Publications by authors named "Silene M Rocha"

Human rabies cases today are predominantly associated with infection from rabid domestic dogs. Unlike dogs, a common global reservoir species that perpetuates rabies viruses (RABV) within their populations, domestic cats are much less frequently reported or vaccinated. Epidemiologically, cats are important vectors of lyssaviruses but are not viral reservoirs.

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In 2018, an outbreak of human rabies caused by the hematophagous bat hit the Brazilian Amazon Basin community of Melgaço, Brazil, resulting in the death of 10 people, 9 of them children. The incidence of rabies has been on the rise among populations in conditions of vulnerability in this ecosystem due to human expansion into sylvatic environments and limited access to public health services. To address this issue, in September 2019, a collaborative effort from national, local, and international institutions promoted and executed a pilot for pre-exposure prophylaxis of a population in high-risk areas for hematophagous bat-mediated rabies.

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Rabies transmitted by wildlife is the main source of human rabies mortality in Latin America and considered an emerging disease. The common marmoset Callithrix jacchus of Brazil is the only known primate reservoir of rabies worldwide. We tested whether alive free-ranging C.

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Background: Human rabies outbreak transmitted by bats continues to be a relevant public health problem not only in the Amazon region. The disease has affected one of the areas with the greatest poverty in southeastern Brazil, a region inhabited by the Maxakali indigenous people.

Case Presentation: We describe four cases of rabies among indigenous children that occurred in the indigenous village of Pradinho, municipality of Bertópolis, Minas Gerais, Brazil.

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Objective: To analyze human anti-rabies post-exposure prophylaxis notifications in Brazil.

Methods: This was a descriptive study using data from the Notifiable Diseases Information System in Brazil, from 2014 to 2019.

Results: A total of 4,033,098 anti-rabies medical consultations were notified, averaging 672,183 a year.

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Background: International organizations advocate for the elimination of dog-mediated rabies, but there is only limited guidance on interpreting surveillance data for managing elimination programmes. With the regional programme in Latin America approaching elimination of dog-mediated rabies, we aimed to develop a tool to evaluate the programme's performance and generate locally-tailored rabies control programme management guidance to overcome remaining obstacles.

Methods: We developed and validated a robust algorithm to classify progress towards rabies elimination within sub-national administrative units, which we applied to surveillance data from Brazil and Mexico.

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