Spotted fever group rickettsiae in black rats, pets, and humans in Zungarococha community, A rural area in the surroundings of Iquitos, Peru.

Rickettsiae are a family of ectoparasite-borne bacteria that can produce high morbidity and mortality among humans. There are scarce data on rickettsial ecology in rural areas of the Peruvian Amazon basin, where seroprevalence has not been determined, and the identities of animals acting as reservoirs of these bacteria are not known. We conducted a cross-sectional study in Zungarococha (between 2019 and 2021), a rural community located approximately 20 km away from Iquitos city.

Water insecurity is associated with gender-based violence: A mixed-methods study in Indonesia.

Gender Based Violence (GBV) is a global pandemic and water insecurity is increasing in intensity and extent. This study explores the association between these two global health threats. Cross-sectional, quantitative data were collected via surveys (n = 365 adult women) to measure household water insecurity (HWI) and women's experiences of GBV in the last year.

"Gender-Based Water Violence": Cross-Cultural Evidence for Severe Harm Associated With Water Insecurity for Women and Girls.

We examined how study participants in Indonesia and Peru viewed the relationship between water insecurity and women's health via thematic analysis of interviews and focus groups. Participants reported that water insecurity led to vaginal infections, miscarriage, premature births, uterine prolapse, poor nutrition, restricted economic opportunities, and intergenerational cycles of poverty. Participants in both countries stated that extreme burdens associated with water insecurity should be categorized as violence.

Network Profile: Improving Response to Malaria in the Amazon through Identification of Inter-Community Networks and Human Mobility in Border Regions of Ecuador, Peru, and Brazil.

Objectives: Understanding human mobility's role on malaria transmission is critical to successful control and elimination. However, common approaches to measuring mobility are ill-equipped for remote regions such as the Amazon. This study develops a network survey to quantify the effect of community connectivity and mobility on malaria transmission.

Enablers and barriers to adopt the locally developed Masi mechanical ventilator amid COVID-19 pandemic in Peru.

Background: Limited supply of resources during the COVID-19 emergency encouraged the local development of the Masi mechanical ventilator (MV). Despite the efforts to promote Masi, adopting this innovation faced multiple obstacles, regardless of its performance. We explored the perceptions among healthcare personnel towards incorporating Masi to provide ventilatory support to COVID-19 patients during the second wave in Peru (January to June 2021).

Teenage pregnancy in Tambogrande, Peru: causes, consequences and cycles of violence and disadvantage.

Teenage pregnancy carries adverse consequences for health and well-being. In this article, we investigate the perceived causes, consequences and cycles of violence and disadvantage associated with teenage pregnancy in Tambogrande, Peru using an applied anthropological approach. Data were drawn from a larger project investigating the relationship between water insecurity and gender-based violence in Indonesia and Peru.

Household-level risk factors for water contamination and antimicrobial resistance in drinking water among households with children under 5 in rural San Marcos, Cajamarca, Peru.

Household water contamination at point of use depends on human, animal and environmental factors embodying all aspects of a One Health approach. This study investigated the association between household factors, the presence of thermotolerant coliform, and the presence of antibiotic resistant bacteria in drinking water among 314 households with children under 5 in Cajamarca, Peru. This study analysed data from a baseline sampling of a randomized controlled trial, including household surveys covering household water management and factors such as household animals, as well as microbiological data from samples collected from drinking water.

Water insecurity, self-reported physical health, and objective measures of biological health in the Peruvian Amazon.

Objectives: This study examines the associations between water insecurity, self-reported physical health, and objective measures of biological health among 225 Awajún adults (107 women; 118 men) living in the Peruvian Amazon, a "water-abundant" region.

Methods: A survey, which included multiple measures of self-reported physical health, and objective measures of biological health such as blood pressure and nutritional and immune biomarkers.

Results: Greater water insecurity was associated with multiple measures of self-reported physical health, including higher incidence of reported diarrhea, nausea, back pain, headaches, chest pain, fatigue, dizziness, overall poor perceived health, and "being sick.

Whole-Genome Characterisation of ESBL-Producing Isolated from Drinking Water and Dog Faeces from Rural Andean Households in Peru.

that produce extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs) are major multidrug-resistant bacteria. In Peru, only a few reports have characterised the whole genome of ESBL enterobacteria. We aimed to confirm the identity and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) profile of two ESBL isolates from dog faeces and drinking water of rural Andean households and determine serotype, phylogroup, sequence type (ST)/clonal complex (CC), pathogenicity, virulence genes, ESBL genes, and their plasmids.

Molecular Characterization by Multilocus Sequence Typing and Diversity Analysis of in Peru.

Despite several reports worldwide documenting the presence of in samples derived from ectoparasites, animals and more recently humans, genomic information of these specimens remains scarce, and when available, is usually limited to small genomic fragments of limited value. We generated complete sequences for two conserved (17-kDa antigen gene and ) and three variable (, and ) genes in five DNA samples detected in cat and dog fleas in Peru. Complete gene sequences were used to conduct multi-locus sequence typing and phylogenetic analyses to assess diversity and infer relationships among strains and other reference sequences.

Antimicrobial Resistance in Rural Settings in Latin America: A Scoping Review with a One Health Lens.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in rural Latin America is not fully understood. The transmission pathways are partially known since research predominantly focuses on the urban hospital setting. The contribution to AMR from environmental factors is usually only mentioned in large-scale animal production.

Antimicrobial Resistance in Humans, Animals, Water and Household Environs in Rural Andean Peru: Exploring Dissemination Pathways through the One Health Lens.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global public health threat, especially for low and middle-income countries (LMIC) where the threat has not been fully identified. Our study aims to describe AMR in rural communities to expand our knowledge on AMR bacterial contamination. Specifically, we aim to identify and describe potential dissemination routes of AMR-carrying bacteria in humans (children's stools), community water sources (reservoirs and household sources), household environments (yard soil) and domestic animals of subsistence farmers in rural Andean areas.

Ecosyndemics: The potential synergistic health impacts of highways and dams in the Amazon.

Ecosyndemics refer to disease interactions that result from environmental changes commonly caused by humans. In this paper, we push scholarship on ecosyndemics into new territory by using the ecosyndemic framework to compare two case studies-the Southern Interoceanic highway in Peru and the Belo Monte hydroelectric dam in Brazil-to assess the likelihood of socio-environmental factors interacting and leading to ill health in a syndemic fashion. Assessing these two case studies using an ecosyndemic perspective, we find that the construction of dams and highways in tropical forests create the conditions for increases in vector-borne illnesses, surges in sex work and sexually-transmitted infections, and increased psychological stress resulting from violence, delinquency, and the erosion of social cohesion.

A "Cookbook" for Vulnerability Research.

There is a growing need to facilitate the interdisciplinary study of the relationship between the environment and human health and well-being. It is increasingly recognized that vulnerability is a key construct allowing discipline-specific research questions on these topics to be meaningfully contextualized. However, there is little consensus regarding the meaning of the concept of vulnerability or how it can best be utilized in research studies.

Antibiotic-Resistant in Drinking Water Samples from Rural Andean Households in Cajamarca, Peru.

Antibiotic resistance in pathogenic bacteria is a serious public health issue. The growing threat is a cause for concern and action to prevent the emergence of new resistant strains and the spread of existing ones to humans via the environment. This study aimed at identifying fecal pathogens in drinking water obtained from rural Andean households from Cajamarca, Peru, and measuring the antibiotic resistance profile of .

Seroprevalence and Risk Factors for and Infection in Four Ecologically Distinct Regions of Peru.

and spp. are under-recognized causes of acute febrile disease worldwide. species are often placed into the spotted fever group rickettsiae (SFGR) and typhus group rickettsiae (TGR).

Identification of Leptospira and Bartonella among rodents collected across a habitat disturbance gradient along the Inter-Oceanic Highway in the southern Amazon Basin of Peru.

Background: The southern Amazon Basin in the Madre de Dios region of Peru has undergone rapid deforestation and habitat disruption, leading to an unknown zoonotic risk to the growing communities in the area.

Methodology/principal Findings: We surveyed the prevalence of rodent-borne Leptospira and Bartonella, as well as potential environmental sources of human exposure to Leptospira, in 4 communities along the Inter-Oceanic Highway in Madre de Dios. During the rainy and dry seasons of 2014-2015, we captured a total of 97 rodents representing 8 genera in areas that had experienced different degrees of habitat disturbance.

Individual and Spatial Risk of Dengue Virus Infection in Puerto Maldonado, Peru.

Dengue virus (DENV) affects more than 100 countries worldwide. Dengue virus infection has been increasing in the southern Peruvian Amazon city of Puerto Maldonado since 2000. We designed this study to describe the prevalence of past DENV infection and to evaluate risk factors.

The Impact of Road Construction on Subjective Well-Being in Communities in Madre de Dios, Peru.

The interoceanic highway (IOH) in Madre de Dios, Peru has driven dramatic change in the Peruvian Amazon basin. We conducted a mixed methods study to examine the impact of these changes on the subjective well-being (SWB) of four communities on the IOH. Themes that emerged qualitatively included changing health threats, environmental degradation, and the impact of increased migration.

Critical linkages between land use change and human health in the Amazon region: A scoping review.

Land use change (LUC) is a main cause of global environmental change, and is an important activity to be studied. Our research aims to examine the current state of evidence on the link between LUC and human health in the Amazon region. We conducted a scoping review of literature in two research databases, resulting in 14 papers for analysis.

Small scale migration along the interoceanic highway in Madre de Dios, Peru: an exploration of community perceptions and dynamics due to migration.

Background: Madre de Dios, a southern state in the Peruvian Amazon basin, has experienced rapid development as well as an influx of migrants since the construction of the Interoceanic Highway (IOH) connecting Brazil, Bolivia, and the Peruvian coast. We explored perceptions of migration and development in up to eight communities along the IOH in Madre de Dios following construction of the highway.

Methods: We conducted a multiple methods study involving focus group (FG) discussions and interviews with key informants (KIs) in eight communities in Madre de Dios.

Early child health in an informal settlement in the Peruvian Amazon.

Background: Informal settlements are common throughout the developing world. In Peru, land occupations, commonly "invasions" in Spanish, are a means by which the extremely poor attempt to obtain access to land. Here, we examine difference in child health between two communities in the Peruvian Amazon, one well-established and one newly formed by 'invasion', as captured incidentally by a prospective epidemiological cohort study.

Community perceptions of health and rodent-borne diseases along the Inter-Oceanic Highway in Madre de Dios, Peru.

Background: Madre de Dios is located in the southeastern Amazonian region of Peru. Rodents have been estimated to be the reservoirs for up to 50 % of emerging zoonotic pathogens, including a host of viruses, bacteria, and parasites. As part of a larger study involving both human and animal research, this study serves to obtain a broader understanding of the key challenges and concerns related to health and rodent-borne illnesses from the perspective of the people living in these communities.