Visceral Leishmaniasis is a vector-borne disease that represents one of the most important public health problems in the world. This neglected tropical zoonosis shows an increasing urbanization process, since the end of the 1980s. The increase in ecotourism practices, mainly in regions nearby urban areas facilitates the interaction between companion animals, humans, and wildlife. Known as the land of the waterfalls, Carrancas is a 728 km² Brazilian municipality located at 1052m, in the southeast of Brazil. The region is surrounded by urban areas with autochthonous cases of Canine Visceral Leishmaniasis and lacking studies on the presence of vectors of Leishmania spp. The municipality is part of the most important ecotourism area, a renowned tourist destination in Brazil and abroad called Royal Road or “Estrada Real – ER. Due to the increasing number of travelers involved in ecotourism and exposing them to risk factors for diseases, we propose to investigate the presence of phlebotomine sandflies in a protected area in the southern state of Minas Gerais, which is constantly visited by tourists over the world. Six specimens of Lutzomyia longipalpis were captured in Carrancas. This is the first report of L. longipalpis in an ecotourism area south of Minas Gerais State. This record contributes to our knowledge of the geographical distribution of the main vector of American Visceral Leishmaniasis in Carrancas and alerts us to the need for permanent surveillance and health education at this location.
The global spread of SARS-CoV-2 has resulted in a public health crisis and major economic impact, with millions of confirmed cases and deaths worldwide. An important aspect of controlling the spread of the virus is testing individuals for COVID-19. Currently, the gold standard is the association of RT-qPCR with the Nasopharyngeal Swab (Ns), which is uncomfortable and requires specialized personnel for sample collection. Mass testing, unprecedented in human history, leads to the search for innovations and facilities in the methodology, but which maintains diagnostic security, even in the face of new variants of the virus. This study aimed to evaluate a less invasive alternative method, collecting samples from the oral mucosa with a swab (Os). For comparison, the same patients were tested using biological material collected through Os and Ns. Samples were processed and analyzed by RTq-PCR. Results showed 100% concordance between Ns and Os samples from elderly patients, and SARS-CoV-2 was detected in saliva samples up to 14 days after the onset of symptoms in 31.25% of hospitalized patients. Our data and conclusion provide an important base for future studies of standardization and validation of the procedure described here. Using a more comfortable method could increase population adherence to testing and contribute to controlling the transmission of COVID-19.
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a health system crisis, deaths and socioeconomic hardship. In order to minimize the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic in the municipality of Lavras, a partnership was developed between the Lavras City Hall and the Universidade Federal de Lavras (UFLA). The present study aimed to describe the main prevention measures proposed in Lavras and to evaluate the community's perception of the management model towards COVID-19. A public online questionnaire, with 20 multiple-choice questions, about the measures to confront covid was submitted to the Google Forms platform from April 22nd to April 30th, 2020. The data regarding the strategies carried out to deal with COVID-19 was obtained from the published municipal ordinances. During the eight days that the questionnaire was applied, a total of 8,874 respondents from Lavras were obtained. Among these respondents, 31.64% (2,808) were men, 68.15% (6,047) were women, and 0.21% (19) declared "another option". When the participants were asked whether they are respecting the social distance measures, 7,452 (84.1%) of them answered "yes."Also, a total of 57.4% of the participants reported that the social distancing measures compromised their family income. However, despite the impact of this economic compromise on these families, 93.82% of the respondents believe that the measures applied are important. When analyzing the questionnaire responses, it was noticeable that despite residents suffering negative economic consequences, there was great popular approval of preventive measures, such as social distancing and the use of masks. In addition, it was possible to notice the population's trust in the measures recommended by professionals at UFLA and the city hall, highlighting the importance of establishing contact between authorities and the population during decision making.
A doença causada pelo novo coronavírus trouxe vários impactos negativos, inclusive sobre os catadores de materiais reciclados que tiveram suas atividades interrompidas em função das medidas de controle implementadas mundialmente. Algumas regiões, como foi o caso do município de Lavras, adotaram protocolos de biossegurança para permitir o retorno das atividades de coleta e processamento do material reciclável. Neste sentido, tornou-se relevante avaliar os efeitos das medidas de prevenção à COVID-19 na infecção humana e contaminação ambiental pelo SARS-CoV-2. No presente trabalho avaliou-se a contaminação ambiental e a infecção de trabalhadores de uma Associação de Catadores de Materiais Recicláveis localizada no município de Lavras, sudeste do Brasil. Amostras ambientais, coletadas com o uso de swabs friccionados em superfícies do galpão de armazenamento de resíduos e amostras de swab nasofaringeo dos catadores foram submetidos à extração de RNA viral e RT-qPCR. Não foi encontrado RNA viral em nenhuma amostra ambiental e todos os trabalhadores apresentaram resultado negativos para a presença do SARS-CoV-2. Os catadores não estavam com o protocolo vacinal iniciado. As medidas de vigilância e controle da COVID-19 foram rigorosamente implementadas no município. Além disso, os catadores também seguiram os protocolos de biossegurança aprovados pelas autoridades locais. Os dados do presente estudo demonstram a importância de protocolos bem estabelecidos para prevenção da infecção por SARS-CoV-2, em um grupo caracterizado pela vulnerabilidade, principalmente após a mudança de cenário com a pandemia de COVID-19.
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