O Museu da Saúde em Portugal: um espaço físico, um espaço virtual / The Museu da Saúde in Portugal: a physical space, a virtual space

Resumo O Museu da Saúde em Portugal, baseado no duplo conceito de espaço físico polinucleado e espaço virtual, desenvolve o inventário do seu acervo, tendo, até ao momento, estudado mais aprofundadamente cinco das suas coleções – Tuberculose, Urologia, Psicologia, Medicamento e Malária. Neste artigo, o museu apresenta essas coleções, bem como a problemática do desenvolvimento da atividade museológica no espaço de um laboratório nacional, o Instituto Nacional de Saúde Doutor Ricardo Jorge, salientando as questões dos espaços de reserva e de exposição, o processo de inventário e as atividades de divulgação, atendendo aos desafios inerentes a uma atividade desenvolvida num espaço não museológico.

Abstract Museu da Saúde (Museum of Health) in Portugal, based on the dual concept of a multifaceted physical space and a virtual space, is preparing an inventory of its archive. So far, it has studied five of its collections in greater depth: tuberculosis, urology, psychology, medicine, and malaria. In this article, these collections are presented, and the specificities of developing museological activities within a national laboratory, Instituto Nacional de Saúde Doutor Ricardo Jorge, are also discussed, highlighting the issues of the store rooms and exhibition spaces, the inventory process, and the communication activities, with a view to overcoming the challenges inherent to operating in a non-museological space.

Calibration and use of an in-house anti-measles IgG standard serum

For the purpose of research a large quantity of anti-measles IgG working reference serum was needed. A pool of sera from five teenagers was prepared and named Alexandre Herculano (AH). In order to calibrate the AH serum, 18 EIA assays were performed testing in parallel AH and the 2nd International Standard 1990, Anti-Measles Antibody, 66/202 (IS) in a range of dilutions (from 1/50 to 1/25600). A method which compared parallel lines resulting from the graphic representation of the results of laboratory tests was used to estimate the power of AH relative to IS. A computer programme written by one of the authors was used to analyze the data and make potency estimates. Another method of analysis was used, comparing logistic curves relating serum concentrations with optical density by EIA. For that purpose an existing computer programme (WRANL) was used. The potency of AH relative to IS, by either method, was estimated to be 2.4. As IS has 5000 milli international units (mIU) of anti-measles IgG per millilitre (ml), we concluded that AH has 12000 mIU/ml.