.3 vezes mais que as mulheres; dos 20 aos 24 anos suas taxas sao 10.1 vezes maior que a das mulheres. Nos homicidios esse risco e de quase 12 obitos masculinos em relacao a cada morte feminina. Macapa e a capital com maior sobremortalidade masculina: 10,3 mortes masculinas para cada obito feminino. Enfatiza-se que o genero masculino ainda e fortemente configurado por praticas machistas e de risco e que essas praticas sao as mesmas que constituem os homens como maiores vitimas da violencia. No Brasil, essas questoes sao potencializadas pelas intensas desigualdades e outras condicoes adversas a cidadania.

Bats and zoonotic viruses: can we confidently link bats with emerging deadly viruses?

Abstract: An increasingly asked question is 'can we confidently link bats with emerging viruses?'. No, or not yet, is the qualified answer based on the evidence available. Although more than 200 viruses - some of them deadly zoonotic viruses - have been isolated from or otherwise detected in bats, the supposed connections between bats, bat viruses and human diseases have been raised more on speculation than on evidence supporting their direct or indirect roles in the epidemiology of diseases (except for rabies). However, we are convinced that the evidence points in that direction and that at some point it will be proved that bats are competent hosts for at least a few zoonotic viruses. In this review, we cover aspects of bat biology, ecology and evolution that might be relevant in medical investigations and we provide a historical synthesis of some disease outbreaks causally linked to bats. We provide evolutionary-based hypotheses to tentatively explain the viral transmission route through mammalian intermediate hosts and to explain the geographic concentration of most outbreaks, but both are no more than speculations that still require formal assessment.

Human T-lymphotropic virus type II and neurological disease.

Abstract: Human T-lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) and type II (HTLV-II) are closely related retroviruses with similar biological properties and common modes of transmission. HTLV-I infection is endemic in well-defined geographic regions, and it is estimated that some 20 million individuals are infected worldwide. Although most infected individuals are asymptomatic carriers, some 2 to 5% will develop a chronic encephalomyelopathy, HTLV-I-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP). In contrast with HTLV-I, the role of HTLV-II in the development of neurological disorders is much less clear. HTLV-II is endemic in many native Amerindian groups and epidemic in injecting drug users (IDUs) worldwide. To evaluate the role of HTLV-II in neurological disease, we have critically reviewed all reported cases of HTLV-II-associated disorders. This has confirmed that although rare infection is associated with a disorder clinically similar or identical to HAM/TSP. However, most reports that have attributed infection to a range of other neurological disorders are difficult to evaluate in that in many cases either the association appears to be fortuitous or the presentations were confounded by a background of concomitant human immunodeficiency virus-1 infection and/or active IDU. In view of the many HTLV-II-infected individuals in urban areas of North America and Europe, neurologists should be aware of the potential clinical consequences of this infection.

Embryonic desiccation resistance in Aedes aegypti: presumptive role of the chitinized Serosal Cuticle

Abstract: Background One of the major problems concerning dengue transmission is that embryos of its main vector, the mosquito Aedes aegypti, resist desiccation, surviving several months under dry conditions. The serosal cuticle (SC) contributes to mosquito egg desiccation resistance, but the kinetics of SC secretion during embryogenesis is unknown. It has been argued that mosquito SC contains chitin as one of its components, however conclusive evidence is still missing.