Publications by authors named "Maricelia M Lima"

: The chikungunya virus (CHIKV), transmitted by infected Aedes mosquitoes, has caused a significant number of infections worldwide. In Brazil, the emergence of the CHIKV-ECSA genotype in 2014 posed a major public health challenge due to its association with more severe symptoms. : This study aimed to shed new light on the host immune response by examining the whole-blood transcriptomic profile of both CHIKV-acute and chronically infected individuals from Feira de Santana, Bahia, Brazil, a region heavily affected by CHIKV, Dengue, and Zika virus epidemics.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Encephalitis, a serious brain condition, is often caused by common viruses like herpes and enteroviruses, but the role of arboviruses in Brazil is less understood.
  • A study from 2020 to 2022 tested samples from patients experiencing encephalitis using advanced molecular and serological techniques.
  • Among 43 evaluated patients, 37.2% showed positive results for various viruses, with chikungunya virus (CHIKV) being the most frequently detected, highlighting its significance in encephalitis cases during outbreaks in Brazil.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

In 2015, the Zika virus (ZIKV) emerged in Brazil, leading to widespread outbreaks in Latin America. Following this, many countries in these regions reported a significant drop in the circulation of dengue virus (DENV), which resurged in 2018-2019. We examine age-specific incidence data to investigate changes in DENV epidemiology before and after the emergence of ZIKV.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Dengue fever is among the most significant public health concerns in Brazil. To date, the highest number of Dengue notifications in the Americas has been reported in Brazil, with cases accounting for a total number of 3,418,796 reported cases as of mid-December 2022. Furthermore, the northeastern region of Brazil registered the second-highest incidence of Dengue fever in 2022.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Despite growing scientific knowledge of Zika virus (ZIKV) infection, questions remain regarding ZIKV infection in pregnancy and congenital ZIKV syndrome (CZS).

Methods: The ZIKAction Paediatric Registry is an international registry of children with documented ZIKV exposure in utero and/or with confirmed or suspected CZS. Its aim is to characterize these children (i.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • New variants of SARS-CoV-2, like B.1.525, are complicating how public health officials track and control the pandemic globally.
  • B.1.525 has unique genetic features linked to other variants such as P.1, B.1.1.7, and B.1.351.
  • The first probable case of the B.1.525 variant was identified in a traveler returning from Nigeria, highlighting its potential spread.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Brazil experienced a large dengue virus (DENV) epidemic in 2019, highlighting a continuous struggle with effective control and public health preparedness. Using Oxford Nanopore sequencing, we led field and classroom initiatives for the monitoring of DENV in Brazil, generating 227 novel genome sequences of DENV1-2 from 85 municipalities (2015-2019). This equated to an over 50% increase in the number of DENV genomes from Brazil available in public databases.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: In South East Asia, mosquito-borne viruses (MBVs) have long been a cause of high disease burden and significant economic costs. While in some SEA countries the epidemiology of MBVs is spatio-temporally well characterised and understood, in others such as Myanmar our understanding is largely incomplete.

Materials And Methods: Here, we use a simple mathematical approach to estimate a climate-driven suitability index aiming to better characterise the intrinsic, spatio-temporal potential of MBVs in Myanmar.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The emergence of the Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is currently expanding. In 2015, 38,332 cases of Chikungunya were reported to the Brazilian epidemiological surveillance system. Eighteen months after notification of the first case in the city of Feira de Santana, we conducted the first serosurvey to define the magnitude of transmission in a rural community in Brazil.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Brazil has faced a significant Zika virus epidemic since May 2015, with around 30,000 reported cases and concerns over microcephaly linked to the virus.
  • Research involved sequencing seven Brazilian ZIKV genomes from various cases, revealing that the virus was likely introduced to the Americas between May and December 2013, well before it was officially detected in Brazil.
  • Although no specific genetic changes were found in ZIKV associated with microcephaly, data suggests a connection between ZIKV incidence and the occurrence of suspected microcephaly cases around week 17 of pregnancy, highlighting a need for further studies on the virus's evolution and impact.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF