Lisianne Brittes Benitez

Antibiotic resistance and detection of the sul2 gene in urinary isolates of Escherichia coli in patients from Brazil

INTRODUCTION The present study aimed to assess the antibiotic resistance profiles and detect the presence of the sul2 gene in sulfamethoxazole-susceptible and resistant isolates of Escherichia coli obtained from outpatients and inpatients with urinary tract infections. METHODOLOGY The resistance profiles of 739 strains were assessed and the presence of the sul2 gene in 100 isolates was tested. RESULTS The antibiotics with the highest resistance rates were ampicillin (57.4%) and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (44.7%). The presence of the gene sul2 was detected in 66.7% of outpatient samples and 67.9% of inpatient samples. CONCLUSIONS Our results demonstrate that E. coli isolates exhibit high resistance to various classes of antibiotics, highlighting the need for developing strategies to help in prescribing antibiotics.

Isolation and identification of Acanthamoeba spp. from thermal swimming pools and spas in Southern Brazil

Free-living amoebae (FLA) are widely distributed in soil and water. A few number of them are implicated in human disease: Acanthamoeba spp., Naegleria fowleri, Balamuthia mandrillaris and Sappinia diploidea. Species of Acanthamoeba can cause keratitis and brain infections. In this study, 72 water samples were taken from both hot tubs and thermal swimming pools in the city of Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil, to determine the presence of Acanthamoeba in the water as well as perform the phenotypic and genotypic characterization of the isolates. The identification of the isolates was based on the cysts morphology and PCR amplification using genus-specific oligonucleotides. When the isolates were submitted to PCR reaction only 8 were confirmed as belonging to the genus Acanthamoeba. The sequences analysis when compared to the sequences in the GenBank, showed genotype distribution in group T3 (12,5%), T5 (12,5%), T4 (25%) and T15 (50%). The results of this study confirmed the presence of potentially pathogenic isolates of free living amoebae in hot swimming pool and spas which can present risks to human health.

ENVELHECIMENTO, MÍDIA E SOCIEDADE

Este estudo pretendeu conhecer a percepcao dos idosos frente a aspectos sociais, entender como a sociedade ve o idoso e como isto e refletido e apresentado pela midia. A pesquisa, do tipo levantamento (descritiva), utilizou uma metodologia qualitativa, com entrevistas estruturadas em um instrumento de coleta de dados com questoes abertas. Atraves das narrativas dos idosos entrevistados foram construidas categorias pela tecnica da analise de conteudo. Frente a estas narrativas, contatou-se que ha percepcoes positivas e negativas acerca do que e veiculado na midia sobre a tematica do idoso e na visao da velhice pela sociedade em geral. Assim, concluiu-se que o tema do envelhecimento ainda carece de abordagens, pelas midias, condizentes com as reais necessidades desta populacao que cresce visivelmente em nossa sociedade.