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ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to evaluate the concordance between two versions of the scoring system (2011 and 2019), recommended by the Brazilian Ministry of Health, for the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) in children and adolescents. A retrospective descriptive study was performed to assess the medical records of children and adolescents with PTB, in TB units from Brazilian cities located in Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, and Parana States, from January 1 st , 2004, to December 1 st , 2018. Patients aged 0 to 18 years old with a diagnosis of PTB were included. The comparison between the two scoring systems showed a moderate concordance according to the κ coefficient value = 0.625. Fourteen patients showed a reduction in the TB score, going from 30 points in the 2011, to 25 points or less in the 2019 one. Seventy one percent of these 14 patients had radiological changes suggestive of PTB and 86% had tuberculin skin tests greater than 10 mm. The study concluded that a moderate agreement was observed between the 2011 and 2019 scoring systems, with an increase in the number of patients scoring 25 points or less in 2019, which can eventually hinder the diagnosis of PTB.

Few studies have examined antiretroviral therapy adherence in Latin American children. Standardized behavioral measures were applied to a large cohort of human immunodeficiency virus-infected children in Brazil, Mexico, and Peru to assess adherence to prescribed antiretroviral therapy doses during the three days prior to study visits, assess timing of last missed dose, and evaluate the ability of the adherence measures to predict viral suppression. Time trends in adherence were modeled using a generalized estimating equations approach to account for possible correlations in outcomes measured repeatedly in the same participants. Associations of adherence with human immunodeficiency virus viral load were examined using linear regression. Mean enrollment age of the 380 participants was 5 years; 57.6% had undetectable’ viral load ( 0.3). Last time missed any antiretroviral therapy dose was reported as “never” for 52.0% at enrollment, increasing to 60.7% and 65.9% at the 6- and 12-month visits, respectively (p

Introduction We hypothesized that nutritional deficiency would be common in a cohort of postpartum, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected women and their infants. Methods Weight and height, as well as blood concentrations of retinol, α-tocopherol, ferritin, hemoglobin, and zinc, were measured in mothers after delivery and in their infants at birth and at 6-12 weeks and six months of age. Retinol and α-tocopherol levels were quantified by high performance liquid chromatography, and zinc levels were measured by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The maternal body mass index during pregnancy was adjusted for gestational age (adjBMI). Results Among the 97 women 19.6% were underweight. Laboratory abnormalities were most frequently observed for the hemoglobin (46.4%), zinc (41.1%), retinol (12.5%) and ferritin (6.5%) levels. Five percent of the women had mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentrations < 31g/dL. The most common deficiency in the infants was α-tocopherol (81%) at birth; however, only 18.5% of infants had deficient levels at six months of age. Large percentages of infants had zinc (36.8%) and retinol (29.5%) deficiencies at birth; however, these percentages decreased to 17.5% and 18.5%, respectively, by six months of age. No associations between infant micronutrient deficiencies and either the maternal adjBMI category or maternal micronutrient deficiencies were found. Conclusions Micronutrient deficiencies were common in HIV-infected women and their infants. Micronutrient deficiencies were less prevalent in the infants at six months of age. Neither underweight women nor their infants at birth were at increased risk for micronutrient deficiencies.

OBJECTIVE: To describe trends in sociodemographic, immunological and virological profiles and interventions to decrease the risk of mother-to-child HIV transmission. METHODS: Retrospective cohort study conducted at a tertiary institution in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from January 1996 to December 2004. Analysis was performed by stratification in three time periods: 1996-1998 (P1), 1999-2001 (P2) and 2002-2004 (P3). RESULTS: In 9 years, 622 pregnancies occurred. Complications included: maternal mortality 0.3%, stillbirths 2.5%, miscarriages 0.6%, neonatal mortality 1.1%, prematurity 9.9%, low birth weight (LBW) 16.5%, congenital malformations 2.2%. The number of HIV-infected pregnant patients grew threefold over time reflecting increased prevalence of disease and patient identification. HIV diagnosis before pregnancy increased from 30% in P1 to 45% in P3. The proportion of pregnant women receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy increased from none (P1) to 88% (P3) with a significant trend towards women delivering at undetectable viral loads in later years despite a higher frequency of advanced disease. Scheduled cesarean deliveries increased from 35% in P1 to 48% in P3. Perinatal transmission rates were 2.4% with a decline from 3.5% in P1 to 1.6% in P3. Neonatal outcomes tended to remain constant or improve with time. A slight rise in LBW and congenital malformations were observed. CONCLUSIONS: During the observational period, HIV+ pregnant women presented with more advanced disease and lower socio-economic status. However, improved management of HIV-infected patients (associated with increased identification and increased availability of treatment) resulted into very low transmission rates similar to those of developed countries with overall improvement of patient outcomes.OBJETIVOS: Descrever as tendências temporais nas características sociodemográficas, imunológicas e virológicas e as das condutas utilizadas para reduzir o risco da transmissão mãe-filho do HIV. MÉTODOS: Estudo de coorte retrospectivo em uma instituição de saúde terciária no Rio de Janeiro de janeiro de 1996 a dezembro de 2004. A análise utilizou a estratificação em três períodos de tempo: 1996-1998 (P1), 1999-2001 (P2) e 2002-2004 (P3). RESULTADOS: Em 9 anos, 622 gestações foram acompanhadas. As complicações foram: mortalidade materna 0,3%, natimortos 2,5%, abortos 0,6%, mortalidade neonatal 1,1%, prematuridade 9,9%, baixo peso ao nascer (BPN) 16,5%, malformações congênitas 2,2%. O número de gestantes HIV positivo triplicou ao longo do tempo, refletindo o aumento da prevalência da doença e a melhor identificação das pacientes. O diagnóstico da infecção pelo HIV antes da gestação aumentou de 30% em P1 para 45% em P3. A proporção de gestantes recebendo o tratamento combinado potente aumentou de zero em P1 para 88% em P3 com uma tendência significativa a ter uma carga viral abaixo do limite de detecção no parto nos últimos anos apesar de uma maior proporção de pacientes com doença mais avançada. O índice de cesarianas eletivas aumentou de 35% em P1 para 48% em P3. A taxa de transmissão perinatal global foi de 2,4% caindo de 3,5% em P1 para 1,6% em P3. Os desfechos neonatais tenderam a permanecer constantes ou a melhorar ao longo do tempo. Um discreto aumento dos índices de BPN e de malformações congênitas foi observado. CONCLUSÕES: Ao longo do período de estudo aumentou a proporção de gestantes HIV positivo com doença mais avançada e com padrão socioeconômico mais baixo. Por outro lado, a melhora da abordagem terapêutica dos pacientes infectados pelo HIV, associada a uma maior detecção de casos e maior acesso ao tratamento, resultou em uma redução da taxa de transmissão igualando-se à observada em países desenvolvidos com melhora concomitante de outros desfechos.

Afim de obter dados sobre as manifestações clínicas da leptospirose em crianças, foram revistos 188 exames sorológicos realizados em pacientes com idade entre 0 e 12 anos no Laboratório de Referência Nacional para Leptospirose (FIOCRUZ-RJ) no período de janeiro de 1983 ajunho de 1991. Cinquenta e dois (27,6%) soros eram reagentes. Vinte etrês (12,2%) crianças tinham evidênciasorológica de infecção aguda. Os sinais e sintomas mais freqüentemente encontrados nestes casos foram: febre (100%); mialgias (69,5%); cefaléia (52,1%); icterícia (47,8%); vômitos (34,8%); dores abdominais, manifestações hemorrágicas e disfunção renal (17,4%); conjuntivite (13%); hepatomegalia (4,3%).In order to obtain data about clinical manifestations of symptomatic leptospiral infection in children, the authors reviewed 188 microscopic agglutination tests performed on sera of patients aged 0 to 12 years, made at the National Reference Laboratory of Leptospirosis (FIOCRUZ-RJ) from January 1983 to June 1991. Fifty two (27.6%) sera were positive. Twenty three (12.2%) children had serological evidence of acute infection. The mostfrequent signs and symptoms of these 23 cases were: fever (100%); myalgia (69.5%); headache (52.1%); jaundice (47.8%); vomit (34.8%); abdominal pain, hemorrhagic manifestations and impaired renal function (17.4%); conjunctivitis (13%); hepatomegaly (4.3%).

We report the occurrence of congenital toxoplasmosis in an infant born to an HIV infected mother who had high anti-toxoplasma IgG and negative IgM at nine weeks of gestation. We briefly review available literature and discuss the possible mechanisms of transmission of congenital toxoplasmosis among HIV infected pregnant women.

The extent to which perinatally HIV-infected children, following cART initiation, develop a low proviral reservoir burden over time, as measured by HIV DNA droplet-digital polymerase chain reaction (ddPCR) and the effect on HIV antibody is not well characterized. We measured proviral HIV DNA and plasma RNA virus load (VL) in 37 perinatally HIV-infected children at 6 months of age who initiated stable cART. At 6–11 years of age, HIV proviral DNA, HIV VL (RNA), and HIV antibody by Western Blot (WB) were assessed. CART was initiated before 6 months of age in 13 children and after 6 months in 24. At school age, the HIV DNA levels did not differ by the timing of cART, and the HIV DNA levels were lower in children with negative/indeterminate WB (p = 0.0256). Children with undetectable HIV RNA VL > 50% of the time since cART initiation had lower median DNA VL than children with undetectable VL < 50% of the time (p = 0.07). Long-term viral suppression in perinatally HIV-infected children is associated with a decrease in HIV antibodies and reduced HIV reservoirs.

Abstract Background Despite great progress made in methods to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV (MTCT), delivery and uptake of these measures remains a challenge in many countries. Although the Brazilian Ministry of Health aimed to eliminate MTCT by 2015, infection still occured in 15–24% of infants born to HIV-infected mothers. We sought to identify remaining factors that constrain MTCT elimination. Methods We conducted a retrospective, matched case-control study by reviewing hospital charts of infants born to HIV-infected mothers between 1997 and 2014 at three MTCT reference hospitals in the Rio de Janeiro metropolitan area. Cases were defined as HIV-exposed children with two positive HIV tests before 18 months of age; controls were defined as HIV-exposed children with two negative HIV tests before 18 months of age. We performed bivariate and MTCT cascade analyses to identify risk factors for MTCT and gaps in prevention services. Results We included 435 infants and their mothers (145 cases, 290 controls). Bivariate analyses of MTCT preventative care (PMTCT) indicated that cases were less likely to complete all individual measures in the antenatal, delivery, and postnatal period (p