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2014

Insights on the genotype distribution among Cryptococcus neoformans and C. gattii Portuguese clinical isolates

This study provides a comprehensive picture of the C. neoformans/C. gattii molecular types most often associated with human cryptococcosis in Portugal and assesses the impact of C. gattii in these infections. One hundred and twenty-two clinical isolates, from distinct patients, were identified as C. neoformans and genotyped by URA5-RFLP, with the molecular types VNI (45.5 %) and VNIII (30.9 %) being the most commonly found ones.
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Community Health Workers: to train or restrain? A longitudinal survey to assess community health workers training impact in Bolama Region, Guinea-Bissau

The shortage in human resources for health affects most dramatically developing countries which frequently use community health workers (CHW) as the basis for health programmes and services. The traditional definition refers CHWs as members of the community who are recruited and trained in health prevention and promotion to provide services within their community. In Guinea-Bissau, CHWs play a fundamental role in the diagnosis and treatment of childhood diarrheal diseases – one of the main health problems in the country.
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Prevalence of pfmdr1 alleles associated with artemether-lumefantrine tolerance/resistance in Maputo before and after the implementation of artemisinin-based combination therapy

Mozambique implemented artemisinin-based combinations therapy (ACT) using artemether-lumefantrine (AL) as the first-line treatment for uncomplicated malaria in 2009. AL remains highly efficacious, but widespread use may soon facilitate emergence of artemisinin tolerance/resistance. The prevalence of pfmdr1 different alleles in Maputo and Mozambique is not known, either after or before the introduction of ACT. Pfmdr1 molecular markers related to Plasmodium falciparum susceptibility were analysed before and after transition to ACT.
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Cryptosporidium spp., Giardia duodenalis, Enterocytozoon bieneusi and other intestinal parasites in young children in Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Principe

Rare systemic studies concerning prevalence of intestinal parasites in children have been conducted in the second smallest country in Africa, the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe. Fecal specimens from 348 children (214 in-hospital attending the Aires de Menezes Hospital and 134 from Agostinho Neto village) in São Tome Island were studied by parasitological and molecular methods.
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HIV-1 Gag C-terminal amino acid substitutions emerging under selective pressure of protease inhibitors in patient populations infected with different HIV-1 subtypes

HIV-1 Gag amino acid substitutions associated with protease inhibitor (PI) treatment have mainly been reported in subtype B, while information on other subtypes is scarce. Using sequences from 11613 patients infected with different HIV-1 subtypes, we evaluated the prevalence of 93 Gag amino acid substitutions and their association with genotypic PI resistance.
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Primary health care reform and implications for the organizational culture of Health Center Groups in Portugal

The health sector’s increasing complexity poses major challenges for administrators. There is considerable consensus on workforce quality as a key determinant of success for any health reform. This study aimed to explore the changes introduced by an action-training intervention in the organizational culture of the 73 executive directors of Health Center Groups (ACES) in Portugal during the primary health care reform. The study covers two periods, before and after the one-year ACES training, during which the data were collected and analyzed.
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Relatedness of Mycobacterium avium subspecies hominissuis clinical isolates of human and porcine origins assessed by MLVA

In this study, the analysis of Mycobacterium avium tandem repeats (MATRs) loci was adapted to evaluate the genetic diversity of epidemiological unrelated MAH clinical strains of human (n=28) and porcine (n=69) origins, collected from diverse geographical regions across mainland Portugal. These MAH isolates were found to be genetically diverse and genotypes are randomly distributed across the country.
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Detection of Wolbachia in Dirofilaria infected dogs in Portugal

Wolbachia pipiens, an intracellular endosymbiont bacteria of filarial nematodes, has been implicated in the pathogenesis of filarial diseases, in particular in heavy Dirofilaria spp. infections. Antibiotic therapy (doxycycline) against Wolbachia has been proven to be suitable adjunct therapy, prior to adulticide treatment of canine dirofilariosis.
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Rotavirus infection increases intestinal motility but not permeability at the onset of diarrhea

The disease mechanisms associated with onset and secondary effects of rotavirus (RV) diarrhea remain to be determined and may not be identical. In this study, we investigated whether onset of RV diarrhea is associated with increased intestinal permeability and/or motility. To study the transit time, fluorescent fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-dextran was given to RV-infected adult and infant mice. Intestinal motility was also studied with an opioid receptor agonist (loperamide) and a muscarinic receptor antagonist (atropine)
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