[Perinatal mortality in Brazil in 2018: an epidemiological analysis according to the modified Wigglesworth classification].

Perinatal mortality includes fetal mortality and early neonatal mortality (0 to 6 days of life). The study described perinatal deaths in Brazil in 2018 according to the modified Wigglesworth classification. The data sources were the Brazilian Mortality Information System and the Brazilian Information System on Live Births.

Improvement of the unspecified external causes classification based on the investigation of death in Brazil in 2017.

Background: Unspecified causes of death are among the traditional indicators of quality of information.

Objective: To verify the performance of the 60 cities in the Data for Health Initiative project and to analyze the reclassification of unspecified external causes of death (UEC).

Methods: Using the 2017 records from the Mortality Information System, the proportion and percent change in UEC were compared after investigation between project cities and other cities, and the percent of reclassification to specific external causes was calculated.

The association between Zika virus infection and microcephaly in Brazil 2015-2017: An observational analysis of over 4 million births.

Background: In 2015, high rates of microcephaly were reported in Northeast Brazil following the first South American Zika virus (ZIKV) outbreak. Reported microcephaly rates in other Zika-affected areas were significantly lower, suggesting alternate causes or the involvement of arboviral cofactors in exacerbating microcephaly rates.

Methods And Findings: We merged data from multiple national reporting databases in Brazil to estimate exposure to 9 known or hypothesized causes of microcephaly for every pregnancy nationwide since the beginning of the ZIKV outbreak; this generated between 3.

Existing and potential infection risk zones of yellow fever worldwide: a modelling analysis.

Background: Yellow fever cases are under-reported and the exact distribution of the disease is unknown. An effective vaccine is available but more information is needed about which populations within risk zones should be targeted to implement interventions. Substantial outbreaks of yellow fever in Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Brazil, coupled with the global expansion of the range of its main urban vector, Aedes aegypti, suggest that yellow fever has the propensity to spread further internationally.

Global yellow fever vaccination coverage from 1970 to 2016: an adjusted retrospective analysis.

Background: Substantial outbreaks of yellow fever in Angola and Brazil in the past 2 years, combined with global shortages in vaccine stockpiles, highlight a pressing need to assess present control strategies. The aims of this study were to estimate global yellow fever vaccination coverage from 1970 through to 2016 at high spatial resolution and to calculate the number of individuals still requiring vaccination to reach population coverage thresholds for outbreak prevention.

Methods: For this adjusted retrospective analysis, we compiled data from a range of sources (eg, WHO reports and health-service-provider registeries) reporting on yellow fever vaccination activities between May 1, 1939, and Oct 29, 2016.

Mortality due to Chagas disease in Brazil according to a specific cause.

A century after its discovery, Chagas disease (CD) is still considered a public health problem. Mortality caused by CD between 2000 and 2010 was described according to the specific underlying cause, year of occurrence, gender, age range, and region of Brazil. The standardized mortality rate decreased 32.

Evaluation of leprosy surveillance system in the Amazon region, Brazil, 2001-2007.

Objectives: We evaluated the leprosy surveillance system in the Amazon region, Brazil, 2001-2007, using evaluation guidelines from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Results: We found that the leprosy surveillance system in the Amazon region is simple, presents good data quality and is representative in describing the sociodemographic profile and clinical classification of cases. The predictive value positive is high and its sensitivity is unknown.

Evaluation of pot-chlorination of wells during a cholera outbreak, Bissau, Guinea-Bissau, 2008.

We evaluated the ability of UNICEF-designed pot-chlorinators to achieve recommended free residual chlorine (FRC) levels in well water in Bissau, Guinea-Bissau, during a cholera outbreak. Thirty wells were randomly selected from six neighbourhoods. Pot-chlorinators--perforated plastic bottles filled with gravel, sand and calcium hypochlorite granules--were placed in each well.

[Prevalence of respiratory symptoms in areas of the Federal District, Brazil].

The identification of individuals with respiratory symptoms (RS) is important for the early detection of tuberculosis. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of RS in three administrative regions of the Federal District, Brazil. For this, we used the 30 by 7 cluster sampling technique proposed by the World Health Organization.

[Hepatite A outbreak in an urban area of Luziânia, State of Goiás, Brazil, 2009].

Introduction: This paper describes the investigation to confirm an outbreak of hepatitis A, presents the case distribution by person, time and place, formulates a hypothesis concerning the mode of transmission and presents the recommended measures for prevention and control.

Methods: A descriptive study of a case series and an environmental research were conducted.

Results: An outbreak of hepatitis A was confirmed beginning in March 2009.

Outbreak of beriberi in an Indian population of the upper Amazon region, Roraima State, Brazil, 2008.

Edema, parasthesias, and paresis affected 10 residents of an Indian community in Roraima state; three died. Mining with mercury occurs locally; caxirí, a traditional alcoholic drink, is consumed daily. We conducted a 1:2 unmatched case-control study; a case was an Indian from Uiramutã county (population of 9,127) who presented ≥ 1 of lower extremity edema, paresthesias, paresis, or weakness.

Field evaluation of crystal VC Rapid Dipstick test for cholera during a cholera outbreak in Guinea-Bissau.

Objectives: To evaluate performance characteristics and ease of use of the new commercially available Crystal VC Rapid Dipstick (VC) test (Span Diagnostics, India) for Vibrio cholerae O1 and O139.

Methods: Whole stool was collected from patients presenting to a hospital cholera ward during a 2008 epidemic in Guinea-Bissau. The VC test on stool samples was conducted on-site; samples were subsequently stored in Cary-Blair transport media and sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for diagnostic testing by culture and polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

Oral transmission of Chagas disease by consumption of açaí palm fruit, Brazil.

In 2006, a total of 178 cases of acute Chagas disease were reported from the Amazonian state of Pará, Brazil. Eleven occurred in Barcarena and were confirmed by visualization of parasites on blood smears. Using cohort and case-control studies, we implicated oral transmission by consumption of açaí palm fruit.

Desire for a child among women living with HIV/AIDS in northeast Brazil.

In Brazil, an increasing proportion of new HIV infections and AIDS cases involve women of reproductive age. To describe the reproductive desire of women with HIV/AIDS and to identify factors associated with the desire for motherhood, a cross-sectional study was carried out in the referral hospital for infectious diseases in Ceará State, northeast Brazil. In total, 229 women were included in data analysis.