RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Dog bites to people are a serious public health problem. Limited information exists at the country level in Latin America. The COVID-19 pandemic changed people's lifestyles and their relationship with pets, and this could potentially affect the incidence of dog bites injuries. OBJECTIVE: The main objectives of our study were to determine the prevalence of dog-bite injuries in Uruguay from 2010 to 2020 and to compare the prevalence in 2020 to that of pre-pandemic years. METHODS: Cross-sectional study. Dog-bite notifications for the 2010 and 2020 period were analysed using data from the Uruguayan Ministry of Public Health. RESULTS: The annual dog-bite injury rate for the 2010-2020 period was 87.51 per 100,000 people. The frequency of bites varied with the victims' sex, with males accounting for 51.8% of the bites (p < 0.0001), and with age, with a higher frequency of bites in the ≤14 years old age group (p < 0.01). The frequency of dog bites was also higher in spring and summer than in autumn (p < 0.0001). There was no statistical difference in the frequency of dog-bite injuries when comparing 2020 with the pre-COVID-19 pandemic years. CONCLUSIONS: In Uruguay, the frequency of dog-bite injuries varied with season and with the age and sex of the victim. In the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of people bitten by dogs was no different than that of previous years. This is the first study in Latin America to report national rather than regional data and to include all age groups.
Assuntos
COVID-19 , Doenças do Cão , Masculino , Cães , Animais , Uruguai/epidemiologia , Estudos Transversais , Pandemias , COVID-19/epidemiologia , COVID-19/veterinária , Saúde Pública , Doenças do Cão/epidemiologiaRESUMO
In the Americas, the sandfly Lutzomyia longipalpis is the main vector of the parasitic protozoa Leishmania infantum, the etiological agent of visceral leishmaniasis (VL). The Lu. longipalpis species complex is currently discontinuously distributed across the Neotropical region, from Mexico to the north of Argentina and Uruguay. During its continental spreading, it must have adapted to several biomes and temperature amplitudes, when founder events should have contributed to the high genetic divergence and geographical structure currently observed, reinforcing the speciation process. The first report of Lu. longipalpis in Uruguay was in 2010, calling the attention of Public Health authorities. Five years later, the parasite Le. infantum was recorded and in 2015 the first case of VL in canids was reported. Hitherto seven human cases by VL have been reported in Uruguay. Here, we publish the first DNA sequences from the mitochondrial genes ND4 and CYTB of Lu. longipalpis collected in Uruguay, and we used these molecular markers to investigate their genetic variability and population structure. We described four new ND4 haplotypes in a total of 98 (4/98) and one CYTB in a total of 77 (1/77). As expected, we were able to establish that the Lu. longipalpis collected in two localities (i.e. Salto and Bella Unión) from the north of Uruguay are closely related to the populations from neighbouring countries. We also propose that the possible route for the vector arrival to the region may have been through vegetation and forest corridors of the Uruguay River system, as well as it may have benefited from landscape modifications generated by commercial forestation. The ecological-scale processes shaping Lu. longipalpis populations, the identification of genetically homogeneous groups and the gene flow among them must be carefully investigated by using highly sensible molecular markers (i.e. genome wide SNPs) since it will help to the understanding of VL transmission and contribute to the planification of public policies on its control.
Assuntos
Leishmania infantum , Leishmaniose Visceral , Psychodidae , Animais , Humanos , Brasil/epidemiologia , Insetos Vetores/genética , Insetos Vetores/parasitologia , Leishmania infantum/genética , Leishmaniose Visceral/parasitologia , Leishmaniose Visceral/veterinária , Psychodidae/parasitologia , Uruguai/epidemiologiaRESUMO
BACKGROUND: Aedes aegypti is extensively spread throughout South America where it has been responsible for large dengue epidemics during the last decades. Intriguingly, dengue transmission has not been reported in Uruguay and is essentially prevalent in subtropical northern Argentina which borders Uruguay. METHODS: We assessed vector competence for dengue virus (DENV) of Ae. aegypti populations collected in subtropical Argentina (Corrientes) as well as temperate Uruguay (Salto) and Argentina (Buenos Aires) in 2012 using experimental oral infections with DENV-2. Mosquitoes were incubated at 28 °C and examined at 14 and 21 days p.i. to access viral dissemination and transmission. Batches of the Buenos Aires mosquitoes were also incubated at 15 °C and 20 °C. RESULTS: Although mosquitoes from temperate Uruguay and Argentina were competent to transmit DENV, those from subtropical Argentina were more susceptible, displaying the highest virus titters in the head and presenting the highest dissemination of infection and transmission efficiency rates when incubated at 28 °C. Interestingly, infectious viral particles could be detected in saliva of mosquitoes from Buenos Aires exposed to 15 °C and 20 °C. CONCLUSIONS: There is a potential risk of establishing DENV transmission in Uruguay and for the spread of dengue outbreaks to other parts of subtropical and temperate Argentina, notably during spring and summer periods.