Publications by authors named "Alice L N Queiroz"
Detection of a Multiple Circulation Event of Dengue Virus 2 Strains in the Northern Region of Brazil.
Trop Med Infect Dis
January 2024
Article Synopsis
- Dengue virus serotype 2 (DENV-2) is a significant cause of global dengue epidemics and is linked to severe disease cases.
- The study analyzed 32 DENV-2 samples collected from northern Brazil between 2017 and 2021, focusing on states like Acre, Roraima, and Tocantins.
- Two main lineages were identified: one from the Asian-American genotype (related to Puerto Rico) and one from the cosmopolitan genotype (related to Peru), which aids in understanding DENV genotypes and their potential spread.
Cecropins and defensins are the main classes of antimicrobial peptides in the mosquito innate immune system, acting against bacteria, fungi and protozoa. There is a knowledge gap concerning these peptide genes in anopheline mosquitoes from the Brazilian Amazon. Thus, this work aimed to describe molecular techniques for detecting the genes encoding the antimicrobial peptides cecropin A (CecA) and defensin in Anopheles darlingi mosquitoes and to perform molecular phylogeny of the sequenced genes using the maximum likelihood method and Bayesian inference with other species from different geographic areas.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFrom 2016 to 2018, Brazil faced the biggest yellow fever (YF) outbreak in the last 80 years, representing a risk of YF reurbanization, especially in megacities. Along with this challenge, the mass administration of the fractionated YF vaccine dose in a naïve population brought another concern: the possibility to increase YF adverse events associated with viscerotropic (YEL-AVD) or neurological disease (YEL-AND). For this reason, we developed a quantitative real time RT-PCR (RT-qPCR) assay based on a duplex TaqMan protocol to distinguish broad-spectrum infections caused by wild-type yellow fever virus (YFV) strain from adverse events following immunization (AEFI) by 17DD strain during the vaccination campaign used to contain this outbreak.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDevelopment of RT-qPCR and semi-nested RT-PCR assays for molecular diagnosis of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome.
PLoS Negl Trop Dis
December 2019
Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome is an, often fatal, emerging zoonotic disease in the Americas caused by hantaviruses (family: Hantaviridae). In Brazil, hantavirus routine diagnosis is based on serology (IgM-ELISA) while RT-PCR is often used to confirm acute infection. A Semi-nested RT-PCR and an internally controlled RT-qPCR assays were developed for detection and quantification of four hantaviruses strains circulating in the Brazilian Amazon: Anajatuba (ANAJV) and Castelo dos Sonhos (CASV) strains of Andes virus (ANDV) species; and Rio Mamoré (RIOMV) and Laguna Negra (LNV) strains of LNV species.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- Brazil has faced a significant Zika virus epidemic since May 2015, with around 30,000 reported cases and concerns over microcephaly linked to the virus.
- Research involved sequencing seven Brazilian ZIKV genomes from various cases, revealing that the virus was likely introduced to the Americas between May and December 2013, well before it was officially detected in Brazil.
- Although no specific genetic changes were found in ZIKV associated with microcephaly, data suggests a connection between ZIKV incidence and the occurrence of suspected microcephaly cases around week 17 of pregnancy, highlighting a need for further studies on the virus's evolution and impact.