ObjectiveThe present study aimed to evaluate the presence of helminthes and intestinal protozoa in vegetables commercialized in Diamantina, a municipality located at Jequitinhonha Valley, one of the poorest regions of the world.
MethodsA total of 108 specimens, including lettuce, green onion and rocket, were monthly collected from the most popular open street market, green grocery and supermarket of the municipality. The samples were processed by a concentration method and evaluated by light microscopy for parasitological identification.
ResultsThe percentage of contamination was 50.9% (55/108), with predominance of nematode larvae (36.5%), cysts of Entamoeba coli (26.0%) and eggs of hookworms/Strongyloides spp. (12.9%). Lettuce showed greater contamination rate (61.1%) and samples from the open street market were more contaminated (77.8%). Information collected at each point of sale pointed the field cultivation as the critical step for such contaminations.
ConclusionVegetables marketed in Diamantina presents a wide variety of intestinal parasites, which may represent a potential risk to the health of consumers of fresh vegetables.Keywords: Foodborne diseases. Helminthiasis. Parasites. Vegetables.
R E S U M O
Objetivo
O presente estudo teve como objetivo avaliar a presença de helmintos e protozoários intestinais em hortaliças comercializados em Diamantina, um município localizado no Vale do Jequitinhonha, uma das regiões mais pobres do mundo.
Métodos
Cento e oito exemplares, incluindo alface, cebolinha e rúcula, foram mensalmente coletados em uma feira livre, uma quitanda e um supermercado do município. As amostras foram processadas por um método de concentração e avaliadas por microscopia óptica para pesquisa de estruturas parasitárias.
Resultados
The Brazilian municipality of Rondonópolis, Mato Grosso State,
represents an important visceral leishmaniasis (VL) endemic area. This study
described epidemiological and clinical aspects of the occurrence, VL/HIV coinfection
and lethality related to VL in Rondonópolis. Data from autochthonous
cases reported between 2011 and 2016 were obtained from official information systems.
During this period, 81 autochthonous cases were reported, with decreasing incidence
through 2016. Contrastingly, the lethality rate was 8.6% overall, but varied widely,
reaching a peak (20%) in 2016. Almost 10% of patients had VL/HIVcoinfection. The
occurrence of VL prevailed among men (56.8%), brown-skinned (49.4%), urban residents
(92.6%), aged 0-4 years (33.3%). Housewives or retired (29.6%) were the most affected
occupational groups. Lower age was the main difference among the total VL cases and
those who were coinfected or died. Clinically, fever, weakness and splenomegaly were
more frequent among all VL cases and VL/HIV coinfected individuals. Bacterial
infections (p=0.001) and bleeding (p<0.001) were associated with death due to VL.
Pentavalent antimonial and liposomal amphotericin B were the first choices for
treatment among all VL cases (71.6%) and those who died (71.4%), respectively. VL/HIV
patients were equally treated with both drugs. These findings may support control
measures and demonstrate the need for further investigations.
The Brazilian municipality of Rondonópolis is an emerging urban focus of intense transmission of visceral leishmaniasis (VL), where few investigations have addressed canine reservoirs. This study assessed the seroprevalence and spatial distribution of canine visceral leishmaniasis (CVL) in the urban area of Rondonópolis. A CVL serosurvey was conducted between October 2016 and February 2017 using an immunochromatographic rapid test and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Domestic dogs were sampled from 25 heterogeneous regions previously defined by the Spatial 'K'luster Analysis by Tree Edge Removal algorithm, which considered the socioeconomic and environmental features from the last demographic census. The CVL spatial distribution was analyzed by kernel density estimation (KDE) and spatial scan statistic. All the autochthonous human VL cases reported between 2014 and 2016 were georeferenced. Of the 600 dogs tested, 115 were seropositive in both tests. The overall CVL prevalence was 19.2% (95%CI: 16.1-22.3%), which varied widely among the evaluated regions (0.0-35.1%). Almost 25% of the sampled households (n = 405) had at least one infected dog. KDE demonstrated that positive CVL households were concentrated in the peripheral areas of the city. Spatial scan statistics detected a spatial cluster with significantly low CVL prevalence in the central region (relative risk = 0.37; p = 0.04), where only one human VL case was reported. Thus, we demonstrated a high prevalence of CVL in domestic dogs from diverse socioeconomic and environmental urban contexts in Rondonópolis. The CVL cases were peripherally distributed and occurred more frequently in areas that had reported human VL.
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