Publications by authors named "Raquel de Vasconcellos Carvalhaes Oliveira"

Background: Pregnant women constitute a vulnerable population occasionally affected by zoonotic sporotrichosis. Treatment is challenging due to potentially teratogenic oral medications (itraconazole and saturated potassium iodide solution) or lack of clinical experience during pregnancy (terbinafine). Literature is scarce on sporotrichosis and pregnancy, mainly consisting of case reports.

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The zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis is caused by the protozoan and dogs are reservoirs for this parasite. For the diagnosis of at the species level in dogs in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded skin (FFPES) samples, colorimetric in situ hybridization (CISH) and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) are options, but their sensitivities are not well established. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the sensitivity of these two techniques in FFPES for the diagnosis of the infection in dogs using culture as the reference standard.

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Objective: To identify and summarise the evidence on the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) RNA detection and persistence in body fluids associated with sexual activity (saliva, semen, vaginal secretion, urine and faeces/rectal secretion).

Eligibility: All studies that reported detection of SARS-CoV-2 in saliva, semen, vaginal secretion, urine and faeces/rectal swabs.

Information Sources: The WHO COVID-19 database from inception to 20 April 2022.

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Introduction: American Tegumentary Leishmaniasis (ATL) treatment is based on pentavalent antimonials (Sb5+), but these drugs have been associated to several adverse effects. Hearing loss and tinnitus during treatment with meglumine antimoniate (MA) have already been reported. This study aimed to describe the usefulness of self-reporting of hearing loss and tinnitus in diagnosing MA-induced ototoxicity.

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Generally, older people tend to suffer from more severe infections than younger adults. In addition, there are accumulations of comorbidities and immune senescence in some cases. This cohort study evaluated the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of older adults (≥60 years old) with sporotrichosis.

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Rio de Janeiro is a dengue-endemic city that experienced Zika and chikungunya epidemics between 2015 and 2019. Differential diagnosis is crucial for indicating adequate treatment and assessing prognosis and risk of death. This study aims to derive and validate a clinical rule for diagnosing chikungunya based on 3,214 suspected cases consecutively treated at primary and secondary health units of the sentinel surveillance system (up to 7 days from onset of symptoms) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study estimated the prevalence and profile of children with special healthcare needs (CSHCN) in three municipalities in Brazil from 2015 to 2017, involving 6,853 children aged 0-11.
  • Findings revealed that 25.3% of children were classified as CSHCN, with common issues including respiratory conditions, asthma, and allergies, and over half lacking formal diagnoses.
  • Risk factors for CSHCN included being of school age, male, having been born prematurely, having a history of hospitalizations, and coming from disadvantaged family backgrounds.
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Feline sporotrichosis is enzootic in different regions of Brazil, especially in Rio de Janeiro. This study compared the genotype profiles of sp. isolated from cats in Rio de Janeiro between 1998 and 2018 and evaluated their association with clinical and epidemiological characteristics.

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Sporotrichosis is a chronic, cosmopolitan granulomatous mycosis that affects humans and animals. The infection is caused by the dimorphic fungi sp. The aims of the present study were to evaluate, standardize and validate a nested PCR technique using two DNA purification kits for the extraction of DNA from formalin fixed and paraffin-embedded tissues (FFPE) for sp.

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Background And Aim: Both breastfeeding and the use of human milk are strategies that provide better conformation to health throughout an individual's life and bring countless short- and long- term benefits, which are well established in the scientific literature. For at-risk newborns (NBs), these strategies are crucial interventions to enable neonatal survival with better quality of life due to the distinctive and complex composition of human milk, which serves as personalized food-medicine-protection. However, there is limited knowledge about breastfeeding practices in high-risk NBs.

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Article Synopsis
  • * In a study of 143 dogs seropositive for L. infantum, 15.4% showed amastigotes in their pancreas, with poor body condition linked specifically to pancreatic infection.
  • * The study identified various pancreatic histological changes, with chronic pancreatitis being associated with L. infantum, although the overall detection rate and parasite load in the pancreas were found to be low.
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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates how co-infections with other pathogens affect dogs infected with Leishmania infantum, the cause of canine leishmaniosis.
  • Out of 66 dogs seropositive for L. infantum, 76% were also co-seropositive for other pathogens, particularly Toxoplasma gondii and Ehrlichia spp.
  • Although clinical signs were present in a majority of co-seropositive dogs, the overall disease severity and L. infantum load remained similar between monoinfected and co-infected dogs, although inflammatory responses were increased in co-seropositive cases.
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Introduction: Anemia is a common condition at tuberculosis diagnosis, and there is evidence that its prevalence is higher in patients with tuberculosis than in those infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis and healthy controls. Information about anemia during tuberculosis diagnosis is still scarce in the Brazilian population. The aim of this study was to describe the prevalence of anemia in patients with tuberculosis cared for at a referral center and its association with clinical forms of tuberculosis and other characteristics of these patients.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates various factors influencing breastfeeding practices among high-risk infants in a hospital setting, focusing on predicting patterns at discharge and subsequent months.
  • It involved 1,003 infants, tracking breastfeeding data through hospital admission and follow-up interviews, sorting potential influencing factors into categories related to the newborn, mother, health services, and breastfeeding.
  • Results highlighted a decline in exclusive breastfeeding over time, with hospital stay length being a critical predictor, alongside maternal and infant characteristics and broader social factors impacting breastfeeding outcomes.
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Visceral leishmaniasis caused by the protozoan Leishmania infantum is a zoonosis. The domestic dog is the primary reservoir in urban areas. This study aimed to evaluate the frequency, active infection and load of L.

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Aims And Objectives: To compare and evaluate interobserver (nurses and physicians) agreement for dengue clinical signs and symptoms, including the World Health Organization diagnostic algorithm.

Background: Agreement of clinical history defines the capacity of the examiner to measure a given clinical parameter in a reproducible and consistent manner, which is prerequisite for diagnosis validity. Nurses play a major role in the triage and care of dengue patients in many countries.

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Despite its indolent course, one-third of the papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) cases relapses, which directly impact on the quality of patients' lives. The molecular predictors of recurrence of PTC are poorly defined. We aimed at evaluating the long-term (10-20 years) prognostic value of aggressiveness markers in advanced PTC.

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Skin lesions in feline sporotrichosis usually present a high fungal burden, making cats an important source of infection. This study evaluated the fungal burden and isolation in skin lesions of feline sporotrichosis during treatment with itraconazole (ITZ), combined with or without potassium iodide (KI). Treatment-naïve cats with culture-confirmed sporotrichosis and presenting skin ulcers were treated for up to 40 weeks with oral ITZ alone ( = 74) or combined with KI ( = 56).

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Zoonotic sporotrichosis caused by the fungus Sporothrix brasiliensis is usually severe in cats. This study investigated the associations between clinical features, fungal load, coinfections, histological skin changes, and response to itraconazole in cats with sporotrichosis caused by S. brasiliensis.

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In 2007-2008, the city of Rio de Janeiro underwent an epidemiological change, with increases in the incidence in children and in severe forms of dengue. To describe the clinical profile and spatial distribution of dengue we performed an ecological study based on dengue surveillance data using the Brazilian classification (2005): dengue fever, dengue haemorrhagic fever (DHF) and dengue with complications. χ 2 test was used to describe the clinical and socio-demographic variables (P < 0.

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Background: Skin ulcers in American cutaneous leishmaniasis (ACL) may heal spontaneously after months/years. However, few cases may present quick heal even during diagnosis procedure (early spontaneous healing- ESH). The main objective of this study was to compare ESH patients with cases requiring specific treatment [non-ESH (NESH)].

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Introduction: Tegumentary Leishmaniasis (TL) is a neglected, non-contagious, infectious disease, caused by different protozoa species of the Leishmania genus that affects skin and mucous membranes. Meglumine Antimoniate (MA), the first drug of choice for TL treatment in Brazil, has already been associated with cochlear toxicity, which is defined as damages of the cochlea caused by exposure to chemical substances, resulting in reversible or irreversible hearing loss. Auditory monitoring for cochlear toxicity aims at the early detection of auditory disorders, enabling, when possible, hearing to be preserved or an early auditory rehabilitation.

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Although direct examination methods are important for diagnosing leishmaniasis, such methods are often neglected because of their low sensitivity relative to other techniques. Our study aimed to evaluate the performance of bone marrow (BM) thick smears and cytocentrifugation tests as alternatives to direct examination for diagnosing canine visceral leishmaniasis (CVL). Ninety-two dogs exhibiting leishmaniasis seroreactivity were evaluated.

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