Fatal Brazilian spotted fever in a healthy military man during field training in Rio de Janeiro city, southeastern Brazil

ABSTRACT Brazilian spotted fever, a zoonotic disease transmitted by ticks, is caused by Rickettsia rickettsii. We report a fulminant case of this zoonosis in a healthy 46-year-old military man in the urban region of Rio de Janeiro city, in October, 2021. Ticks and capybaras (Amblyomma sculptum, Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris, respectively) were identified in the military fields, pointing to the participation of this large synanthropic rodent, recognized as an efficient amplifier host of Rickettsia rickettsii in Brazil. As the military population is considered a risk group for spotted fever, it is necessary to alert health professionals to the importance of the early detection of the disease and its adequate management, mainly in populations that are particularly at risk of exposure to ticks, in order to avoid fatal outcomes.

Malaria in Brazil: what happens outside the Amazonian endemic region

Brazil, a country of continental proportions, presents three profiles of malaria transmission. The first and most important numerically, occurs inside the Amazon. The Amazon accounts for approximately 60% of the nation’s territory and approximately 13% of the Brazilian population. This region hosts 99.5% of the nation’s malaria cases, which are predominantly caused by Plasmodium vivax (i.e., 82% of cases in 2013). The second involves imported malaria, which corresponds to malaria cases acquired outside the region where the individuals live or the diagnosis was made. These cases are imported from endemic regions of Brazil (i.e., the Amazon) or from other countries in South and Central America, Africa and Asia. Imported malaria comprised 89% of the cases found outside the area of active transmission in Brazil in 2013. These cases highlight an important question with respect to both therapeutic and epidemiological issues because patients, especially those with falciparum malaria, arriving in a region where the health professionals may not have experience with the clinical manifestations of malaria and its diagnosis could suffer dramatic consequences associated with a potential delay in treatment. Additionally, because the Anopheles vectors exist in most of the country, even a single case of malaria, if not diagnosed and treated immediately, may result in introduced cases, causing outbreaks and even introducing or reintroducing the disease to a non-endemic, receptive region. Cases introduced outside the Amazon usually occur in areas in which malaria was formerly endemic and are transmitted by competent vectors belonging to the subgenus Nyssorhynchus (i.e., Anopheles darlingi, Anopheles aquasalis and species of the Albitarsis complex). The third type of transmission accounts for only 0.05% of all cases and is caused by autochthonous malaria in the Atlantic Forest, located primarily along the southeastern Atlantic Coast. They are caused by parasites that seem to be (or to be very close to) P. vivax and, in a less extent, by Plasmodium malariae and it is transmitted by the bromeliad mosquito Anopheles (Kerteszia) cruzii. This paper deals mainly with the two profiles of malaria found outside the Amazon: the imported and ensuing introduced cases and the autochthonous cases. We also provide an update regarding the situation in Brazil and the Brazilian endemic Amazon.

Conversações sobre a peste branca: formação em controle de tuberculose de profissionais da Estratégia de Saúde da Família no Estado do Rio de Janeiro / Conversation about white plague: formation in tuberculosis´s control of professionals of the Health Family Strategy in Rio de Janeiro?s State

Objetivou-se avaliar nível de conhecimento e o efeito de ações educativas entre profissionais sobre a tuberculose (TB). Foi realizado curso de formação em controle de TB para médicos e enfermeiros que atuam na Estratégia Saúde da Família (ESF) ? abordando-se os conteúdos de maior importância para o controle da TB ? com duração de oito horas. Os profissionais foram avaliados com um pré-teste (PT) e um pós-teste (Pós-T) enfocando conceitos gerais sobre a TB, ambos com cinco questões objetivas, de igual conteúdo. Ao final da atividade foi aplicado um questionário para avaliação da atividade educativa. O estudo foi aprovado pelo Comitê de Ética em Pesquisa do UNIFESO (protocolo 038/06). 210 profissionais participaram do processo de educação em TB, em quatro momentos diferentes, realizados nos municípios de Angra dos Reis, Arraialdo Cabo, Vassouras e Volta Redonda. Houve ganho cognitivo nas quatro oficinas de formação, com aumento de todas as médias e intervalos de confiança entre o PT e o Pós-T (p<0,01). Os resultados obtidos com o processo educativo apontam para um grau razoável de apreensão cognitiva dos conceitos abordados, o que poderá ter impacto nas ações de controle da TB desempenhada por tais profissionais.