Rosa Maria Donini Souza Dias

Cryptosporidiosis among patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in the county of São Paulo, Brazil

Stool samples of 157 patients with AIDS, living in the county of Sao Paulo, were submitted to several techniques in the search for Cryptosporidium sp.. Among the various techniques tested for slide preparation (direct smear, spontaneous sedimentation method, and formol-ether concentration), the latter, formol-ether concentration, offered the best results, clearly outdoing all the others. Nineteen samples out of 157 prepared by this technique, after dyeing by the Kinyoun method or by carbol fuchsin dimethyl sulfoxide, were found to be positive for Cryptosporidium sp..

Parasitismo por Cryptosporidium sp. em crianças com diarréia aguda

During the period from August 1987 to July 1990, 241 fecal samples collected from 1 to 48 months old children with acute diarrhea and examined in the Childs Institute of Hospital das Clinicas of Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Sao Paulo, were submitted to parasitological tests in the Enteroparasitosis Section of the Instituto Adolfo Lutz. Fourty two (17.43%) fecal samples showed Cryptosporidium sp. oocysts by carbol-fucsin stain. Parasitism by Cryptosporidium sp. was more frequent during the period comprised from March to May, in the studied three years. The authors discussed the Cryptosporidium sp. in association with other agents.

Human parasitism by Phagicola sp (Trematoda, Heterophyidae) in Cananéia, São Paulo State, Brazil

We report one case of parasitism by Phagicola sp. (Trematoda, Heterophyidae) in a 31 year-old woman who, in 1987, travelled and stayed several months in the municipality of Cananéia (SP), where she ingested, in various occasions, raw mullet (Mugil sp.). The patient referred mild intestinal pain and laboratory examinations showed eggs of Phagicola sp. in the stools and a slight increase in eosinophil blood levels (8%). After treatment with praziquantel (75 mg/kg per day for three days) all the symptoms and signs disappeared. This is, certainly, the first record of human infection by Phagicola sp. in Brazil and, perhaps, in countries other than the U.S.A. where unclear references to a few human cases were reported in the South-eastern region.

Ocorrência de Strongyloides stercoralis em pacientes portadores da síndrome de imunodeficiência adquirida (AIDS)

A comparative study on the occurrence of Strongyloides stercoralis larvae in 554 patients with AIDS and in 142 patients suffering from infectious diseases other than AIDS was conducted during the period from January 1987 to December 1988. The two groups was constituted by male individuals in-patients at Emilio Ribas Hospital - Sao Paulo. Faeces samples from 696 patients were submitted to spontaneous sedimentation method and Rugai method. The data obtained from the present investigation demonstrated a similar prevalence of Strongyloides stercoralis in both groups (p > 0.05) indicating no significant statistical differences.

Infecções por helmintos e protozoários intestinais em gestantes de primeira consulta atendidas em centros de saúde da rede estadual no subdistrito do Butantã, município de São Paulo

481 pregnant women attented at first consultation from a Sao Paulo city suburb-subdistrict of Butantan- Sao Paulo State, Brazil, from April to October of 1988, were investigated regarding the prevalence of verminosis. The mean age was 24,5 years (range 14-46), the average family income was 0.97 PCMW (per capita minimum wage) and the average number of members of the family was 4 (1 to 15). The verminosis prevalence was 45,1% among the women. The most frequent parasites were: Ascaris lumbricoides (19,0%), ancilostomideos (16,7%) and Trichuris trichiura (15,9%), The verminosis prevalence was significantly higher among the pregnant women (p < 0.05) who belonged to the families with income below 0.5 PCMW and greater than 4 members.

Aerobic bacteria, Chlamydia trachomatis, Pneumocystis carinii and Cytomegalovirus as agents of severe peneumonia in small infants

The authors studied 58 infants hospitalized for pneumonia in a semi-intensive care unit. Age ranged from 1 complete to 6 incomplete months. The infants were sent from another hospital in 20 cases and from home in a further 38. Pulmonary involvement, which was alveolar in 46 cases and interstitial in 12, was bilateral in 31 children. The investigation was carried out prospectively on the etiological agents associated with respiratory infection to look for evidence of aerobic bacteria (blood cultures), Chlamydia trachomatis and Cytomegalovirus (serology), and Pneumocystis carinii (direct microscopy of tracheal aspirated material). The following infectious agents were diagnosed in 21 children (36.2%): Aerobic bacteria (8), Chlamydia trachomatis (5), Pneumocystis carinii (3), Cytomegalovirus (3), Cytomegalovirus and Chlamydia trachomatis (1), Aerobic bacteria and Cytomegalovirus (1). Seven cases of infection by Chlamydia trachomatis and/or Cytomegalovirus were diagnosed out of the 12 cases with pulmonary interstitial involvement.

Ocorrência de Taenia sp. na população atendida no laboratório central do Instituto Adolfo Lutz, São Paulo, SP, Brasil (1960/1989)

Foram examinados retrospectivamente os relatorios mensais e anuais da Secao de Enteroparasitoses do Laboratorio Central do Instituto Adolfo Lutz, Sao Paulo, SP, do periodo de 1960 a 1989, perfazendo uma serie historica de 30 anos, com 1.519.730 exames protoparasitologicos e 355 identificacoes de proglotes de Taenia. Pelo metodo da sedimentacao espontânea foram diagnosticados 7.663 (0,5%) casos de presenca de ovos de Taenia sp. nas fezes. Das 355 proglotes enviadas para identificacao, 311 (87,60%) estavam em condicoes de serem especificadas, e dessas, 273 (87,80%) eram proglotes de Taenia saginata e 38 (12,22%) de T. solium.Monthly and yearly reports of the Seção de Enteroparasitoses of the Instituto Adolfo Lutz (São Paulo, SP, Brazil) from 1960 to 1989 with 1,519,730 parasitological stool examinations were studied. There were also 355 identifications of Taenia sp. proglottids. Using Hoffman, Pons & Janers method, 7,663 (0.5%) cases of taeniasis were diagnosed, and 311 (87.60%) of the 355 proglottids were on easy terms to be specified, 273 (87.80%) of them were from Taenia saginata.