BackgroundIdentifying clusters of acute paracoccidioidomycosis cases could potentially help in identifying the environmental factors that influence the incidence of this mycosis. However, unlike other endemic mycoses, there are no published reports of clusters of paracoccidioidomycosis.Methodology/Principal FindingsA retrospective cluster detection test was applied to verify if an excess of acute form (AF) paracoccidioidomycosis cases in time and/or space occurred in Botucatu, an endemic area in São Paulo State. The scan-test SaTScan v7.0.3 was set to find clusters for the maximum temporal period of 1 year. The temporal test indicated a significant cluster in 1985 (P<0.005). This cluster comprised 10 cases, although 2.19 were expected for this year in this area. Age and clinical presentation of these cases were typical of AF paracccidioidomycosis. The space-time test confirmed the temporal cluster in 1985 and showed the localities where the risk was higher in that year. The cluster suggests that some particularities took place in the antecedent years in those localities. Analysis of climate variables showed that soil water storage was atypically high in 1982/83 (∼2.11/2.5 SD above mean), and the absolute air humidity in 1984, the year preceding the cluster, was much higher than normal (∼1.6 SD above mean), conditions that may have favored, respectively, antecedent fungal growth in the soil and conidia liberation in 1984, the probable year of exposure. These climatic anomalies in this area was due to the 1982/83 El Niño event, the strongest in the last 50 years.Conclusions/SignificanceWe describe the first cluster of AF paracoccidioidomycosis, which was potentially linked to a climatic anomaly caused by the 1982/83 El Niño Southern Oscillation. This finding is important because it may help to clarify the conditions that favor Paracoccidioides brasiliensis survival and growth in the environment and that enhance human exposure, thus allowing the development of preventive measures.
Abstract. In the Brazilian savannas (Cerrado biome) fires are natural and a tool for
shifting land use; therefore, temporal and spatial patterns result from the
interaction of climate, vegetation condition and human activities. Moreover,
orbital sensors are the most effective approach to establish patterns in the
biome. We aimed to characterize fire, precipitation and vegetation condition
regimes and to establish spatial patterns of fire occurrence and their
correlation with precipitation and vegetation condition in the Cerrado. The
Cerrado was first and second biome for the occurrence of burned areas (BA)
and hotspots, respectively. Occurrences are higher during the dry season and
in the savanna land use. Hotspots and BA tend to decrease, and concentrate in
the north, but more intense hotspots are not necessarily located where
concentration is higher. Spatial analysis showed that averaged and summed
values can hide patterns, such as for precipitation, which has the lowest
average in August, but minimum precipitation in August was found in 7 %
of the Cerrado. Usually, there is a 2–3-month lag between minimum
precipitation and maximum hotspots and BA, while minimum VCI and maximum
hotspots and BA occur in the same month. Hotspots and BA are better
correlated with VCI than precipitation, qualifying VCI as an indicator of the
susceptibility of vegetation to ignition.
Estudos sobre variabilidade climática caracterizam-se como de grande importância para os estudos geográficos já que os extremos climáticos afetam diretamente as condições socioambientais. O presente estudo visa apresentar pesquisas já desenvolvidas sobre a variabilidade climática da chuva na bacia amazônica brasileira, dos oceanos adjacentes e sobre a inter-relação entre eles, com o objetivo de apresentar o estado da arte acerca do tema e contribuir para o desenvolvimento de estudos da área na ciência geográfica. O principal fenômeno que afeta a variabilidade da chuva na bacia amazônica é o ENOS, contribuindo para períodos mais secos quando da sua fase quente e períodos mais úmidos quando de sua fase fria. Também o Atlântico desempenha papel importante na variabilidade da precipitação, especialmente por modular o posicionamento da ZCIT e o transporte de umidade para a bacia amazônica. Artigos apresentados destacam também a importância de se compreender a retroalimentação entre os fenômenos que se desenvolvem no Pacífico e Atlântico, demonstrando que se trata de processos altamente acoplados e de grande complexidade, tanto no seu funcionamento quanto nos efeitos que causam na hidrologia da bacia amazônica. Pode-se concluir que as teleconexões entre a temperatura da superfície do mar e a variabilidade das chuvas na bacia amazônica constituem um tema de grande pertinência e que várias lacunas do conhecimento ainda precisam ser preenchidas.
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