Adequacy of prenatal care and associated factors in the State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.

Objective: This study aims to assess the degree of adequacy of prenatal care (PNC) in the state of Rio Grande do Sul (RS) and in its 7 macro-regions considering the time of PNC initiation and the number of appointments attended. It also aims to verify the mode of delivery prevalence and the factors associated with PNC adequacy by mode of delivery.

Methods: Sub analysis from a cross-sectional study conducted among 13,432 childbearing women aged 15-49 years assisted in 66 maternity hospitals of the Unified Health System (SUS) and private associated facilities from September 2017 to October 2019.

[Syphilis in young Brazilian military recruits in 2016: sociodemographic, behavioral, and clinical aspects].

The objective was to characterize sociodemographic, behavioral, and clinical aspects in young Brazilian military recruits according to prevalence of syphilis. This was a descriptive study based on a nationwide population-based survey in 2016 with a probabilistic sample of military recruits 17 to 22 years of age. A confidential self-applied questionnaire was used.

Knowledge about sexually transmitted infections among young men presenting to the Brazilian Army, 2016: A STROBE-compliant national survey-based cross-sectional observational study.

Global burden of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) remains high and has a profound impact on health and lives of children, adolescents and adults worldwide. For over a decade, the Brazilian Department of Chronic Condition Diseases and Sexually Transmitted Infections and the Ministry of Defense have been conducting the Conscripts Survey aiming to assess the STI prevalence and obtain data on knowledge regarding STIs and risk factors among youth.A cross-sectional study was conducted among conscripts across Brazil aged 17 to 22 years from August to December 2016.

A portrait of risk behavior towards HIV infection among Brazilian Army conscripts by geographic regions, 2016.

Introduction: Knowledge about risky sexual behavior among young people has been widely acknowledged as a key tool to controlling the spread of HIV. This article aimed at presenting the risk behavior of Brazilian Army conscripts toward HIV infection according to the country's geographic regions. .

Hepatitis B and C prevalence and risk factors among young men presenting to the Brazilian Army: A STROBE-compliant national survey-based cross-sectional observational study.

Viral hepatitis is caused by different etiological agents with distinct epidemiological, clinical, and laboratory characteristics accounting for significant worldwide morbidity and mortality. Since 1996, the Brazilian Department of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and Viral Hepatitis (DIAHV) in collaboration with the Ministry of Defense has been conducting periodic serosurveys of conscripts enlisted for the Brazilian army to assess STI prevalence and obtain data on knowledge and risk factors pertaining to STIs. This article aims to present the hepatitis B (hepatitis B surface antigen - HBsAg) and C (anti-HCV) seroprevalence estimates and risk factors as per the 8th edition of the Conscript Survey performed in 2016.

Syphilis prevalence and risk factors among young men presenting to the Brazilian Army in 2016: Results from a national survey.

The Conscripts Survey has been conducted periodically by the Brazilian Department of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), AIDS, and Viral Hepatitis (DIAHV) in collaboration with the Brazilian Ministry of Defense for over 2 decades. It aims to assess the syphilis prevalence and obtain data on knowledge regarding STIs and their risk factors among conscripts enlisted for the Brazilian Army.This cross-sectional study was conducted among conscripts across Brazil aged 17 to 22 years from August to December 2016.

HIV prevalence and sexual behavior among young male conscripts in the Brazilian army, 2016.

Since 1996, the Brazilian Department of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI), AIDS and Viral Hepatitis (Departamento de Vigilância, Prevenção e Controle das IST, do HIV, AIDS e Hepatites Virais, Secretaria de Vigilância em Saúde, Ministério da Saúde) in collaboration with the Brazilian Ministry of Defense has conducted periodic and anonymous probability sample surveys to determine the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevalence, the sexual and risk behaviors among conscripts of the Brazilian army. This study aimed to estimate the HIV seroprevalence of conscripts in Brazil by geographic region and to describe behavior in relation to the risk of HIV transmission by analyzing data from the Brazilian Conscripts Survey 8th edition performed in 2016.Conscripts were selected with a 2-stage sampling method stratified by geographical region.

Group B Streptococcus detection in pregnant women via culture and PCR methods.

Introduction:: Group B Streptococcus (GBS), a source of neonatal infection, colonizes the gastrointestinal and genitourinary tracts of pregnant women. Routine screening for maternal GBS in late pregnancy and consequent intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis have reduced the incidence of early-onset GBS neonatal infection. The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of PCR, compared to culture (gold standard), in GBS colonization screening of pregnant women, and to establish the prevalence of GBS colonization among this population.

Performance of a molecular assay to detect Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex DNA in clinical specimens: multicenter study in Brazil.

Background: In high tuberculosis (TB) burden countries, there are few data on the performance of new molecular commercialised assays developed locally.

Objective: To evaluate the performance of a new molecular commercialised assay for TB diagnosis (Detect-TB) in three laboratories.

Methods: A total of 302 sputum samples from an equal number of patients with presumptive diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) were submitted for routine smear microscopy, culture, and Detect-TB assay at three different sites in Brazil (the cities of Caxias do Sul, São Paulo and Canoas).

Efficient Identification of HIV Serodiscordant Couples by Existing HIV Testing Programs in South Brazil.

Objective: To examine the feasibility of identifying HIV negative at risk individuals in HIV serodiscordant couples, during voluntary HIV testing in South Brazil.

Methods: We surveyed HIV testers at 4 public testing sites in Rio Grande do Sul. We obtained information on risk behaviors and sexual partnerships.

Evaluation of five simple rapid HIV assays for potential use in the Brazilian national HIV testing algorithm.

Since 2005, the Department of Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs), Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and Viral Hepatitis under the Health Surveillance Secretariat in Brazil's Ministry of Health has approved a testing algorithm for using rapid human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) tests in the country. Given the constant emergence of new rapid HIV tests in the market, it is necessary to maintain an evaluation program for them. Conscious of this need, this multicenter study was conducted to evaluate five commercially available rapid HIV tests used to detect anti-HIV antibodies in Brazil.

Evaluation of a novel microplate colorimetric hybridization genotyping assay for human papillomavirus.

Persistent infection with high-risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) has been associated with cervical cancer. Developing assays for the identification of these viral types is of great importance for monitoring patients and controlling strategies. The development of the MCHA (microplate colorimetric hybridization assay), a PCR-based method for identifying six of the most common HR-HPV types (HPV 16, 18, 31, 33, 39 and 45) is described.

Colorimetric microwell plate reverse-hybridization assay for Mycobacterium tuberculosis detection.

Direct smear examination using Ziehl-Neelsen staining for pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) diagnosis is inexpensive and easy to use, but has the major limitation of low sensitivity. Rapid molecular methods are becoming more widely available in centralized laboratories, but they depend on timely reporting of results and strict quality assurance obtainable only from costly commercial kits available in high burden nations. This study describes a pre-commercial colorimetric method, Detect-TB, for detecting Mycobacterium tuberculosis DNA in which an oligonucleotide probe is fixed onto wells of microwell plates and hybridized with biotinylated polymerase chain reaction amplification products derived from clinical samples.

Detection of rifampin-resistant genotypes in Mycobacterium tuberculosis by reverse hybridization assay.

We used a colorimetric reverse dot blot hybridization (CRDH) assay to detect the presence of mutations in a specific region of the rpoB gene, associated with rifampin (RIF) resistance, in a panel of 156 DNAs extracted from 103 RIF-sensitive and 53 RIF-resistant cultures of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. When compared with the antimicrobial susceptibility test (AST), the sensitivity and specificity of the CRDH were 92.3% and 98.

PCR colorimetric dot-blot assay and clinical pretest probability for diagnosis of Pulmonary Tuberculosis in smear-negative patients.

Background: Smear-negative pulmonary tuberculosis (SNPTB) accounts for 30% of Pulmonary Tuberculosis (PTB) cases reported annually in developing nations. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) may provide an alternative for the rapid detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB); however little data are available regarding the clinical utility of PCR in SNPTB, in a setting with a high burden of TB/HIV co-infection.

Methods: To evaluate the performance of the PCR dot-blot in parallel with pretest probability (Clinical Suspicion) in patients suspected of having SNPTB, a prospective study of 213 individuals with clinical and radiological suspicion of SNPTB was carried out from May 2003 to May 2004, in a TB/HIV reference hospital.

Low prevalence of primary antiretroviral resistance mutations and predominance of HIV-1 clade C at polymerase gene in newly diagnosed individuals from south Brazil.

We describe preliminary molecular characterization of HIV-1 pol from 108 consecutive HIV seropositive users of a Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) site of Porto Alegre city, the major metropolitan area in the south of Brazil. Protease and partial reverse transcriptase regions were retrotranscribed from plasma HIV-1 RNA and sequenced after direct nested PCR. Principal antiretroviral resistance mutations (ARM) were observed in 3% of the samples, two cases with K103N and one with M41L, L210W and T215Y, all in HIV-1 clade B infected men.