To our knowledge this is the first study to characterize Brazilian C. trachomatis endocervical samples and Brazilian C. trachomatis genotype coinfection. Our results also emphasize the importance of routine diagnosis of C. trachomatis for the control of this STD.

ObjectiveTo assess the distribution of serological markers in blood donors at the blood banks of the Fundação Centro de Hematologia e Hemoterapia de Minas Gerais (Hemominas), Brazil, between January 2006 and December 2012.MethodsThis is a descriptive, retrospective study on blood donors screened using serological tests for markers of transmitted diseases at the state blood-banking network.ResultsApproximately 78.9% of the donors were considered eligible for the study after clinical screening. Repeat donors represented 68.2% of the total sample, with males being predominant as blood donors (66.8%). Total serological ineligibility was 3.05%, with total anti-HBc being the most common marker (1.26%), followed by syphilis (0.88%) and human immunodeficiency virus (0.36%). The prevalences of the markers for hepatitis C, Human T-cell lymphotropic virus, Chagas disease and HBs-Ag were 0.15%, 0.09%, 0.13% and 0.18%, respectively. The blood bank of Governador Valadares had the highest percentage of positive anti-HBc donors (2.41%). With regard to human immunodeficiency virus, the blood bank of Além Paraíba had the lowest percentage of positive donors while the blood banks of Juiz de Fora and Betim had the highest percentages. The blood bank in the city of Montes Claros had the highest prevalence of the marker for Chagas disease (0.69%).ConclusionsData on the profile of serological ineligibility by the blood banks of the Fundação Hemominas highlights the particularities of each region thereby contributing to measures for health surveillance and helping the blood donation network in its donor selection procedures aimed at improving blood transfusion safety.

Filhos autistas e os fatores de insegurança da mãe quanto ao seu futuro Autistic children and the factors of insecurity of the mother regarding their future

To investigate a 12-year historical series (2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010)(2011)(2012)(2013)(2014)(2015)(2016)(2017) of human T-cell lymphotropic virus (HTLV)-positive blood donations from Fundação Hemominas, Minas Gerais, Brazil, an observational retrospective study was performed to evaluate data of blood donor candidates who were screened for HTLV-1/2 by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay or chemiluminescence assays and confirmed by Western blot. We analyzed 3 309 716 blood donations covering 2006-2017 that were extracted from the institutional database. In a total of 3 308 738 donations that have complete algorithm tests, the global frequency of HTLV-positive donations was 0.012%. The seroprevalence in first-time blood donors was 28.82/100 000 donors; 0.95/100 000 donations were HTLV-positive in repeat blood donors. The frequency of HTLV-seropositive females was significantly higher than males (odds ratio = 1.85, p < 0.001) in first-time donors. The median age of HTLV-positive first-time and repeat donors was similar (36 and 32 years, respectively). First-time donors ≥41 years had higher odds to be infected. There was a clear tendency of decline in the HTLV-positive donations in the period analyzed, going from 19.26/100 000 donations to 8.50/100 000 donations. The increase in the proportion of repeat donors over the period analyzed (from 23% in 2006 to 67% in 2017) must be the principal factor that contributed to this drop. Our results showed a continuous decline in the frequency of HTLV-positive donations from Minas Gerais, Brazil throughout 12 years and emphasize the importance of having a high rate of repeat donors in blood centers to reduce the residual risk of transfusion-transmitted infections.