Virginia Lucia Nazario Bonoldi

Coexistence of antibodies to tick-borne agents of babesiosis and Lyme borreliosis in patients from Cotia county, State of São Paulo, Brazil

This paper reports a case of coinfection caused by pathogens of Lyme disease and babesiosis in brothers. This was the first case of borreliosis in Brazil, acquired in Cotia County, State of S o Paulo, Brazil. Both children had tick bite history, presented erythema migrans, fever, arthralgia, mialgia, and developed positive serology (ELISA and Western-blotting) directed to Borrelia burgdorferi G 39/40 and Babesia bovis antigens, mainly of IgM class antibodies, suggestive of acute disease. Also, high frequencies of antibodies to B. bovis was observed in a group of 59 Brazilian patients with Lyme borreliosis (25.4%), when compared with that obtained in a normal control group (10.2%) (chi-square = 5.6; p < 0.05). Interestingly, both children presented the highest titers for IgM antibodies directed to both infective diseases, among all patients with Lyme borreliosis.

Search for Borrelia sp. in ticks collected from potential reservoirs in an urban forest reserve in the State of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil: a short report

A total of 128 ticks of the genus Amblyomma were recovered from 5 marsupials (Didelphis albiventris) - with 4 recaptures - and 17 rodents (16 Bolomys lasiurus and 1 Rattus norvegicus) captured in an urban forest reserve in Campo Grande, State of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. Of the ticks collected, 95 (78.9%) were in larval form and 22 (21.1%) were nymphs; the only adult (0.8%) was identified as A. cajennense. Viewed under dark-field microscopy in the fourth month after seeding, 9 cultures prepared from spleens and livers of the rodents, blood of the marsupials, and macerates of Amblyomma sp. nymphs revealed spiral-shaped, spirochete-like structures resembling those of Borrelia sp. Some of them showed little motility, while others were non-motile. No such structures could be found either in positive Giemsa-stained culture smears or under electron microscopy. No PCR amplification of DNA from those cultures could be obtained by employing Leptospira sp., B. burgdorferi, and Borrelia sp. primers. These aspects suggest that the spirochete-like structures found in this study do not fit into the genera Borrelia or Leptospira, requiring instead to be isolated for proper identification.

Amplification of the flgE gene provides evidence for the existence of a Brazilian borreliosis

INTRODUCTION The symptoms of Brazilian borreliosis resemble the clinical manifestations of Lyme disease (LD). However, there are differences between the two in terms of epidemiological and laboratory findings. Primers usually employed to diagnose LD have failed to detect Borrelia strains in Brazil. OBJECTIVE We aimed to identify the Brazilian Borrelia using a conserved gene that synthesizes the flagellar hook (flgE) of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato. METHOD Three patients presenting with erythema migrans and positive epidemiological histories were recruited for the study. Blood samples were collected, and the DNA was extracted by commercial kits. RESULTS The gene flgE was amplified from DNA of all selected patients. Upon sequencing, these positive samples revealed 99% homology to B. burgdorferi flgE. CONCLUSION These results support the existence of borreliosis in Brazil. However, it is unclear whether this borreliosis is caused by a genetically modified B. burgdorferi sensu stricto or by a new species of Borrelia spp.

Neurological manifestations in Baggio-Yoshinari Syndrome (Brazilian Lyme disease-like syndrome)

INTRODUCAO: A doenca de Lyme (DL) e uma doenca de picada de carrapato, causado pela espiroqueta Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, transmitida por carrapatos do complexo Ixodes ricinus, que promove multiplas manifestacoes clinicas sistemicas. No Brasil, uma sindrome diferente e descrita e mimetiza sintomas de DL, mas tambem se manifesta com alta frequencia de episodios recorrentes e manifestacoes alergicas e imunologicas. E transmitida pelo carrapato Amblyomma cajennense e o agente etiologico e uma espiroqueta nao cultivavel de forma atipica. Devido a essas particularidades, esta zoonose emergente tem sido denominada sindrome brasileira semelhante a doenca de Lyme ou sindrome de Baggio-Yoshinari (SBY). OBJETIVO: Descrever o espectro da manifestacao neurologica da SBY. PACIENTES: Foram analisados 30 pacientes com SBY e sintomas neurologicos. RESULTADOS: A media de idade dos pacientes foi de 34,2 ± 13,3 anos (6 a 63 anos); 20 eram mulheres e 10 homens. Um alto numero de episodios recorrentes (73,6%) e disturbios psiquiatricos e psicossociais graves (20%) foram caracteristicas tipicas. Eritema migrans similar ao visto em hemisferio norte foi identificado em 43,3% dos pacientes no inicio da doenca. A recorrencia das lesoes cutâneas diminuiu com a progressao da doenca. Sintomas articulares (artrite) aconteceram em aproximadamente metade dos pacientes com SBY no inicio e durante o episodio de recidiva. CONCLUSOES: A SBY e considerada uma nova doenca transmitida por carrapato no Brasil que difere da classica DL observada no hemisferio norte. A SBY reproduz sintomas neurologicos observados na DL, exceto pela presenca adicional de recorrencia de episodios e uma tendencia de causar manifestacoes neurologicas cronicas e articulares.

Land fauna composition of small mammals of a fragment of Atlantic Forest in the State of Sao Paulo, Brazil

The Atlantic Forest small mammal land fauna, except bats, and the abiotic factors that might have an influence on its composition, were studied in the Itapevi County, State of Sao Paulo, a forested region, partly altered by antropic action, from January, 1995 to June, 1996. The trapping effort consisted of 2,888 trap-nights, resulting in a 4.6% trapping success and consisted of monthly trappings, for five consecutive days. During this period, 134 specimens were captured, of which 46.3% were Didelphimorphia and 53.7% were Rodentia. Eleven species were registered: two Didelphimorphia: Didelphis marsupialis (Linnaeus, 1758) and Marmosops incanus (Lund, 1841), and nine Rodentia: Akodon cursor (Winge, 1887), Bolomys lasiurus (Lund, 1841), Oxymycterus hispidus Pictet, 1843, Oxymycterus nasutus (Waterhouse, 1837), Oligoryzomys nigripes (Olfers, 1818), Oryzomys angouya (Fischer, 1814), Raltus norvegicus (Berkenhout, 1769), Euryzygomatomys spinosus (G. Fischer, 1814) and Cavia aperea Erxleben, 1777. The relative density indices were correlated with meteorological data by Spearman and Pearson coefficients. For marsupials these correlations were not significant. For rodents, the correlations were significant and directly related to lower temperature and rainfall indices (p<0.05). During the dry season the occurrence of small mammals was 50% greater than during the wet season, probably due to foraging strategies in the studied fragment of Atlantic Forest.

Lyme disease like syndrome associated lymphocytoma: first case report in Brazil

INTRODUCTION The tick-borne disease found in Brazil, initially discovered in 1992, has been named Lyme Disease like syndrome (LDLS), because the clinical manifestations are similar with those observed in the Northern hemisphere, but the etiological agent was never isolated and polymerase chain reactions (PCR) with specific or broad recognizing primers of genera Borrelia were always negative in patients and ticks samples. […] Lyme disease like syndrome associated lymphocytoma: first case report in Brazil

Serological Reactivity to Borrelia burgdorferi, Borrelia afzelli, and Borrelia garinii Antigens in Patients Afflicted by Peripheral Facial Paralysis in Brazil

Main outcome measure(s) Antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi were found in 21% of the patients using IMF 1988 and in 19% of the patients using ELISA 10 years later, 1998. The prevalence of antibodies to Borrelia in patients with peripheral facial palsy was 12 times higher when compared to controls. Antibodies to Borrelia in CSF were found in 23% of the seropositive patients 1988 and in 20% of the seropositive patients 1998. No matter what etiology of the palsy, CSF was pathological in 62% of the patients 1988 and 42% in 1998.

Oviposition and eclosion periods of Ixodes didelphidis Fonseca and Aragão, 1951 (Acari: Ixodidae) under laboratory conditions

Oviposition and eclosion periods for Ixodes didelphidis were observed under two temperatures (25 degrees C and 27 degrees C) and 90-95% humidity. Although there was a significant increase in the eclosion period (p<0.05) and a tendency to increase the oviposition period at 25 degrees C, there was neither significant differences in the interval (days), until maximum peak of eclosion nor in the number of emerging larvae during the peak nor the total number of emerged larvae. These temperature values are not critical for embryological development of the species. Because at 27 degrees C and under high humidity the oviposition and eclosion periods are shorter, and the percentage of emerged larvae is higher, we consider this to be the ideal temperature for laboratory studies.