IHMT

Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical

Home / Archives for de Sousa B

de Sousa B

What influences national and foreign physicians’ geographic distribution? An analysis of medical doctors’ residence location in Portugal.

BACKGROUND:
The debate over physicians’ geographical distribution has attracted the attention of the economic and public health literature over the last forty years. Nonetheless, it is still to date unclear what influences physicians’ location, and whether foreign physicians contribute to fill the geographical gaps left by national doctors in any given country.
Ler mais

Dynamics of cytokines and immunoglobulins serum profiles in primary and secondary Cryptosporidium parvum infection: Usefulness of Luminex® xMAP technology

Infection by Cryptosporidium parvum triggers a complex array of innate and adaptive cell mediated immune response, playing an important role in controlling the infection. To date, there are no studies applying the Luminex® xMAP technology to determine profiles of cytokines and immunoglobulins in the context of an infection by C. parvum. In this study, we analyzed these immune mediators in the serum of immunocompetent mice inoculated with C. parvum oocysts, using Luminex, to understand how the immune system responds to an infection by this parasite.
Ler mais

Therapeutic Potential of Caspofungin Combined with Trimethoprim-Sul- famethoxazole for Pneumocystis Pneumonia: A Pilot Study in Mice

Pneumocystis pneumonia (PcP) is a major cause of mortality and morbidity in immunocompromised patients. There are limited alternative therapeutic choices to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX) which is the standard first line therapy/prophylaxis for PcP.
Ler mais

Giardia duodenalis and chronic malnutrition in children under five from a rural area of Guinea-Bissau

A case-control study that included 109 children aged 0 to 59 months of a rural community in Guinea-Bissau was conducted. The anthropometric assessment of children in the study identified 31 cases of chronic malnutrition (z-score height for age < -2) and 78 controls (z-score height for age ≥ -2). Microscopic examination of stools was performed for detection and identification of G. duodenalis and other parasites.
Ler mais

Pneumocystis jirovecii multilocus genotyping in pooled DNA samples: a new approach for clinical and epidemiological studies.

Specific single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are recognized as important DNA sequence variations influencing the pathogenesis of Pneumocystis jirovecii and the clinical outcome of Pneumocystis pneumonia, which is a major worldwide cause of illness among immunocompromised patients
Ler mais

Genotyping of Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains by interdelta sequence typing using automated microfluidics.

Amplification of genomic sequences flanked by delta elements of retrotransposons TY1 and TY2 is a reliable method for characterization of Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains.
Ler mais

Duffy negative antigen is no longer a barrier to Plasmodium vivax–molecular evidences from the African West Coast (Angola and Equatorial Guinea).

BACKGROUND:
Plasmodium vivax shows a small prevalence in West and Central Africa due to the high prevalence of Duffy negative people. However, Duffy negative individuals infected with P. vivax have been reported in areas of high prevalence of Duffy positive people who may serve as supply of P. vivax strains able to invade Duffy negative erythrocytes. We investigated the presence of P. vivax in two West African countries, using blood samples and mosquitoes collected during two on-going studies.
Ler mais

Potential threat of malaria epidemics in a low transmission area, as exemplified by São Tomé and Príncipe

BACKGROUND: Plasmodium falciparum is the major cause of malaria infection in the island of São Tomé, in the Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe (STP), with an incidence of 40 – 50% before 2004. Since 2004, through the coordination of the Ministry of Health of STP and their Centro Nacional de Endemias (CNE), an integrated […]
Ler mais

Why do some physicians in portuguese-speaking african countries work exclusively for the private sector? Findings from a mixed-methods study

Despite the growing interest in the private health sector in low- and middle-income countries, little is known about physicians working outside the public sector. The present work adopts a mixed-methods approach to explore characteristics, working patterns, choices, and motivations of the physicians working exclusively for the private sector in the capital cities of Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau, and Mozambique.
Ler mais