Challenges of acute febrile illness diagnosis in a national infectious diseases center in Rio de Janeiro: 16-year experience of syndromic surveillance.

Introduction: Acute febrile illnesses (AFI) are a frequent chief complaint in outpatients. Because the capacity to investigate the causative pathogen of AFIs is limited in low- and middle-income countries, patient management may be suboptimal. Understanding the distribution of causes of AFI can improve patient outcomes.

Severe Sporotrichosis Treated with Amphotericin B: A 20-Year Cohort Study in an Endemic Area of Zoonotic Transmission.

Although rare, disseminated sporotrichosis is increasing in several countries. Despite its limiting toxic potential, amphotericin B is the only intravenous antifungal available to treat severe sporotrichosis. We aimed to describe the effectiveness and safety of amphotericin B treatment for severe sporotrichosis.

Platelet function in HIV plus dengue coinfection associates with reduced inflammation and milder dengue illness.

HIV-infected subjects under virological control still exhibit a persistent proinflammatory state. Thus, chronic HIV infection changes the host homeostasis towards an adapted immune response that may affect the outcome of coinfections. However, little is known about the impact of HIV infection on inflammatory amplification and clinical presentation in dengue.

Zika Virus Infection and Differential Diagnosis in a Cohort of HIV-Infected Patients.

Background: Zika virus (ZIKV) emergence in South America revealed the lack of knowledge regarding clinical manifestations in HIV-infected individuals.

Objectives: We described the clinical characteristics, laboratory manifestations, differential diagnosis, and outcome of ZIKV infection in a large, single-center cohort of HIV-infected patients.

Methods: HIV-infected patients aged 18 years and older with clinical suspected arboviral disease from an ongoing cohort were followed from February 2015 through December 2015.

Participatory evaluation of the quality of health information on the internet: the case of dengue sites.

The world has witnessed a powerful and radical transformation of social, economic and cultural relationships promoted by the Internet. The Internet provides opportunities for access, dissemination and production of information worldwide. Health, for example, stands out as one of the main areas with information of interest to a growing number of users.

Sporotrichosis: an emerging neglected opportunistic infection in HIV-infected patients in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Sporotrichosis associated with zoonotic transmission remains a relevant public health problem in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, affecting a large at-risk population, which includes HIV-infected individuals. We assessed patients co-infected by Sporothrix spp. and HIV over time in the context of an unabated sporotrichosis epidemic.

Platelets mediate increased endothelium permeability in dengue through NLRP3-inflammasome activation.

Dengue is the most frequent hemorrhagic viral disease and re-emergent infection in the world. Although thrombocytopenia is characteristically observed in mild and severe forms of dengue, the role of platelet activation in dengue pathogenesis has not been fully elucidated. We hypothesize that platelets have major roles in inflammatory amplification and increased vascular permeability during severe forms of dengue.

HLA-A*01 allele: a risk factor for dengue haemorrhagic fever in Brazil's population.

Severe forms of dengue, such as dengue haemorrhagic fever (DHF) and dengue shock syndrome, are examples of a complex pathogenic mechanism in which the virus, environment and host immune response interact. The influence of the host's genetic predisposition to susceptibility or resistance to infectious diseases has been evidenced in several studies. The association of the human leukocyte antigen gene (HLA) class I alleles with DHF susceptibility or resistance has been reported in ethnically and geographically distinct populations.

[Delayed diagnosis of malaria in a dengue endemic area in the Brazilian extra-Amazon: recent experience of a malaria surveillance unit in state of Rio de Janeiro].

Introduction: The mortality of malaria in the extra-Amazon region is about 80 times higher than in the Amazon region, where malaria is concentrated (99.8% of cases). In areas of dengue transmission, delay in the diagnosis and treatment of malaria in patients with fever who reside in areas of malaria transmission can be due to the confusion between the clinical diagnoses of both diseases by nonspecialist doctors, among other factors.

Inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression in monocytes during acute Dengue Fever in patients and during in vitro infection.

Unlabelled: Mononuclear phagocytes are considered to be main targets for Dengue Virus (DENV) replication. These cells are activated after infection, producing proinflammatory mediators, including tumour-necrosis factor-alpha, which has also been detected in vivo. Nitric oxide (NO), usually produced by activated mononuclear phagocytes, has antimicrobial and antiviral activities.

Evaluation of the Determine Rapid Syphilis TP assay using sera.

The Abbott Determine Rapid Syphilis TP assay is a treponemal test that can be used in resource-poor settings that lack laboratory facilities. However, this test has not been extensively evaluated. We measured its sensitivity and specificity by using stored serum specimens (n = 567) from all persons who tested Treponema pallidum hemagglutination assay (TPHA) positive (n = 250) or TPHA indeterminate (n = 17) in the year 2001 and the first 300 patients in 2001 who tested TPHA negative at the Evandro Chagas Research Institute in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.