Project description:BackgroundManaus, located in the Brazilian rainforest, has experienced two health system collapses due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. However, little is known about which groups among the general population have been most affected.MethodsA convenience sampling strategy via online advertising recruited 3046 adults between 19 August 2020 and 2 October 2020. Sociodemographic characteristics, COVID-19-related symptoms, COVID-19 testing, self-medication and prescribed medications were recorded. Serum anti-severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) nucleocapsid immunoglobulin G antibodies were measured with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Prevalence ratios (PR) were obtained using cluster-corrected and adjusted Poisson's regression models.ResultsA crude positivity rate among asymptomatic and symptomatic individuals was estimated at 29.10%, with maximum possible seroprevalence of 44.82% corrected by test characteristics and an antibody decay rate of 32.31%. Regression models demonstrated a strong association towards marginalized low-income and vulnerable residents with limited access to health care. The presence of a COVID-19 case [PR 1.39, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.24-1.57] or death (PR 2.14, 95% CI 1.74-2.62) in a household greatly increased the risk of other household members acquiring infection. The seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 was higher among those who self-medicated to prevent infection (PR 1.36, 95% CI 1.27-1.46).ConclusionsDisproportionate socio-economic disparity was observed among the study participants. The syndemic nature of COVID-19 in the Amazon region needs differential policies and urgent solutions to control the ongoing pandemic.
Project description:We report dengue virus type 4 (DENV-4) in Amazonas, Brazil. This virus was isolated from serum samples of 3 patients treated at a tropical medicine reference center in Manaus. All 3 cases were confirmed by serologic and molecular tests; 1 patient was co-infected with DENV-3 and DENV-4.
Project description:We performed 2 surveys during 2022 to estimate point prevalences of SARS-CoV-2 infection compared with overall seroprevalence in Sweden. Point prevalence was 1.4% in March and 1.5% in September. Estimated seroprevalence was >80%, including among unvaccinated children. Continued SARS-CoV-2 surveillance is necessary for detecting emerging, possibly more pathogenic variants.
Project description:Norovirus (NoV) is a major cause of acute gastroenteritis (AGE) worldwide, especially in children under five years. Studies involving the detection and molecular characterisation of NoV have been performed in Brazil, demonstrating its importance as an etiological agent of AGE.The objectives of this study were to investigate the frequency of human NoV and to genotype the strains isolated from 0-14-year-old patients of AGE in Manaus, Brazil, over a period of two years.A total of 426 faecal samples were collected between January 2010 and December 2011. All samples were tested for the presence of NoV antigens using a commercial enzyme immunoassay kit. RNA was extracted from all faecal suspensions and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for the NoV-polymerase partial region was performed as a trial test. Positive samples were then subjected to PCR with specific primers for partial capsid genes, which were then sequenced.NoV was detected in 150 (35.2%) faecal samples, for at least one of the two techniques used. NoV was detected in children from all age groups, with the highest positivity observed among the group of 1-2 years old. Clinically, fever was verified in 43% of the positive cases and 46.3% of the negative cases, and vomiting was observed in 75.8% and 70.8% cases in these groups, respectively. Monthly distribution showed that the highest positivity was observed in January 2010 (81.2%), followed by February and April 2010 and March 2011, when the positivity rate reached almost 50%. Phylogenetic analyses performed with 65 positive strains demonstrated that 58 (89.2%) cases of NoV belonged to genotype GII.4, five (7.7%) to GII.6, and one (1.5%) each to GII.7 and GII.3.This research revealed a high circulation of NoV GII.4 in Manaus and contributed to the understanding of the importance of this virus in the aetiology of AGE cases, especially in a region with such few studies available.
Project description:After the first wave of SARS-CoV-2 infections in spring 2020, Europe experienced a resurgence of the virus starting in late summer 2020 that was deadlier and more difficult to contain1. Relaxed intervention measures and summer travel have been implicated as drivers of the second wave2. Here we build a phylogeographical model to evaluate how newly introduced lineages, as opposed to the rekindling of persistent lineages, contributed to the resurgence of COVID-19 in Europe. We inform this model using genomic, mobility and epidemiological data from 10 European countries and estimate that in many countries more than half of the lineages circulating in late summer resulted from new introductions since 15 June 2020. The success in onward transmission of newly introduced lineages was negatively associated with the local incidence of COVID-19 during this period. The pervasive spread of variants in summer 2020 highlights the threat of viral dissemination when restrictions are lifted, and this needs to be carefully considered in strategies to control the current spread of variants that are more transmissible and/or evade immunity. Our findings indicate that more effective and coordinated measures are required to contain the spread through cross-border travel even as vaccination is reducing disease burden.
Project description:Mayaro Alphavirus is an arbovirus that causes outbreaks of acute febrile illness in the Amazon region of South America. We show here the cases of Mayaro fever that occurred in 2007-2008, in Manaus, a large city and capital of the Amazonas State, in Western Brazilian Amazon. IgM antibodies to Mayaro virus (MAYV) were detected by an enzyme immunoassay using infected cell cultures as antigen in the sera of 33 patients from both genera and 6-65 years old. MAYV genome was also detected by RT-PCR in the blood of 1/33 of these patients. The patients presented mainly with headache, arthralgia, myalgia, ocular pain, and rash. These cases of Mayaro fever are likely to represent the tip of an iceberg, and probably a much greater number of cases occurred in Manaus in the study period.
Project description:Klebsiella pneumoniae is an opportunistic pathogen that can cause several infections, mainly in hospitalised or immunocompromised individuals. The spread of K. pneumoniae emerging virulent and multidrug-resistant clones is a worldwide concern and its identification is crucial to control these strains especially in hospitals. This article reports data related to multi-resistant K. pneumoniae strains, isolated from inpatients in the city of Manaus, Brazil, harbouring virulence and antimicrobial-resistance genes, including high-risk international clones belonging to clonal group (CG) 258. Twenty-one strains isolated from different patients admitted to four hospitals in the city of Manaus, located in the state of Amazonas, Northern Brazil (Amazon Rainforest region) were evaluated. The majority of strains (61.9% n = 13) were classified as multidrug-resistant (MDR), and five strains (23.8%) as extensively drug-resistant (XDR). Several virulence and antimicrobial-resistance genes were found among the strains and eight strains (38.1%) presented the hyper-mucoviscous phenotype. MLST analysis demonstrated a great diversity of STs among the strains, totaling 12 different STs (ST11, ST23, ST198, ST277, ST307, ST340, ST378, ST462, ST502, ST3991, ST3993 and ST5209). Three of these (ST11, ST23 and ST340) belong to CG258.
Project description:ObjectivesTo assess SARS-CoV-2 prevalence and health outcomes among inmates over 60 years during a COVID-19 outbreak in a major penitentiary complex in the Federal District, Brazil.MethodsA mass test campaign was performed on May 13, 2020, using antibody-detection rapid tests for asymptomatic inmates and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction testing for those who were symptomatic. Those with negative results were retested on June 16. Inmates were interviewed to characterise background health conditions and the presence of symptoms.ResultsA total of 159 inmates were evaluated. In the first mass testing, 79.9% (127/159) of inmates had been infected, of whom 53.5% (68/127) reported symptoms. In the second testing round, 17 new cases were identified, increasing the total to 90.6% (144/159) of inmates with a positive result. Comorbidities were present in 67.3% of inmates; 2 hospitalisations and no COVID-related deaths were recorded.ConclusionMore than 90% of inmates aged >60 years were infected with SARS-CoV-2 during the outbreak. Periodic health monitoring, active case finding and early care for symptomatic patients contributed to positive post-infection outcomes. Such measures must be considered essential for the surveillance of COVID-19 in environments with limited capacity to promote social distance, such as penitentiary institutions.
Project description:There is concern that in-person schooling during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic will facilitate disease transmission. Through asymptomatic surveillance and contact tracing for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), we found low rates of asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection and little in-school transmission of COVID-19 when physical distancing and masking strategies were enforced despite a high community prevalence of COVID-19.