Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina
ABSTRACT Introduction:This study assessed the prevalence of Mansonella ozzardi in riverine communities of the Tefé River, Amazonas, Brazil. Methods: The prevalence of M. ozzardi was estimated by microscopic examination of thick blood smears. Results: The M. ozzardi prevalence rate was 6.3% (19/300). Filarial infection was found in 8 of the 11 communities surveyed, with prevalence rates varying from 2.5% to 22.2%. Conclusions: Tefé is a region of oil and natural gas exploration, in which there is a high turnover of workers. Migration patterns may facilitate the dissemination of mansonelliasis to other regions.Keywords: Mansonella ozzardi. Tefé River. Amazonas.An epidemiological survey of mansonelliasis was conducted in Tefé, State of Amazonas, Brazil, in the 1950s and reported a prevalence rate between 2.5% and 18.7% for Mansonella ozzardi 1 . However, no other surveys have been conducted in this region, and current knowledge pertaining to the occurrence of mansonelliasis is based on records from the Foundation Surveillance Health (FVS) in Tefé obtained during a routine malaria survey (JF Medeiros: personal information). In Tefé, there is a significant population of migrant workers who are employed at companies that extract oil and natural gas. These companies employ many workers from regions without mansonelliasis, and this migration demonstrates the potential for the spread of mansonelliasis to non-endemic regions when these migrant workers return to their native communities. This study was the first survey of human filarial mansonelliasis in the Tefé River region of oil and gas production, and it was conducted to investigate the prevalence of M. ozzardi among the resident population of the Tefé River region.The present study was conducted among people living along the Tefé River in the municipality of Tefé (3°30'S 64°58'W), State of Amazonas, Brazil. The Tefé River, a tributary of the Solimões River, is an area rich in oil and gas, with continuous mineral extraction (Figure 1). The population density of the area is low, and the people live in small communities dispersed along the riverbanks and generally practice subsistence farming (fishing and agriculture).The work presented here was part of a pilot study to provide baseline data for the design of future, more detailed studies. Individuals present at the initiation of the study were informed of the purpose and scope of the study and were invited to participate. Informed verbal consent to participate in the study was obtained from adult participants and the parents of child participants during community meetings. According to the Foundation of Surveillance in Health in Tefé, the population along the Tefe River numbers approximately 850. A total of 300 individuals (~35% of the population) between the ages of 2 and 82 years were included in this study and examined by rapid epidemiological mapping for microfilariae of M. ozzardi in June 2012. This study received approval from the Ethical Committee of the Tropical Medic...
Maintenance of microorganisms in mycology is of fundamental importance for retrospective and prospective studies that focus on their biology, etiology and epidemiology. The aim of this study was to evaluate the viability, contamination and morphological changes of endophytic fungi maintained under different preservation methods. We evaluated five preservation methods; constant sub-culturing, preservation under mineral oil, under distilled water, preservation at -20°C and storage at -70°C. Every 50 days, we evaluated the viability, purity and macro-micro morphology of the cultures. The main results are as follows: constant sub-culturing and preservation under distilled water have allowed the viability of all strains during the study period. Preservation in mineral oil resulted in the contamination of the strain Aspergillus F45 and micro-morphological modification of the Fusarium LU5 culture after 100 days of preservation. Preservation at -70°C caused macro-morphological changes in Fusarium LU6 after 100 days. Under the experimental conditions and the limited period of study (150 days) it was demonstrated that conservation under distilled water was the most appropriate form of preservation of endophytic microorganisms.
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