Rheumatoid arthritis association in Colombian population is restricted to HLA-DRB1*04 QRRAA alleles.
(65/842)
In most ethnic groups genetic susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is associated with certain HLA-DRB1 alleles encoding a similar sequence motif called the 'shared epitope' (SE) spanning amino acid positions 70 to 74 in the third diversity region of the outermost domain of the HLA-DRB1 molecule. We examined the association of the SE and RA in 83 Colombian women with established RA and 90 healthy controls. The group HLA-DRB1*04 was associated with RA with respect to controls (47% vs 18%, respectively. OR: 4.1, 95%CI: 2.1-8.2, P < 0.001). HLA-DRB1 alleles carrying the SE QRRAA, but not those carrying QKRAA or RRRAA, were associated with disease (OR: 3.7, 95%CI: 1.73-7.83, P = 0.0009). This association was stronger among HLA-DRB1*04 carriers (OR: 23, 95%CI: 1.3-414, P = 0.002). In our population, the SE QRRAA expressed in DRB1*04 alleles appears critical in identifying women with increased susceptibility to RA. (+info)
Giardiasis in children living in post-earthquake camps from Armenia (Colombia).
(66/842)
BACKGROUND: An earthquake in the coffee growing region of Colombia on January 25, 1999 destroyed 70% of the houses in Armenia city. Transitory housing camps still remained until two years after the disaster. Parasitological studies found that, in this population, giardiasis was the most frequent parasitic infection. This study was carried out in order to determine the epidemiological risk factors associated with this high prevalence. METHODS: Fecal samples were obtained from 217 children aged between 3 and 13 years. Stool samples were studied by direct wet examination and stained with ferric hematoxilin for microscopical examination. Epidemiological data were collected by questionnaire and analyzed by using the Epi-info software (CDC, Atlanta 2001). RESULTS: Giardia cysts were observed in 60.4% of the samples presented and trophozoites in 4.6%. The following epidemiological and laboratory factors were significantly associated with Giardia infection: 1. Use of communal toilet (vs. individual toilet) OR: 3.9, CI95%: 1.2-16; 2. water provision by municipal ducts (vs. water provision by individual tanks) OR: 3.5, CI95% 1.1-14, and 3. presence of mucus in stool OR: 2.3, IC95%: 0.9-6.7. CONCLUSIONS: A high prevalence of giardiasis was found in children living in temporary houses after the 1999 earthquake in Armenia (Colombia). Giardiasis is an emerging disease in post-disaster situations and adequate prevention measures should be implemented during these circumstances. (+info)
Energy intake and expenditure of free-living, lactating Colombian women in an urban setting.
(67/842)
OBJECTIVES: To examine the components of energy balance during lactation in a population of economically disadvantaged women in an urban developing country setting in order to better understand the metabolic response to lactation. DESIGN: Cross-sectional comparison of lactating (LACT) and non-pregnant non-lactating (NPNL) women. Body size and composition were assessed via anthropometry, energy intake was measured using estimated diet records and energy expenditure using indirect calorimetry and the Flex-Heart Rate method. SETTING: Low-income neighborhoods of Cali, Colombia. SUBJECTS: Lactating women (n=15) studied at 2.4+/-0.8, 5.5+/-0.8 and 8.9+/-1.2 months postpartum, and NPNL women (n=48) studied in three measurement rounds at 0, 3.5+/-0.6 and 7.1+/-1.0 months. RESULTS: There were no significant differences between LACT and NPNL women in anthropometric dimensions, but LACT women showed decreases in waist-hip ratio, lean body mass and increases in mid-arm circumference and percentage body fat with time. Energy intake was higher in LACT women (P=0.04), but there were no significant between-group differences in energy expenditure variables. CONCLUSION: This group of women met the cost of lactation principally via increased energy intake. (+info)
Flies (Calliphoridae, Muscidae) and beetles (Silphidae) from human cadavers in Cali, Colombia.
(68/842)
Adult specimens of Cochliomyia macellaria, Chrysomya megacephala, Ch. rufifacies, Lucilia sp. (Calliphoridae), Musca domestica (Muscidae), Oxelytrum discicolle (Silphidae) and Sarcophagidae were recovered from 12 human cadavers in Cali, Valle, Colombia. Information regarding these findings is presented. (+info)
Malaria control reinvented: health sector reform and strategy development in Colombia.
(69/842)
The consequences of health sector reforms on control of malaria were analysed using Colombia as an example. One of the most complex health sector reform programmes in Latin America took place in the 1990s; it included transferring the vertical vector-borne disease control (VBDC) programme into health systems at state and district levels. A series of studies was undertaken in 1998-2000 at the national level (Ministry of Health Study), at the state level (Departamento Study) and at the health district level (District Study) using formal and informal interviews among control staff and document analysis as data collection tools. A government-financed national training programme for VBDC staff - which included direct observation of control operations - was also used to analyse health workers' performance in the postreform period (longitudinal study). The results showed that some shortcomings of the old vertical system, such as the negative aspects of trade union activity, have not been overcome while some positive aspects of the old system, such as capacity building, operational planning and supervision have been lost. This has contributed to a decrease in control activity which, in turn, has been associated with more malaria cases. Malaria control had to be reinvented at a much larger scale than anticipated by the reformers caused by a whole series of problems: complex financing of public health interventions in the new system, massive staff reductions, the difficulty of gaining access to district and state budgets, redefining entire organizations and - in addition to the reforms - introducing alternative strategies based on insecticide-treated materials and the growth of areas of general insecurity in many parts of Colombia itself. However, positive signs in the transformed system include: the strengthening of central control staff (albeit insufficient in numbers) when transferred from the Ministry of Health to the National Institute of Health, the opportunities offered by the Basic Health Plan (PAB) for new planning initiatives and intersectoral co-operation and the integration of malaria diagnosis and treatment into the general health services (associated with a decrease of malaria mortality). The potentials of the new system have not yet been fully exploited: capacity building, communication and management skills need to be improved and it require guidance from the national level. (+info)
Serological screening for cysticercosis in mentally altered individuals.
(70/842)
The parasitic infection neurocysticercosis may give rise to a variety of psychiatric manifestations that resemble, but are different from, primary psychiatric disorders. The aim of this study was to determine if among individuals from a neurocysticercosis-endemic area of Colombia who apparently had a psychiatric manifestation with associated neurological finding ('cases'), some could have been infected with Taenia solium cysticerci. This case-control study was done in individuals hospitalized in two mental institutions. The control-1 individuals were those classified with primary psychiatric disease, and the control-2 group consisted of healthy, non-hospitalized individuals. A serological test for cysticercosis was positive in 5/96 (5.1%) cases, 4/153 (2.6%) psychiatric controls, and 5/246 (2%) healthy controls. The data analysis indicated a weak association between the cases and a positive serology for neurocysticercosis (odds ratio > 2; P > 0.05). The lower education level of the cases influenced this association. (+info)
Domiciliation trend of Panstrongylus rufotuberculatus in Colombia.
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The present paper presents evidence of the domiciliation of Panstrongylus rufotuberculatus in La Gardenia, Colombia through the collection of 2 unhatched eggs, 81 nymphs and 10 adults (4 males and 6 females), from 2 rural houses. The transmission risk indicators of Trypanosoma cruzi by P. rufotuberculatus in La Gardenia, were: domiciliary infestation 7.5%, density 2.35, colonization 66.6%, overcrowding 31.33, natural infection 4.6%, and relative infection 2.5%. These results and findings in Peru and Argentina, show that P. rufotuberculatus has a potential success in domiciliation and could some day become an alternate vector of American trypanosomiasis. (+info)
Description of Pintomyia limafalcaoae and Pintomyia antioquiensis, two new species of phlebotomine sand fly (Diptera, Psychodidae) from the Colombian Andes.
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Two new species of phlebotomine sand fly from Colombian Andes are described, belonging to the subgenus Pifanomyia of the genus Pintomyia. P. (P.) limafalcaoae sp. nov. for which both sexes are described, is assigned to the series pia while P. (P.) antioquiensis sp. nov., known only from the male, is included in the series verrucarum. The subgenus Pifanomyia is characterized and identification keys presented for the two new species. (+info)