Publications by authors named "Marina Vaz"

The South Asia International Center of Excellence for Malaria Research, an NIH-funded collaborative program, investigated the epidemiology of malaria in the Indian state of Goa through health facility-based data collected from the Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMC), the state's largest tertiary healthcare facility, between 2012 and 2021. Our study investigated region-specific spatial and temporal patterns of malaria transmission in Goa and the factors driving such patterns. Over the past decade, the number of malaria cases, inpatients, and deaths at the GMC decreased significantly after a peak in 2014-2015.

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Over the last decade, novel tobacco and nicotine product experimentation and use have dramatically increased among the youth, even in countries with strong tobacco control and anti-smoking social norms. We performed an online questionnaire-based cross-sectional study in March-June 2021, targeting students from the University of Beira Interior, Portugal. The aim was to assess the experimentation and use of tobacco and nicotine products and students' beliefs towards these products.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates the differences in severe malaria presentation between children and adults, focusing on factors like parasite biomass and cytoadhesive properties of infected red blood cells.
  • A multicohort analysis from Tanzania, Malawi, and India utilized machine learning to reveal that specific adhesion patterns and parasite biomass play different roles in severe malaria across age groups, with similar profiles predicting severity in both adults and children.
  • Findings indicate that adults with multiorgan complications have higher parasite loads, while pediatric cases show unique gene expression patterns linked to specific complications, highlighting the complex relationship between parasite characteristics and clinical symptoms.
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Background: Malaria remains an important cause of morbidity and mortality in India. Though many comprehensive studies have been carried out in Africa and Southeast Asia to characterize and examine determinants of Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax malaria pathogenesis, fewer have been conducted in India.

Methods: A prospective study of malaria-positive individuals was conducted at Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMC) from 2012 to 2015 to identify demographic, diagnostic and clinical indicators associated with P.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates how certain factors of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum relate to severe cases in adults, focusing on their interaction with the endothelial protein C receptor (EPCR).
  • Researchers found that severe malaria isolates expressed higher levels of specific var genes (DC6 and DC8) linked to severe cases, particularly in a population from India.
  • The analysis suggests that variations in how these virulence factors interact with EPCR may significantly impact disease severity and patient outcomes.
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Background: Culture-adapted Plasmodium falciparum parasites can offer deeper understanding of geographic variations in drug resistance, pathogenesis and immune evasion. To help ground population-based calculations and inferences from culture-adapted parasites, the complete range of parasites from a study area must be well represented in any collection. To this end, standardized adaptation methods and determinants of successful in vitro adaption were sought.

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Kikuchi's disease is a rare condition that mainly presents in young females along with lymphadenitis. Involvement of the nervous system is rare. We report a young female who presented with fever, headache, vomiting, lymphadenopathy and neurological manifestations in the form of aseptic meningitis, ataxia and paraparesis.

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Drug hypersensitivity with myocarditis is known to occur with many drugs especially with antiepileptics, sulpha-compounds and daposne. Dapsone (4, 4 diaminodiphenyl sulphone) induced hypersensitivity is known to occur in about 2% of leprosy patients on treatment and an incidence of 1.66% in non-leprosy patients.

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Background & Objectives: Scrub typhus is one of the differential diagnoses of haemorrhagic fevers especially if associated with jaundice and/or renal failure. Goa State in the western region of India has been witnessing increased incidence of such fevers, therefore, the present study was undertaken to identify whether scrub typhus is the aetiological agent.

Methods: Adult patients presenting with undiagnosed febrile illness between June 2009 to October 2010, were evaluated.

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