The Amazonian Tropical Bites Research Initiative, a hope for resolving zoonotic neglected tropical diseases in the One Health era.

Background: Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) disproportionately affect populations living in resource-limited settings. In the Amazon basin, substantial numbers of NTDs are zoonotic, transmitted by vertebrate (dogs, bats, snakes) and invertebrate species (sand flies and triatomine insects). However, no dedicated consortia exist to find commonalities in the risk factors for or mitigations against bite-associated NTDs such as rabies, snake envenoming, Chagas disease and leishmaniasis in the region.

Molecular identification of Sporothrix species in a hyperendemic area in Peru.

To date, there have been no molecular typing studies to identify the Sporothrix species circulating in Abancay, a hyperendemic area of sporotrichosis in Peru. To identify six clinical isolates of the Sporothrix schenckii complex from Abancay, Peru, we used PCR-sequencing of the calmodulin gene, and a phylogenetic analysis was conducted with these and additional sequences from GenBank. All clinical isolates were identified as S.

PCR performance for the diagnosis of cutaneous leishmaniasis caused by Leishmania viannia complex using biopsy samples, compared with exudate samples from skin lesions on filter paper.

Background: Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is generally diagnosed by molecular methods, including PCR, using biopsy samples, skin scrapings and clinical exudates. In this study, we assessed the PCR performance for diagnosis of CL using skin of biopsy samples vs PCR of skin lesion exudate samples on filter paper and compared the diagnostic concordance of PCR using both sampling methods.

Methods: We assessed the PCR performance using 80 skin biopsy samples and 80 filter paper samples containing exudates from skin lesions obtained from 74 patients with clinical suspicion of CL in Cusco, Peru.

Ecological Determinants of Sporotrichosis Etiological Agents.

Ecological determinants of sporotrichosis etiological agents remain poorly understood. For this reason, we performed explorations using local climate estimates to determine the temperature and humidity ranges of the environment where clinically relevant species occur and to identify what plant species are associated with them, using data collected from the published literature. We performed a literature search to identify all publications on environmental isolations of medically relevant species of in the PubMed, SCOPUS, and EMBASE databases.

[Seroprevalence of viral hepatitis B in university students in Abancay, Peru].

To determine the prevalence of serological markers of viral hepatitis B in university students of the city of Abancay, we performed a cross-sectional study on 240 students from three universities, from January to October 2010. Informed consent was requested to every student, an epidemiological record was filled, and a venous blood sample was drawn to determine the presence of HBsAg, total anti - HBcAg, anti - HBe, HBeAg and IgM Anti - HBc by ELISA. A prevalence of 2.

[Sporotrichosis in patients attending a reference center in Abancay, Peru].

A descriptive study was conducted between the months of May and August 2008 in Santa Teresa Medical Center, Abancay. Of 33 patients clinically suspected with Sporotrichosis: 20 patients were identified with Sporothrix schenckii. 11 (55%) of patients were males.