Mônica Wermelinger

Detection of human parvovirus B19 infection: a study of 212 suspected cases in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

BACKGROUND Parvovirus B19 infections are associated with different clinical manifestations that vary from symptom-less to severe. The main clinical manifestations are erythema infectiosum or fifth disease, transient aplastic crisis in individuals with hemoglobinopathies, chronic anemia in the immunocompromised, acute polyarthralgia syndrome in adults, hydrops fetalis, spontaneous abortion and stillbirth. Although the classical features of B19 and rubella infections are distinct, uncommon presentations can lead to misdiagnosis. OBJECTIVE The goal of this study was to assess the occurrence of parvovirus B19 (B19) infection in patients with clinical signs of toxoplasmosis or rubella, both of which were not confirmed by laboratorial techniques. STUDY DESIGN Serum samples from 214 patients were collected between January 1996 and December 1997 in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, B19 specific IgG and IgM were detected by using commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA), and viral nucleic acid was detected employing a nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) protocol. RESULTS Combining the results obtained by IgM ELISA and PCR, 14.5% of the samples were positive in one or both tests, with a concordance of 92.5% between the two techniques. CONCLUSIONS Specimens collected in 16 out of 22 municipalities were positive in at least one out of the three tests employed, indicating that parvovirus B19 circulates in several regions of the state of Rio de Janeiro.

Políticas de educação profissional: referências e perspectivas

This paper argues the historical process of professional education models construction in the Brazilian high schools to help the understanding of this education modality questions. It approaches the high schools ambiguity, the association between social discrimination and technical occupations, containment of demand to the Universities, citizens integral formation and formation to the work, pointing out the health area in this context. It had been used, as sources, the Brazilian legislation for the education and other governmental technical documents. The article intends to show the importance that the finish point concept acquired in the professional education proposals, pointing the politecnia as alternative to the school and professional formation, designating the peculiarities of the health area.

O ensino de biossegurança em cursos técnicos em análises clínicas

There is a discrepancy between the demands of the labor market in the health sector and professional technical colleges. The quest for comprehension of one of the aspects pertaining to the distance between professional formation of technicians in clinical analyses and the necessities of the labor market is the focus of this research. The general purpose of this study is to understand the teaching methodology used by professors in biosecurity at technical colleges that offer courses in clinical analyses, in conjunction with a high school in the Metropolitan Region of Rio de Janeiro, where data was collected from Public Teaching Units of the State of Rio de Janeiro. When dealing with a case study with a qualitative approach, information was obtained by means of recorded interviews that were guided by a semi-structured questionnaire, whose content was analyzed by three biosecurity professors. The results of the survey indicate the necessity for reformulations in pedagogic practice, enabling the formation of technicians in clinical analyses to be more in line with the actual necessities of the private or public market represented by the Public Health System (SUS).

Professional educational policies: references perspectives

This paper argues the historical process of professional education models construction in the Brazilian high schools to help the understanding of this education modality questions. It approaches the high schools ambiguity, the association between social discrimination and technical occupations, containment of demand to the Universities, citizens integral formation and formation to the work, pointing out the health area in this context. It had been used, as sources, the Brazilian legislation for the education and other governmental technical documents. The article intends to show the importance that the finish point concept acquired in the professional education proposals, pointing the politecnia as alternative to the school and professional formation, designating the peculiarities of the health area.

Políticas de educación profesional: referencias y perspectivas

This paper argues the historical process of professional education models construction in the Brazilian high schools to help the understanding of this education modality questions. It approaches the high schools ambiguity, the association between social discrimination and technical occupations, containment of demand to the Universities, citizens integral formation and formation to the work, pointing out the health area in this context. It had been used, as sources, the Brazilian legislation for the education and other governmental technical documents. The article intends to show the importance that the finish point concept acquired in the professional education proposals, pointing the politecnia as alternative to the school and professional formation, designating the peculiarities of the health area.