Urbanization and scorpion stings in Manaus, the largest metropolis in the Brazilian Amazon.

This study analyzed a total of 260 confirmed scorpion stings reported in the city of Manaus, in the Brazilian Amazon, from 1990 to 2020. Cases were mapped according to the GPS location of their occurrence and plotted on a satellite image of the city. The stings generally occurred close to green areas, and the hotspots of stings moved north as city grew into that direction over time.

Chronic Chagas Cardiomyopathy in the Brazilian Amazon region: clinical characteristics and regional distinctiveness.

Objectives: This study aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of clinical and epidemiological data related to Chronic Chagas Cardiomyopathy (CCC) in the Amazon region of Brazil.

Methods: A review of observational, retrospective, and cross-sectional studies related to Chagas Disease in the Amazon region of Brazil was conducted, and a case series addressing CCC in patients treated at the FMT-HVD outpatient clinic, a reference center for Chagas disease in Brazil, was carried out.

Results: Clinical characteristics of 55 patients from the Amazon region with CCC were described.

Pre- and post-surgical evaluation of the impact on Hansen disease sequealae patients' quality of life submitted to orthopedic surgery for closure of chronic plantar ulcers.

Introduction: Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease that still persists as a public health problem in Brazil. Plantar ulcers are serious complications due to leprosy neuropathy and intensify the isolation and stigma of these individuals. The difficulty in closing these lesions associated with the fetid odor negatively impact the quality of life of people with these lesions.

Treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis with a sequential scheme of pentamidine and tamoxifen in an area with a predominance of Leishmania (Viannia) guyanensis: A randomised, non-inferiority clinical trial.

Objective: To determine whether a combination of a single intramuscular (IM) dose of pentamidine (7 mg/kg) followed by oral tamoxifen 40 mg/day for 20 days is non-inferior to three IM doses of pentamidine 7 mg/kg in the treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis with a margin of 15%.

Methods: Phase II, randomised, controlled, open-label, non-inferiority clinical trial. Primary outcome was the complete healing of the lesions 6 months after starting treatment.

Epidemiological clinical profile and closure of chronic plantar ulcers in patients with leprosy sequelae undergoing orthopedic surgery in a municipality in western Amazon.

Introduction: Chronic plantar ulcers in leprosy are lesions resulting from motor and sensory alterations caused by Mycobacterium leprae. They are lesions refractory to conventional dressings and present high recurrence rates.

Objective: To evaluate the epidemiological clinical profile of patients with chronic plantar ulcers associated with bony prominences in the lesion bed and to evaluate the efficacy of orthopedic surgical treatment of these lesions.

Acute Chagas disease associated with ingestion of contaminated food in Brazilian western Amazon.

Objective: To describe clinical, epidemiological and management information on cases of acute Chagas disease (ACD) by oral transmission in the state of Amazonas in western Amazon.

Methods: Manual and electronic medical records of patients diagnosed with ACD at the Fundação de Medicina Tropical Doutor Heitor Vieira Dourado (FMT-HVD) were included.

Results: There were 147 cases of acute CD registered from 10 outbreaks that occurred in the state of Amazonas between 2004 and 2022.

Immunogenicity Characterization of COVID-19 Vaccines: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Introduction: Immunogenicity has emerged as a challenge in the development of vaccines against coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19). Immunogenicity is a determinant of the efficacy and safety of vaccines. This systematic review and associated meta-analysis summarized and characterized the immunogenicity of COVID-19 vaccines in randomized controlled trials (RCTs).

Initial report of Panstrongylus rufotuberculatus (Champion, 1899) Triatominae (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) in Roraima, western Amazon state, Brazil.

Background: This study is the first report of the species Panstrongylus rufotuberculatus in Roraima, a state in northern Brazil.

Methods: We collected specimens from a residence in the municipality of Rorainópolis.

Results: Our findings confirmed the occurrence of this species in Roraima, increasing the number of registered species from six to seven.

Acute micro-outbreak of Chagas disease in the southeastern Amazon: a report of five cases.

Background: Chagas disease is gaining importance in the Brazilian Amazon region as a differential diagnosis of febrile syndrome. The most recent microoutbreak occurred in Ipixuna, in Amazonas state.

Methods: An epidemiological survey was conducted using parasitological and serological tests, and electrocardiographic analysis.

Myocardial Injury in Patients With Acute and Subacute Chagas Disease in the Brazilian Amazon Using Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance.

Background Chagas disease is a neglected tropical disease that is still considered a global health emergency. In the Amazon region, most of the reports are of acute cases that are associated with oral transmission. This study aimed to evaluate myocardial injury in patients with acute Chagas disease before and after treatment.

Social characterization of COVID-19 in the state of Amazonas, Brazil.

Objectives: To compare the number of deaths that occurred in the state of Amazonas and in Brazil, from March 16 to August 20 2020, using the variables skin color, sex, place of death, age group and association with COVID-19, and secondly, to verify whether between 2019 and 2020, in the period from March 16 to August 20, there was a significant change in the number of deaths from diseases not associated with COVID-19.

Methods: We searched the databases of the Brazilian public agency "Transparency Portal" for the data on deaths that occurred in the state of Amazonas and Brazil in the period from March 16 to August 20, 2019 and 2020. The absolute frequencies and percentages of the variables studied were used for statistical analysis.

Dengue Infection Susceptibility of Five Populations from Manaus (Brazil) after Challenge with Virus Serotypes 1-4.

The successful spread and maintenance of the dengue virus (DENV) in mosquito vectors depends on their viral infection susceptibility, and parameters related to vector competence are the most valuable for measuring the risk of viral transmission by mosquitoes. These parameters may vary according to the viral serotype in circulation and in accordance with the geographic origin of the mosquito population that is being assessed. In this study, we investigated the effect of DENV serotypes (1-4) with regards to the infection susceptibility of five Brazilian populations from Manaus, the capital of the state of Amazonas, Brazil.

Impact of El Niño on the dynamics of American cutaneous leishmaniasis in a municipality in the western Amazon.

Vector-borne diseases are some of the leading public health problems in the tropics, and their association with climatic anomalies is well known. The current study aimed to evaluate the trend of American cutaneous leishmaniasis cases in the municipality of Manaus, Amazonas-Brazil, and its relationship with climatic extremes (ENSO). The study was carried out using a series of secondary data from notifications on the occurrence of several American cutaneous leishmaniasis cases in the municipality of Manaus between 1990 and 2017 obtained through the Sistema de Informação de Agravos de Notificação.

The Selvester QRS score as an estimative of myocardial injury in acute chagasic patients from the Brazilian Amazon.

Background: In the Brazilian Amazon, a new epidemiological profile of Chagas disease transmission, the oral route, has been detected and cited as being responsible for the increase in acute cases in Brazil. The clinical evaluation of acute Chagas disease (ACD) has been a challenge since it can progress to a chronic phase with cardiac alterations, and the follow-up by modern diagnostic methods is very difficult due to the socio-geographical characteristics of the Brazilian Amazon. Thus, alternatives should be sought to alleviate this problem.

Treatment of tegumentary leishmaniasis in two hemodialysis patients with end-stage renal disease using two series of pentamidine.

In this study, we present two cases of cutaneous leishmaniasis in patients with end-stage renal disease, who were treated solely with intramuscular pentamidine. In such cases, treatment implies a fine line between therapeutic efficacy and toxicity. This is suggestive of a knowledge gap; however, findings indicate that this is still the fastest and safest alternative to the treatment with antimonials.

Implantable cardioverter-defibrillator prevents sudden death in patients with Chagas cardiomyopathy in the Brazilian Amazon.

Chagas disease (CD), with approximately 10,000 deaths annually, has become a worldwide health problem. Approximately 35% of cases may show cardiac manifestations such as arrhythmias and/or conduction disorders, heart failure, thromboembolic accidents, and sudden death. The Amazon region has long been considered a non-endemic area for CD; however, in the last decades, with an increase in the number of acute and chronic cases, disease evolution has received greater attention.

Anopheles aquasalis transcriptome reveals autophagic responses to Plasmodium vivax midgut invasion.

Background: Elimination of malaria depends on mastering transmission and understanding the biological basis of Plasmodium infection in the vector. The first mosquito organ to interact with the parasite is the midgut and its transcriptomic characterization during infection can reveal effective antiplasmodial responses able to limit the survival of the parasite. The vector response to Plasmodium vivax is not fully characterized, and its specificities when compared with other malaria parasites can be of fundamental interest for specific control measures.

Cardiac Evaluation in the Acute Phase of Chagas' Disease with Post-Treatment Evolution in Patients Attended in the State of Amazonas, Brazil.

Background: In the past two decades, a new epidemiological profile of Chagas' disease (CD) has been registered in the Brazilian Amazon where oral transmission has been indicated as responsible for the increase of acute cases. In the Amazonas state, five outbreaks of acute CD have been registered since 2004. The cardiac manifestations in these cases may be characterized by diffuse myocarditis, with alteration in the electrocardiogram (ECG) and transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE).

Socioenvironmental aspects of the Purus Region - Brazilian Amazon: Why relate them to the occurrence of American Tegumentary Leishmaniasis?

This study aims to analyze factors related to the occurrence of American Tegumentary Leishmaniasis in the Purus Region, based on the reporting of cases between 2001 and 2013, correlating them with livelihoods and subsistence farming in the region, and analyzing them in regards to sex, age, clinical form, occupation, diagnostic methods and seasonality. The analysis parameter which was used included all cases of American Tegumentary Leishmaniasis in each sub-region by municipality. The Purus Region, between the states of Amazonas and Acre, consists of three sub-regions: Upper, Middle, and Lower Purus.