Publications by authors named "Claudia Patara Saraceni"

Drug resistance in tuberculosis is a major threat to public health and control of the disease worldwide. Given the need of a rapid and accurate detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis resistance to second-line drugs, this study evaluated the performance of the BACTEC MGIT 960 for second-line, drug susceptibility testing in comparison with the resazurin microtiter assay (REMA), in order to implement the automated methodology in the diagnostic routine of a reference laboratory. Drug susceptibility testing (DST) for second-line drugs of 151 MDR M.

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Introduction: The objectives of this study were evaluate hepatitis B virus (HBV) serological markers in children and adolescents followed up at the Child Institute of the Hospital das Clínicas, Faculdade de Medicina de São Paulo, Universidade de São Paulo; identify chronic HBV carriers and susceptible individuals in the intrafamilial environment; characterize HBV genotypes; and identify mutations in the patients and household contacts.

Methods: Ninety-five hepatitis B surface antigen-positive children aged <19 years and 118 household contacts were enrolled in this study. Commercial kits were used for the detection of serological markers, and PCR was used for genotyping.

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Southern Brazil is considered an area of low Hepatitis B endemicity, but some areas of higher endemicity have been described in the Southwest of Paraná and Santa Catarina states. The aim of this study was to evaluate viral genotypes circulating throughout Paraná state. PCR amplification and partial sequencing of the S gene was carried out in 228 samples from HBsAg positive candidate blood donors.

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The present study investigated if hepatitis B virus (HBV) mutants circulate in the southwestern region of the State of Paraná, Brazil, by analyzing samples from children who received immunoprophylaxis but were born to HBV carrier mothers. Samples from 25 children were screened for HBV serum markers and for HBV DNA by PCR. Only one sample was positive for HBsAg, anti-HBs and HBV DNA, although the child had been vaccinated.

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The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and the incidence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) among haemodialysis (HD) subjects and to evaluate whether testing for serological markers at the time of admission is suitable for HBV screening in this population. One hundred twenty-three patients belonging to two HD centres from São Paulo, Brazil, were tested prospectively. HBV DNA was detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in each of the prospective subjects (n = 123) during one year.

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The aims of this study were to (i) evaluate the prevalence and the incidence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in hemodialysis patients in two different centers in São Paulo (Brazil), (ii) determine the time required to detect HCV infection among these patients by serology or PCR, (iii) establish the importance of alanine aminotransferase determination as a marker of HCV infection, and (iv) identify the HCV genotypes in this population. Serum samples were collected monthly for 1 year from 281 patients admitted to hospital for hemodialysis. Out of 281 patients, 41 patients (14.

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