Studies related to ants found in hospital environments have aroused interest in their role as mechanical vectors of pathogenic microorganisms. The objective of the current research was to determine the species composition and bacterial contamination of ant species found in a public hospital in the eastern Amazonian region. Ants were captured using bait containing honey and sterilized sardines in 15 locations within the Macapá Emergency Hospital, Amapá. Ants were identified morphologically using specific keys. Bacteria were first inoculed in a Brain Heart Infusion broth and then plated on 5% Agar with blood or MacConkey media. Bacterial species were identified through biochemical procedures. In total, 9,687 ants were collected, with 69.8% from the dry season and 30.2% from the rainy season. Nine species of ants were identified belonging to three subfamilies: the Monomorium pharaonis (Linnaeus 1758) being the most common, comprising 39.2% of the total specimens. Only one ant species was found in each bait, facilitating microbiological analyses. In total, 92 bacteria isolates were identified comprising 12 species. Pseudomonas aeruginosa Schroeter 1872 (Pseudomonadales: Pseudomonadaceae) was pathogenic bacteria, most frequently isolated, comprising 10.9% of the positive samples. The most contaminated ant in the study was M. pharaonis with 38.3%. It was the dominant ant species in this hospital environment. Its wide prevalence, forage day and night of this vector in hospital facilitated bacterial contamination. The presence of bacteria on ants may be associated with the dissemination of pathogens which cause hospital infections, making pest control a necessity in these institutions.

Introduction: Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a hereditary, hematologic, multifactorial disease, with high prevalence worldwide; its cause is a mutation in the sixth codon of the beta globin gene (βs). Objective: To identify the haplotypes present in people with SCD in Amapá, and relate them to African descent. Methods: We analyzed, by molecular techniques, 46 blood samples from people with SCD in Macapá, the capital of Amapá, with the purpose of obtaining information about haplotype frequency distribution, which helps understand the ethnic background of Amapá's population. Results: Our study revealed that the most frequent haplotype is Bantu (61.2%), followed by Benin (26.6%) and Senegal (12.2%). Results showed statistical differences from studies conducted in other regions. A high frequency of the Senegal haplotype stands out, in comparison with some Brazilian studies. Conclusion: Amapá's results exhibit unique characteristics when compared to haplotypes in other regions, with high frequency of Senegal and Benin haplotypes, absence of atypical, Cameroon and Saudi, confirming that Brazil shows ethnic background diversity, as well as different haplotype frequencies.

The history of muscle biopsy dates back to 1860, when Duchenne first performed a biopsy on a patient with symptoms of myopathy (1) . Since then, the basic and clinical science of muscle and muscle disease has gone through three stages of development: the classical period, the modern stage and the molecular era.