OBJECTIVE To estimate the 2020 all-cause and COVID-19 excess mortality according to sex, age, race/color, and state, and to compare mortality rates by selected causes with that of the five previous years in Brazil. METHODS Data from the Mortality Information System were used. Expected deaths for 2020 were estimated from 2015 to 2019 data using a negative binomial log-linear model. RESULTS Excess deaths in Brazil in 2020 amounted to 13.7%, and the ratio of excess deaths to COVID-19 deaths was 0.90. Reductions in deaths from cardiovascular diseases (CVD), respiratory diseases, and external causes, and an increase in ill-defined causes were all noted. Excess deaths were also found to be heterogeneous, being higher in the Northern, Center-Western, and Northeastern states. In some states, the number of COVID-19 deaths was lower than that of excess deaths, whereas the opposite occurred in others. Moreover, excess deaths were higher in men aged 20 to 59, and in black, yellow, or indigenous individuals. Meanwhile, excess mortality was lower in women, in individuals aged 80 years or older, and in whites. Additionally, deaths among those aged 0 to 19 were 7.2% lower than expected, with reduction in mortality from respiratory diseases and external causes. There was also a drop in mortality due to external causes in men and in those aged 20 to 39 years. Moreover, reductions in deaths from CVD and neoplasms were noted in some states and groups. CONCLUSION There is evidence of underreporting of COVID-19 deaths and of the possible impact of restrictive measures in the reduction of deaths from external causes and respiratory diseases. The impacts of COVID-19 on mortality were heterogeneous among the states and groups, revealing that regional, demographic, socioeconomic, and racial differences expose individuals in distinct ways to the risk of death from both COVID-19 and other causes.

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in the state of Maranhão, Brazil. METHODS: A population-based household survey was performed, from July 27, 2020 to August 8, 2020. The estimates considered clustering, stratification and non-response. Qualitative detection of IgM and IgG antibodies was performed in a fully-automated Elecsys® Anti-SARS-CoV-2 electrochemiluminescence immunoassay on the Cobas® e601 analyzer (Roche Diagnostics). RESULTS: In total, 3,156 individuals were interviewed. Seroprevalence of total antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 was 40.4% (95%CI 35.6-45.3). Population adherence to non-pharmaceutical interventions was higher at the beginning of the pandemic than in the last month. SARS-CoV-2 infection rates were significantly lower among mask wearers and among those who maintained social and physical distancing in the last month compared to their counterparts. Among the infected, 26.0% were asymptomatic. The infection fatality rate (IFR) was 0.14%, higher for men and older adults. The IFR based on excess deaths was 0.28%. The ratio of estimated infections to reported cases was 22.2. CONCLUSIONS: To the best of our knowledge, the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 estimated in this population-based survey is one of the highest reported. The local herd immunity threshold may have been reached or might be reached soon.

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.

Background: Few population-based studies on the prevalence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) have been performed to date, and most of them have used lateral flow immunoassays with finger-prick, which may yield false-negative results and thus underestimate the true infection rate. Methods: A population-based household survey was performed in the State of Maranhao, Brazil, from 27 July 2020 to 8 August 2020 to estimate the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 using a serum testing electrochemiluminescence immunoassay. A three-stage cluster sampling stratified by four state regions was used. The estimates took clustering, stratification, and non-response into account. Qualitative detection of IgM and IgG antibodies was performed in a fully-automated Elecsys Anti-SARS-CoV-2 electrochemiluminescence immunoassay on the Cobas e601 analyser (Roche Diagnostics). Findings: A total of 3156 individuals were interviewed. Seroprevalence of total antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 was 40.4% (95%CI 35.6-45.3). Population adherence to non-pharmaceutical interventions was higher at the beginning of the pandemic than in the last month. SARS-CoV-2 infection rates were significantly lower among mask wearers and among those who maintained social and physical distancing in the last month compared to their counterparts. Among the infected, 62.2% had more than three symptoms, 11.1% had one or two symptoms, and 26.0% were asymptomatic. The infection fatality rate was 0.17%, higher for males and advanced age groups. The ratio of estimated infections to reported cases was 22.2. Interpretation: To the best of our knowledge, the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 estimated in this population-based survey was the highest and the closest to the herd immunity threshold reported to date. Our results suggest that the herd immunity threshold is not as low as 20%, but at least higher than or equal to around 40%. The infection fatality rate was one of the lowest reported so far, and the proportion of asymptomatic cases was low.

OBJETIVOS: Estimar a prevalência e fatores associados à hesitação ao uso da vacina contra o vírus SARS-CoV-2 no Maranhão, Brasil. MÉTODOS: Estudo transversal de base populacional realizado de 19 a 30 de outubro de 2020. As estimativas consideraram agrupamento, estratificação e não resposta. A seleção da amostra foi realizada em três estágios (estrato, setores censitários e domicílio). Após análise sistemática, em cada estrato foram selecionados trinta setores, totalizando 150 setores, sendo o número de domicílios em cada setor fixado em 34, totalizando 5.100 domicílios e um indivíduo por domicílio (residente pelo menos há seis meses e com um ano de idade ou mais) selecionado por amostra aleatória simples. A intenção de ser vacinado foi questionada aos participantes. Foi realizada análise descritiva (frequências ponderadas) e teste do qui-quadrado de Pearson para verificar associação univariada entre as variáveis independentes e o desfecho (p < 0,05). Realizou-se análise multivariada robusta utilizando-se modelagem hierarquizada em três níveis. RESULTADOS: Foram entrevistados 4.630 indivíduos. A prevalência de hesitação vacinal foi de 17,5% (IC95% 16,1–19,1%). Após ajuste final do modelo, a hesitação vacinal foi estatisticamente maior entre moradores das cidades de Imperatriz (24,0%; RP = 1,48; IC95% 1,09–2,02) e de munícipios da Grande Ilha de São Luís (20,7%; RP = 1,34; IC95% 1,02–1,76), pessoas do sexo feminino (19,8%; RP = 1,44; IC95% 1,20–1,75), idosos (22,8%; RP = 1,79; IC95% 1,30–2,46), pertencentes às religiões de denominação evangélica (24,1%; RP = 1,49; IC95% 1,24–1,79) e entre aqueles sem relato de sintomas (18,6%; RP = 1,24; IC95% 1,02–1,51). Outras características socioeconômicas e demográficas, assim como variáveis relacionadas ao mercado de trabalho, comportamentos e condições de saúde dos entrevistados, não tiveram diferença estatística. CONCLUSÃO: A prevalência de hesitação vacinal no Maranhão e sua associação com fatores individuais, contextuais e clínicos revelam os grupos e contextos mais resistentes e que devem merecer atenção especial das estratégias públicas para garantir a ampla vacinação.

This study describes the COVID-19 death reporting delay in the city of São Luís, Maranhão State, Brazil, and shows its impact on timely monitoring and modeling of the COVID-19 pandemic, while seeking to ascertain how nowcasting can improve death reporting delay. We analyzed COVID-19 death data reported daily in the Epidemiological Bulletin of the State Health Secretariat of Maranhão and calculated the reporting delay from March 23 to August 29, 2020. A semi-mechanistic Bayesian hierarchical model was fitted to illustrate the impact of death reporting delay and test the effectiveness of a Bayesian Nowcasting in improving data quality. Only 17.8% of deaths were reported without delay or the day after, while 40.5% were reported more than 30 days late. Following an initial underestimation due to reporting delay, 644 deaths were reported from June 7 to August 29, although only 116 deaths occurred during this period. Using the Bayesian nowcasting technique partially improved the quality of mortality data during the peak of the pandemic, providing estimates that better matched the observed scenario in the city, becoming unusable nearly two months after the peak. As delay in death reporting can directly interfere with assertive and timely decision-making regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, the Brazilian epidemiological surveillance system must be urgently revised and notifying the date of death must be mandatory. Nowcasting has proven somewhat effective in improving the quality of mortality data, but only at the peak of the pandemic.

BackgroundRhinosporidiosis is a rare chronic infection of the mucous membranes caused by the Rhinosporidium seeberi. Approximately 15% of cases of rhinosporidiosis are ocular, occurring mainly in the tarsal conjunctiva. There are only 11 cases of scleral melt with staphyloma formation associated with bulbar conjuctival oculosporidiosis and none of them was associated with partial regression of the scleral ectasia after a corneoscleral tectonic graft.Case presentationa 13-year-old girl with a progressively increasing black mass in the upper nasal part above the cornea of the left eye. The biomicroscopy revealed an oval, bluish mass measuring 10x10x5 mm with congestion of the overlying conjunctiva. Conjunctival biopsy showed sporoblasts of Rinosporidium seeberi. Treatment was conducted by conjunctival resection and tectonic corneoscleral graft (13x13mm) over the staphyloma. Within 1 year of follow-up the patient presented a partial staphyloma reduction, 9x9x2.5 mm, and the patch detached from the lesion. A novel surgical approach was done reducing the corneal patch and no recurrence was seen after 9 months.ConclusionsThis case is one of the largest anterior scleral staphylomas secondary to rhinosporidiosis described in the literature. Scleral anterior staphyloma partial regression is an unusual outcome after a tectonic corneoscleral graft. Infection resolution and graft covering of thinned area contributed to scleral reepithelization.

Collapsing glomerulopathy (CG) is a clinicopathologic entity characterized by segmentar or global collapse of the glomerulus and hypertrophy and hyperplasia of podocytes. The Columbia classification of 2004 classified CG as a histological subtype of focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS). A growing number of studies have demonstrated a high prevalence of CG in many countries, especially among populations with a higher proportion of people with African descent. The present study is a narrative review of articles extracted from PubMed, Medline, and Scielo databases from September 1, 2020 to December 31, 2021. We have focused on populational studies (specially cross-sectional and cohort articles). CG is defined as a podocytopathy with a distinct pathogenesis characterized by strong podocyte proliferative activity. The most significant risk factors for CG include APOL1 gene mutations and infections with human immunodeficiency virus and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. CG typically presents with more severe symptoms and greater renal damage. The prognosis is notably worse than that of other FSGS subtypes.