Background: In 2012, the first dengue virus outbreak was reported on the Portuguese island of Madeira with 1080 confirmed cases. Dengue virus of serotype 1 (DENV-1), probably imported from Venezuela, caused this outbreak with autochthonous transmission by invasive Aedes aegypti mosquitoes.
Results: We investigated the seroprevalence among the population on Madeira Island four years after the outbreak. Study participants (n = 358), representative of the island population regarding their age and gender, were enrolled in 2012 in a cross-sectional study. Dengue antibodies were detected with an in-house enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using the dimer of domain III (ED3) of the DENV-1 envelope protein as well as commercial Panbio indirect and capture IgG ELISAs. Positive ELISA results were validated with a neutralization test. The overall seroprevalence was found to be 7.8% (28/358) with the in-house ELISA, whereas the commercial DENV indirect ELISA detected IgG antibodies in 8.9% of the individuals (32/358). The results of the foci reduction neutralization test confirmed DENV-1 imported from South America as the causative agent of the 2012 epidemic. Additionally, we found a higher seroprevalence in study participants with an age above 60 years old and probable secondary DENV infected individuals indicating unreported dengue circulation before or after 2012 on Madeira Island.
Conclusions: This study revealed that the number of infections might have been much higher than estimated from only confirmed cases in 2012/2013. These mainly DENV-1 immune individuals are not protected from a secondary DENV infection and the majority of the population of Madeira Island is still naïve for DENV. Surveillance of mosquitoes and arboviruses should be continued on Madeira Island as well as in other European areas where invasive vector mosquitoes are present.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13071-019-3357-3 | DOI Listing |
Hum Resour Health
December 2024
Department of Public Health, University of Aarhus, Aarhus, Denmark.
Background: Primary healthcare has emerged as a powerful global concept, but little attention has been directed towards the pivotal role of the healthcare workforce and the diverse institutional setting in which they work. This study aims to bridge the gap between the primary healthcare policy and the ongoing healthcare workforce crisis debate by introducing a health system and governance approach to identify capacities that may help respond effectively to the HCWF crisis in health system contexts.
Methods: A qualitative comparative methodology was employed, and a rapid assessment of the primary healthcare workforce was conducted across nine countries: Denmark, Germany, Kazakhstan, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom/ England.
J Neuroinflammation
December 2024
Research Institute for Medicines (iMed.ULisboa), Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal.
Multiple Sclerosis (MS), a neuroinflammatory disease of the central nervous system, is one of the commonest causes of non-traumatic disability among young adults. Impaired cognition arises as an impactful symptom affecting more than 50% of the patients and with substantial impact on social, economic, and individual wellbeing. Despite the lack of therapeutic strategies, many efforts have been made to understand the mechanisms behind cognitive impairment in MS patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBMC Endocr Disord
December 2024
Basic and Clinical Immunology, Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal.
Background: Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) is associated with high cardiovascular risk. Thyroid volume has a notable dispersion of values in these patients. This study aims to clarify the association between thyroid antibodies, thyroid morphology, insulin resistance, and lipid profile in patients with HT.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnviron Int
December 2024
Department of Oncology and Molecular Medicine, National Institute of Health (Istituto Superiore di Sanità), Rome, Italy(2).
Life Sci Alliance
March 2025
Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal
Variants in the hereditary cancer-associated and genes can alter RNA splicing, producing transcripts that encode internally truncated yet potentially functional proteins. However, few studies have quantitatively analyzed variant-specific splicing isoforms. Here, we investigated cells heterozygous and homozygous for the :c.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!