Current recommendations to ensure a safe water supply may have been insufficient to inactivate HEV and control this epidemic. This research highlights the need to evaluate current water treatment methods and to identify alternative solutions adapted to complex emergencies.

No abstract

Five factor analyses with limitations explored the Suicidal Intent Scale (SIS) subscales reflecting suicidal behavior dimensions. This larger sample study conducts an exploratory factor analysis of the SIS. Two large samples of suicide attempters (N= 435 and N= 252) from a general hospital were studied. The validity of SIS subscales obtained from the factor analysis was investigated by examining the association between the subscales and clinical variables. There were two factors: expected lethality and planning. In both samples, male gender and depression tended to be associated with higher scores in both subscales (small to medium effect sizes). Hospitalization was associated with higher scores in both SIS subscales (medium to large effects) suggesting that these subscales were reasonably good predictors of suicide attempt severity. Clinicians assessing patient reports to establish the severity of suicide attempts need to ask questions regarding both dimensions: expected lethality and planning.

No abstract

One of the primary ways in which species interact with their environment is through foraging; thereby directly consuming some fraction of their surrounding habitat. The habitat itself, in turn, may dictate the types of foraging opportunities that are available to the inhabitants. To investigate the relationship between habitat availability and diet composition of habitat-associated fi shes, we estimated the relative abundance of the potential sessile and mobile prey items and the diet of the fi sh species assemblage associated to kelp forest. Specifi cally, diet and feeding selectivity of the kelp-forest associated fi sh assemblage were determined by calculating Manly's alpha selectivity index. We determined the diet of kelp forest associated fi shes and their foraging behavior by comparing prey availability with those items present in the stomachs of fi shes captured by gill net and spear gun. We calculated the degree of dietary overlap among fi shes from four locations along the northern coast of Chile. Results indicate that utilization of prey by predators is predominantly affected by potential prey availability. With the exception of the two carnivorous species such as Pinguipes chilensis (Valenciennes, 1883) and Paralabrax humeralis (Cuvier & Valenciennes, 1828), whose diet did not change among sites, all other kelp-associated fi shes changed their dietary habitats to consistent with the availability of local resources. Benthic resources changed among the different study sites, which led to differing diets even in the same species from different locations. Eleven of the 12 kelp forest fi shes also showed some selectively for benthic prey. We conclude that the ability of fi shes to be plastic in their feeding preference and, therefore, partition the benthic resources may set adaptations to co-exist in a dynamic environment such as kelp forest.

Colombia is an endemic country for dengue fever where the four serotypes of virus dengue (DENV1–4) circulate simultaneously, and all types are responsible for dengue cases in the country. The control strategies are guided by entomological surveillance. However, heterogeneity in aedic indices is not well correlated with the incidence of the disease in cities such as Riohacha, Bello and Villavicencio. As an alternative, molecular detection of dengue virus in mosquitoes has been proposed as a useful tool for epidemiological surveillance and identification of serotypes circulating in field. We conducted a spatiotemporal fieldwork in these cities to capture adult mosquitoes to assess vector infection and explain the differences between Breteau indices and disease incidence. DENV infection in females and DENV serotype identification were evaluated and infection rates (IR) were estimated. The relationship between density, dengue cases and vector index was also estimated with logistic regression modeling and Pearson’s correlation coefficient. The lack of association between aedic indices and dengue incidence is in agreement with the weak associations between the density of the mosquitoes and their infection with DENV in the three cities. However, association was evident between the IR and dengue cases in Villavicencio. Furthermore, we found important negative associations between temperature and lag time from two to six weeks in Riohacha. We conclude that density of mosquitoes is not a good predictor of dengue cases. Instead, IR and temperature might explain better such heterogeneity.

Biomédica 2013;33(Supl.1):99-107 Etiología del síndrome febril no palúdico en Urabá Contribución de los autores:Esteban Arroyave: trabajo de laboratorio, redacción del manuscrito. Andrés Felipe Londoño: recolección de las muestras, pruebas serológicas virales, discusión y redacción del manuscrito. Juan Carlos Quintero: análisis estadístico y pruebas de inmunofluorescencia para Rickettsia. Piedad Agudelo-Flórez: diseño del estudio, análisis de la información y revisión del manuscrito. Margarita Arboleda: análisis de la información, contribución con la discusión y revisión del manuscrito. Francisco J. Díaz: diseño del estudio, análisis de la información y revisión del manuscrito. Juan D. Rodas: planeación del trabajo, obtención de recursos para el estudio, análisis de la información y corrección final del manuscrito. ARTÍCULO ORIGINAL

Hantaan virus was discovered in Korea during the 1970s while other similar viruses were later reported in Asia and Europe. There was no information about hantavirus human infection in the Americas until 1993 when an outbreak was described in the United States. This event promoted new studies to find hantaviruses in the Americas. At first, many studies were conducted in Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Paraguay, while other Latin American countries began to report the presence of these agents towards the end of the 20th century. More than 30 hantaviruses have been reported in the Western Hemisphere with more frequent cases registered in the southern cone (Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia and Brazil). However there was an important outbreak in 2000 in Panama and some rare events have been described in Peru, Venezuela and French Guiana. Since hantaviruses have only recently emerged as a potential threat in the tropical zones of the Americas, this review compiles recent hantavirus reports in Central America, the Caribbean islands and the northern region of South America. These studies have generated the discovery of new hantaviruses and could help to anticipate the presentation of possible future outbreaks in the region.