No abstract

Background: Little is known regarding the developmental consequences of congenital Zika syndrome (CZS) without microcephaly at birth. Most previously published clinical series were descriptive and they had small sample sizes. Study design: We conducted a cohort study to compare the growth, clinical, and motor development outcomes for 110 children with CZS born with and without microcephaly up to their third birthday. Ninety-three had their head circumference (HC) at birth abstracted and they did not have hypertensive hydrocephalus at birth, where 61 were born with microcephaly and 32 without. Results: The HC z-scores decreased steeply from birth to six months of age, i.e., from -3.77 to -6.39 among those with microcephaly at birth and from -1.03 to -3.84 among those without. Thus, at 6 months of age, the mean HC z-scores for children born without microcephaly were nearly the same as those for children born with microcephaly. Children born without microcephaly were less likely to have brain damage, ophthalmic abnormalities, and drug-resistant epilepsy, but the differences in many conditions were not statistically significant. Conclusions: Children born without microcephaly were only slightly less likely to present severe neurologic impairment and to develop postnatal-onset microcephaly, and some of the original differences between the groups tended to dissipate with age.

The short duration of viremia, low blood viral load, inaccessibility to timely specific diagnostic tests, and cross-reactions with other flaviviruses have hindered laboratory confirmation of Congenital Zika Syndrome (CZS). This study analyzes the positivity of the plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT) in children with clinical or imaging characteristics of CZS and its association with laboratory, clinical, and imaging characteristics. The 94 clinical cases of CZS submitted to the ZIKV PRNT90 test were followed from 2016 to 2018. The mean age of children at PRNT90 collection was 22 ± 6 months Standard Deviation. The ZIKV PRNT90 was positive (titer ≥ 10) in 40 (42.5%) children. ZIKV PRNT90 positivity was associated with severe microcephaly in newborns (p = 0.016), lower head circumference z-score at birth (p = 0.043) and 24 months of age (p = 0.031), and severe reduction of the cerebral parenchyma volume (p = 0.021), expressing greater disease severity. Negative PRNT90 in children with characteristic signs of CZS may be due to false-negative results, indicating that the diagnosis of CZS should be primarily syndromic.

Resumo Introdução O suicídio é uma das três causas de morte mais frequentes no mundo e varia conforme o sexo e a idade. Objetivo Analisar a tendência da mortalidade por suicídio nas regiões brasileiras no período de 1996 a 2015 e sua associação com o sexo e a faixa etária. Método Estudo ecológico de série temporal, utilizando os óbitos por suicídio analisados por regiões no período de 1996 a 2015 contidos no Sistema de Informações sobre Mortalidade. Para avaliação da tendência da mortalidade por suicídio, foi considerado o modelo de regressão de Prais-Winsten. Para comparar os percentuais de mortalidade por sexo e faixa etária, foi utilizado o teste qui-quadrado. Resultados Observou-se tendência crescente de óbitos por suicídio nas regiões Norte (1,73%, Coef = 0,007; p-valor < 0,001), Nordeste (2,30%, Coef = 0,010; p-valor = 0,006) e Sudeste (1,41%, Coef = 0,006; p-valor < 0,001) e decrescente no Sul (-0,57%, Coef = -0,002; p-valor = 0,001), além de predomínio de homens no percentual de óbitos (p < 0,001). Conclusão O suicídio é considerado importante problema de saúde pública, necessitando de ações para divulgação dos riscos e programas de prevenção.

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