[Clinical manifestations in patients with computerized tomography diagnosis of neurocysticercosis]. / Manifestações clínicas de pacientes com diagnóstico de neurocisticercose por tomografia computadorizada.

A survey was conducted in the urban area of Lages using patients who had been submitted to a computed tomography of the skull in the period of March-December, 1996, for different reasons. Forty-two patients with a provisional diagnosis of neurocysticercosis, and 57 negatives were personally interviewed by one of the authors (Pfuetzenreiter), using a semi-structured procedure. More individuals with a provisional diagnostic of neurocysticercosis reported clinical manifestations related to this infection than those found negative. This difference is more marked among women, except in relation to convulsions, more frequently reported by men (19.05%) than by women (7.14%). The greater percentage of inactive forms (83.33%) and a longer history of perceived symptoms among those positives suggest that the condition is not new.

An investigation on the ecology of Triatoma vitticeps (Stal, 1859) and its possible role in the transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi, in the locality of Triunfo, Santa Maria Madalena municipal district, state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

From January 1989 to April 1995, 465 specimens of Triatoma vitticeps were collected in the locality of Triunfo, 2nd District of Santa Maria Madalena municipal district, State of Rio de Janeiro. The bugs were found indoors by local residents with predominance of adults. The flight activity was high in hot months when the incidence in the domicile also increased. Two hundred and two bugs (111 alive and 91 dead) were examined for Trypanosoma cruzi infection. This was detected in 31 of the dead bugs (34%) and 88 (79%) of the live bugs examined. With a view to investigate the possible vertebrate hosts of the T. cruzi isolates, the blood of 122 mammals was examined through Giemsa-stained smears, hemocultures and xenodiagnosis. T. cruzi was detected in three specimens of Didelphis marsupialis and T. (M.) theileri was detected in one specimen of Bos taurus. The parasites were isolated from triatomine feces, xenoculture and hemoculture. No evidence of human infection was detected in 58 inhabitants examined, as evaluated by indirect imunofluorescence technique using T. cruzi epimastigotes as antigens. These results show that T. vitticeps is still a sylvatic species although nymphs have been found inside the domicile. Thus, an epidemiological vigilance is necessary to know the behaviour of this species following the continuous modifications promoted by the presence of man.

Rickettsiae-infected ticks in an endemic area of spotted fever in the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil.

A study on tick-borne rickettsiosis was developed in the county of Santa Cruz do Escalvado, State of Minas Gerais, Brazil, where a clinical case of the disease, confirmed by necropsy, had been reported. Of the 1,254 ticks collected, 1,061 belonged to the Amblyomma genus, 57 to the Rhipicephalus sanguineus species, 81 to Boophilus microplus, and 46 to Anocentor nitens. The hemolymph test associated with Giménez staining showed that 18 of the 221 A. cajennense specimens, 1 of the 16 R. sanguineus, 1 of the 22 B. microplus, 3 of the A. nitens, and 1 of the A. ovale contained rickettsia-like microorganisms. Only 3 A. cajennense ticks were positive under direct immunofluorescence. A. cajennense was the only species found on humans.

Natural habitat of Cryptococcus neoformans var. neoformans in decaying wood forming hollows in living trees.

Cryptococcus neoformans var. neoformans was repeatedly isolated from decaying wood forming hollows in living trees growing in urban areas of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. A new natural habitat for C. neoformans var. neoformans has been found that is not associated with specific trees.

The use and mis-use of some ecological terms and concepts in epidemiology.

The article discusses the current use and mis-use of ecological terms and concepts in epidemiological literature, and in special, in works dealing with zoonotic diseases. A selection of examples was taken from papers recently published on the transmission of Chagas' disease by Triatoma sordida. Proper definitions are listed, with the intent of helping non-ecologists to use those terms and concepts correctly.

[Theory and practice of alternative practice]. / Teoria e prática das práticas alternativas.

So-called alternative medical practices, now favored in Brazil, are discussed in terms of their methods and rationale. Cursory inquiries show that personal choices of diagnostic and therapeutic systems is made, usually, on the basis of family tradition, cultural inheritance, and fashion, and not upon a critical examination of the principles upon which the alternatives are based. In general, a syncretic approach combining conflicting elements from different systems is adopted. In contrast, the author shows that the actual differences between the systems lie in their foundations principles, not in their practices.

[Identification of wild rodents as hosts of Angiostrongylus costaricencis in southern Brazil]. / Identificação de roedores silvestres como hospedeiros do Angiostrongylus costaricensis no sul do Brasil.

Increasing number of human cases of abdominal angiostrongyliasis has been diagnosed in the south of Brazil. The main definitive host of Angiostrongylus costaricensis in Central America is the cotton rat (Sigmodon hispidus) that does not occur in South America, except in the north of Colombia, Peru and Venezuela. Rodents were captured in the endemic area in Rio Grande do Sul (RS) and definitive hosts were identified for the first time in Brazil: Oryzomys nigripes and Oryzomys ratticeps. O. nigripes is a small wild rodent and it appears to be the main definitive host of A. costaricensis in the highlands of RS, Brazil's southernmost State.

[Schistosomiasis mansoni: dynamics of transmission]. / Esquistossomose mansónica: dinámica da transmissão.

The following remarks were addressed at the round table that discussed the alternative approaches to schistosomiasis control. The address begins with a short analysis of the progressive spread of the area of distribution of the disease, and of the difficulties faced by those in charge of control programs, conventional or otherwise. A model was sketched, taking into consideration the distinct classes of factors involved in the dynamics of transmission: biological, immunological, ecological, socio-cultural, and economical. The true significance and pertinence of such a model was analysed, and the relevant questions that must be answered before a true representative model can be constructed, were listed.

Parasitological and ecological aspects of Schistosomiasis mansoni in the valley of the Paraíba do Sul River (São Paulo State, Brazil) I. Natural infection of small mammals with Schistosoma mansoni.

Small mammals naturally infected with Schistosoma mansoni were studied in the valley of the Paraíba do Sul river (São Paulo State, Brazil). 192 animals of 12 species were examined post mortem. Cavia aperea, Holochilus brasiliensis leucogaster, Nectomys squamipes squamipes, Oryzomys nigripes eliurus and Zygodontomys brachyurus were found infected. Most schistosome eggs found in the faeces were mature but no eggs were found in the faeces of C. aperea although adults were recovered. In the other infected animals the number of eggs per gram of faeces showed a marked daily variation. Perfusion of the portal system demonstrated that in H. b. leucogaster worms usually remained in the mesenteric veins. In C. aperea 75.7% of worms were found in the portal and intra-hepatic veins. H. b. leucogaster seems to be the rodent most likely to play a role in the epidemiology of schistosomiasis mansoni in the valley of the Paraíba do Sul river.