ABSTRACT:Toxoplasma gondii infection may lead to important pathological questions, especially in rural areas, where several sources of infection exist. Therefore, it is important to determine risk factors in order to establish adequate prophylactic measures. The present study aimed to assess the prevalence and risk factors involved in human toxoplasmosis infection in a rural community, in Eldorado, Mato Grosso do Sul State, Brazil. This community was composed of 185 farms -with 671 inhabitants -from which 20 were randomly chosen. In these farms, blood samples were collected from rural workers, who also answered a risk factor questionnaire. Serum samples were analyzed by means of direct agglutination test for the detection of anti-Toxoplasma gondii antibodies. From 73 samples collected, 79.45% were positive. None of the studied variables was significantly associated with the prevalence of the infection. However, among the individuals who reported eyesight impairments, 94.4% had anti-T. gondii antibodies, compared with 74.0% who did not report eyesight changes (p = 0.0594). Moreover, most individuals in the study (68.20%) were older than 18 years and presented 84.44% positivity, compared with 66.67% of positive individuals younger than 18 years old. We were able to conclude that a high prevalence of antibodies did not imply significant associations with the risk factors studied.

Background Several challenges are imposed in the course of HIV/ aids, including the mental health care. This study aims to assess depressive symptoms of people living with HIV/aids and correlate with sociodemographics and clinical factors. Methods This is a cross-sectional study, conducted in two specialised ambulatory care to individuals with HIV/AIDS located in a city in the interior. We evaluated sociodemographic and clinical variables. For evaluation of depressive symptoms was used Beck Depression Inventory. Results The study included 331 people living with HIV/AIDS, and 167 (50.5%) were male. The mean age was 39 years. It was found that most 195 (58.9%) of subjects had up to 8 years of study. Refers clinical characteristics showed that 156 (47.1%) subjects were classified as AIDS, 267 (80.7%) had CD4 above 200 cells/mm 3 and 176 (53.2%) had no others comorbidities. The prevalence of depressive symptoms was 29.6% (BDI > 16), with 6.6% classified with mild symptoms , 12.4% moderate (20 to 29) and 10.6% (BDI 30-63) with severe symptoms. Conclusions Data analysis showed that most participants were young, males, with low education which corroborates with the profile found in this population. Services and health professionals, especially nurses, should be able to provide comprehensive care to individuals with HIV/aids, considering clinical and emotional aspects.Projects for strengthen civil society's actions relateD to the stD/hiv/aiDs anD viral hePatitis ePiDemic

Data from 428 women, were included in this secondary data analysis. All women were asymptomatic for BV at baseline and tested for BV every two months. Persistent cases of BV were positive for BV at month two, four and six. Women who were negative for BV at month two, four and six were classified as no BV. All other cases were defined as episodic BV. Incident STI was defined as any new case of CT or NG at month eight. Factors associated with STI acquisition were assessed using Binary Logistic Regression. The final model was adjusted for age, education, women who have sex with women and BV status.Most women were £21 years (55.8%) and completed some post high school/GED education (50.9%). There were 179 (41.8%) women with persistent BV, 204 (47.7%) women with episodic BV and 45 (10.5%) women with no BV. At month eight 8.6% of women tested positive for an STI. Bivariate analysis demonstrated a significant association between women with no BV and STI acquisition (p=0.02). Women with no BV did not acquire an STI, 7.3% of women with persistent BV acquired and STI and 11.7% of women with episodic BV acquired an STI. Women with high school or more than high school education compared to women with less than high school education had decreased odds of developing an STI (Adjusted Odds Ratio (adjOR): 0.38; 95% CI: 0.15-0.92; and adjOR: 0.31; 95%CI: 0.13-0.73).At least a high school education was associated with increased odds of STI acquisition compared to less than high school education. STI acquisition was only observed among women with BV.