Leishmania infantum infection serosurveillance in stray dogs inhabiting the Madrid community: 2007-2018.

Background: Leishmaniosis is an endemic zoonotic disease in the Mediterranean basin caused by Leishmania infantum and transmitted by phlebotomine sandflies. While in dogs disease may be severe, leishmaniosis is also a public health concern as was shown in the largest outbreak of human leishmaniosis (HL) in Europe in 2009 occurring in the Madrid region. The aim of the present study was to assess the applicability of the Leishmaniosis Surveillance Program (LeishSP) established in Madrid in 1996 by examining trends in L.

Opportunistic feeding behaviour and Leishmania infantum detection in Phlebotomus perniciosus females collected in the human leishmaniasis focus of Madrid, Spain (2012-2018).

Background: An outbreak of human leishmaniasis due to Leishmania infantum has been registered in an urban area of southwestern Madrid, Spain, since 2010. Entomological surveys carried out in the municipalities of Fuenlabrada, Leganés, Getafe and Humanes de Madrid showed that Phlebotomus perniciosus is the only potential vector. In this work, an intensive molecular surveillance was performed in P.

Leishmania sp. detection and blood-feeding behaviour of Sergentomyia minuta collected in the human leishmaniasis focus of southwestern Madrid, Spain (2012-2017).

Phlebotomine sand flies are the only known vectors of Leishmania spp. protozoan which causes leishmaniasis in 98 countries. In Spain, 11 sand fly species are described, but only Phlebotomus perniciosus and Phlebotomus ariasi are proven vectors of the disease.

Newborns and low to moderate prenatal environmental lead exposure: might fathers be the key?

This study is part of the BioMadrid Project, a bio-monitoring study designed to assess pollutants in the environment surrounding children born in the Madrid region. Our aim in this report is to evaluate the association between prenatal lead exposure and fetal development using three biological samples (maternal and paternal blood lead at around 34 weeks of gestation as well as cord blood lead levels), three biomarkers of effect in cord blood peripheral lymphocytes (micronucleus in binucleated cells, nucleoplasmic bridges, and nuclear buds), and different anthropometrical characteristics at birth. Maternal and cord blood lead were not associated with newborn measurements or genotoxicity biomarkers.

Lead, mercury and cadmium in umbilical cord blood and its association with parental epidemiological variables and birth factors.

Background: In Spain, few studies have evaluated prenatal exposure to heavy metals. The objective of this study was to describe lead, mercury and cadmium concentrations in blood from a sample of newborn-mother-father trios, as well as to investigate the association between metals in cord blood and parental variables. We also explored the relationship between cord blood metal concentrations and child characteristics at birth.

Detection of Leishmania infantum and identification of blood meals in Phlebotomus perniciosus from a focus of human leishmaniasis in Madrid, Spain.

Since 2010, the number of cases of both human visceral leishmaniasis and cutaneous leishmaniasis in southwestern Madrid region (Spain) and more specifically in the town of Fuenlabrada has increased. Direct xenodiagnosis of leishmaniasis proved that hares (Lepus granatensis) from this focus are able to infect with Leishmania infantum colonized Phlebotomus perniciosus. To a better understanding of this focus of leishmaniasis, we conducted an entomological survey using CDC light traps, at the end of the seasonal transmission period of 2011 before the beginning of control measures of the disease, to study the phlebotomine sand flies species involved.

Mercury, lead and cadmium in human milk in relation to diet, lifestyle habits and sociodemographic variables in Madrid (Spain).

Background: Although breastfeeding is the ideal way of nurturing infants, it can be a source of exposure to toxicants. This study reports the concentration of Hg, Pb and Cd in breast milk from a sample of women drawn from the general population of the Madrid Region, and explores the association between metal levels and socio-demographic factors, lifestyle habits, diet and environmental exposures, including tobacco smoke, exposure at home and occupational exposures.

Methods: Breast milk was obtained from 100 women (20 mL) at around the third week postpartum.

Cytogenetic status in newborns and their parents in Madrid: the BioMadrid study.

Monitoring cytogenetic damage is frequently used to assess population exposure to environmental mutagens. The cytokinesis-block micronucleus assay is one of the most widely used methods employed in these studies. In the present study we used this assay to assess the baseline frequency of micronuclei in a healthy population of father-pregnant woman-newborn trios drawn from two Madrid areas.

Biomonitoring of exposure to environmental pollutants in newborns and their parents in Madrid, Spain (BioMadrid): study design and field work results.

In Spain environmental surveillance has mainly relied on measures of selected pollutants in air, water, food and soil. A study was conducted in Madrid to assess the feasibility of implementing a surveillance system of exposure among the general population to specific environmental pollutants, using bio-markers. The project was basically focused on the environment surrounding newborns.