A vigilância em saúde ambiental como resposta ao desastre do rompimento da barragem de rejeitos em Brumadinho / Environmental health surveillance as a response to the tailing dam disruption disaster in Brumadinho

RESUMO A saúde ambiental se constitui o campo da saúde pública responsável pelas políticas públicas relacionadas com a interação entre a saúde humana e os fatores do meio ambiente. A gestão de risco de desastres envolve um processo de antecipação, planejamento e preparação para resposta, com atuação de diferentes áreas de governo, como o setor saúde. Este relato de experiência teve o objetivo de descrever as ações desenvolvidas pela vigilância em saúde ambiental da Secretaria de Estado de Saúde de Minas Gerais em resposta ao rompimento da barragem B1 em Brumadinho. Entre as ações desenvolvidas, destacam-se o monitoramento da qualidade da água para consumo humano nos municípios atingidos, a participação em reuniões em espaços de decisão e deliberação e a produção de documentos técnicos. As experiências vivenciadas pela equipe, durante as ações de resposta ao desastre, motivaram reflexões sobre a necessidade de fortalecer o desenvolvimento das ações de forma intra e intersetorial e a importância de qualificação dos dados registrados nos sistemas de informação e de conhecimento das informações locais de cada território, a fim de subsidiar a atuação do setor saúde de modo oportuno em situações de desastre.

ABSTRACT Environmental health is the field of public health responsible for public policies related to the interaction between human health and environmental factors. Disaster risk management involves a process of anticipating, planning, and preparing for a response, with actions from different areas of the government, such as the health sector. This experience report had the objective of describing the actions developed by the environmental health surveillance of the Minas Gerais State Department of Health in response to the rupture of the B1 dam in Brumadinho. Among the actions developed, the monitoring of the quality of water for human consumption in the affected municipalities, the participation in meetings in spaces for decision and deliberation, and the production of technical documents are highlighted. The experiences lived by the team, during the disaster response actions, motivated reflections on the need to strengthen the development of the actions in an intra and intersectoral way, as well as the importance of qualifying the data recorded in the information systems, and knowledge of the local information of each territory, in order to subsidize the performance of the health sector in a timely manner in disaster situations.

Overexpression of eukaryotic initiation factor 5A (eIF5A) affects susceptibility to benznidazole in Trypanosoma cruzi populations

Eukaryotic initiation factor 5A (eIF5A) is a conserved protein with an essential role in translation elongation. Using one and two-dimensional western blotting, we showed that the eIF5A protein level was 2-fold lower in benznidazole (BZ)-resistant (BZR and 17LER) Trypanosoma cruzi populations than in their respective susceptible counterparts (BZS and 17WTS). To confirm the role of eIF5A in BZ resistance, we transfected BZS and 17WTS with the wild-type eIF5A or mutant eIF5A-S2A (in which serine 2 was replaced by alanine). Upon overexpressing eIF5A, both susceptible lines became approximately 3- and 5-fold more sensitive to BZ. In contrast, the eIF5A-S2A mutant did not alter its susceptibility to BZ. These data suggest that BZ resistance might arise from either decreasing the translation of proteins that require eIF5A, or as a consequence of differential levels of precursors for the hypusination reactions (e.g., spermidine and trypanothione), both of which alter BZ's effects in the parasite.

Identification of Schistosoma mansoni candidate antigens for diagnosis of schistosomiasis

The development of a more sensitive diagnostic test for schistosomiasis is needed to overcome the limitations of the use of stool examination in low endemic areas. Using parasite antigens in enzyme linked immunosorbent assay is a promising strategy, however a more rational selection of parasite antigens is necessary. In this study we performed in silico analysis of the Schistosoma mansoni genome, using SchistoDB database and bioinformatic tools for screening immunogenic antigens. Based on evidence of expression in all parasite life stage within the definitive host, extracellular or plasmatic membrane localization, low similarity to human and other helminthic proteins and presence of predicted B cell epitopes, six candidates were selected: a glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored 200 kDa protein, two putative cytochrome oxidase subunits, two expressed proteins and one hypothetical protein. The recognition in unidimensional and bidimensional Western blot of protein with similar molecular weight and isoelectric point to the selected antigens by sera from S. mansoni infected mice indicate a good correlation between these two approaches in selecting immunogenic proteins.