Human T cell lymphotropic virus type 1 infection among men who have sex with men in Central Brazil

ABSTRACT Human T cell lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) was the first retrovirus discovered in humans and is endemic in several parts of the world. Because of risk behaviors, mainly sexual, men who have sex with men (MSM) are at high risk of acquiring HTLV-1 infection. A cross-sectional study was performed to estimate the prevalence of HTLV-1 infection, to characterize genetically HTLV-1 sequences and to identify risk behaviors associated with this infection among MSM in Central Brazil. A total of 430 MSM were enrolled in this study and three were shown to be HTLV-1 infected, prevalence of 0.7% (95% confidence interval: 0.4-0.9). Phylogenetic analysis showed that all HTLV-1 positive samples belonged to Cosmopolitan subtype Transcontinental subgroup A. Although the prevalence rate of HTLV-1 infection found in this study was similar to that observed among Brazilian blood donors, additional HTLV-1 preventive interventions need to be further implemented because this population is engaged in high-risk sexual behavior.

Desenvolvimento (in)sustentável e desastres: as contribuições da bioética na análise do processo de vulneração socioambiental, tendo como caso de estudo os desastres ocorridos na cidade do Rio de Janeiro em abril de 2010 / Development (un) sustainable and disaster: the contributions of bioethics in the analysis of environmental vulneração process, taking as a case study disasters occurred in the city of Rio de Janeiro in April 2010

As consequências desastrosas da variabilidade dos fenômenos climáticos em nível local, tal como as chuvas fortes ocorridas na cidade do Rio de Janeiro nos dias 05, 06 e 07 de abril de 2010, representam, sobretudo, um aumento na vulnerabilidade de extratos da população que vivem em locais expostos aos riscos de enchentes e deslizamentos. A suscetibilidade a desastres é apenas mais um dos muitos aspectos da exposição à qual estão expostas essas pessoas que, sob a perspectiva da bioética da proteção, constituem a parcela da população formada, de fato, de vulnerados pelo sistema socioeconômico. A ocorrência deste tipo de desastres, em nível global vem alimentar o debate iniciado na década de 30 do Século XX por pensadores do campo da Ética sobre a necessidade de uma nova ética aplicada para regular as relações dos seres humanos entre si e com outros seres vivos e ecossistemas. O eixo conceitual em torno do qual ocorre a reflexão sobre os modos de produção e de consumo e seus impactos na sociedade e no meio ambiente é o desenvolvimento sustentável, ideal que se contrapõe às formas de crescimento econômico que exaurem os recursos naturais, geram exclusão e inequidade. São abordados nesta tese pontos considerados importantes para a compreensão do conceito de desenvolvimento sustentável, seus desdobramentos e sua evolução, a partir da perspectiva de diferentes autores, incluindo as iniciativas propostas pela ONU à comunidade internacional a partir de 1972, quando ocorreu a primeira Conferência sobre Meio Ambiente em Estocolmo...

The disastrous consequences of the variability of climatic phenomena at local level, such as the heavy rain episodes which occurred on april 05, 06, 07, 2010 in Rio de Janeiro city represent essencially the increase in the vulnerability of some population extracts which live in places exposed to the risk of flooding and landsliding. Under the bioethics of protection´s perspective, the susceptibility to disasters is just one more within many aspects of exposition of those people, who are turned into vulnerable (vulneradas) by the socioeconomics system. The occurrence of those disasters at the global level harbours the debate which started in the 30´s by thinkers from the field of Ethics about the necessity of a new ethical parameters to regulate the relationships among humans and other living beings, ecosystems and among humans themselves. The conceptual axis around which the reflexion about the production and consumption modes and its impacts on the society and the environment occur is the sustainable development, an ideal which opposes itself to the economic growth forms which exhaust the natural resources and generate exclusion and inequity. Important issues for the comprehension of the sustainable development concept, its development and evolution are presented in this thesis under the perspective of different authors, including the initiatives proposed by the UN to the international community since the holding of the first Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm in 1972. Surprinsingly, the theoretical, procedure and practical tools of Ethics and Bioethics have been ignored on this global search for solutions for a crisis which has as one of its central points the acceptance of a system of beliefs and values which is based in the existence of mean-lifes, those which are disregarded and turned into vulnerable (vulneradas) for the advantadge of the end-lifes, which usufruct from the benefits of the economic growth and the technological development...

Prevalência da infecção pelo HTLV-1, em remanescentes de quilombos no Brasil Central / Prevalence of infection due to HTLV-1 in remnant quilombos in Central Brazil

O presente estudo teve como objetivo estimar a prevalência da infecção pelo HTLV-1 em remanescentes de comunidades de população negra, os quilombos no Brasil Central. 1.837 indivíduos foram avaliados, sendo nove soropositivos para HTLV-1/2 por ELISA. Todos esses foram positivos para HTLV-1 por Western blot e/ou PCR, resultando em uma prevalência de 0,5 por cento (IC 95 por cento: 0,2-1,0). A idade dos indivíduos infectados variou de 11 a 82 anos, sendo a maioria do sexo feminino. Quanto às características de risco, história de aleitamento materno, transfusão de sangue, múltiplos parceiros sexuais e doenças sexualmente transmissíveis foram relatadas por esses indivíduos. Os achados deste estudo evidenciam a importância da identificação dos indivíduos infectados pelo HTLV-1 na estratégia de controle e prevenção dessa infecção em remanescentes de quilombos.

This study aimed to determine the prevalence of HTLV-1 infection among remnant black quilombo communities in Central Brazil. A total of 1,837 individuals were evaluated, among whom nine were HTLV-1/2 seropositive according to ELISA. All of them were positive for HTLV-1 by means of Western blot and/or PCR, thus resulting in a prevalence of 0.5 percent (95 percent CI: 0.2-1.0). The HTLV-1 infected individuals ranged in age from 11 to 82 years. The majority of them were females. Regarding risk characteristics, histories of breastfeeding, blood transfusion, multiple sexual partners and sexually transmitted diseases were reported by these individuals. The findings from this study indicate the importance of identifying HTLV-1 infected individuals, as a strategy for infection control and prevention in these remnant quilombos.