[Chromobacteriosis in Ilhéus, Bahia: epidemiologic, clinical and laboratorial investigation].

In April/2004, a group of people traveled to a farm in a town in the south of Bahia and afterwards, three teenagers from the same family developed symptoms of severe septicemia and two died. The Health Department carried out an epidemiologic, clinical, laboratory and environmental investigation that resulted in the identification of Chromobacterium violaceum, in biological material from one of them, water and soil. This is the first report of the disease in Bahia State.

Community-based monitoring of diarrhea in urban Brazilian children: incidence and associated pathogens.

Community-based monitoring was conducted in order to investigate the occurrence of diarrhea in 'sentinel areas' of Salvador, Brazil, and to establish a preliminary profile of the most common pathogens present in children's diarrhea by screening stool samples. This report describes the results obtained from twice weekly home visits to identify and follow diarrhea episodes and testing of carer-requested stool sample collection over a 6-month period. Participants were selected from a large longitudinal study in 21 areas representing the city's poorer socioeconomic and sanitary conditions.

Chromobacterium violaceum in siblings, Brazil.

Chromobacterium violaceum, a saprophyte bacterium found commonly in soil and water in tropical and subtropical climates, is a rare cause of severe, often fatal, human disease. We report 1 confirmed and 2 suspected cases of C. violaceum septicemia, with 2 fatalities, in siblings after recreational exposure in northeastern Brazil.