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In Brazil, a group of researchers supported by the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) created mutant forms of Salmonella to understand the mechanisms that favor colonization of the intestinal tract of chickens by these pathogenic bacteria and find better ways to combat the infection they cause. An article on the study is published in the journal Scientific Reports. In it, the researchers note that, contrary to expectations, the mutant strains caused more severe infections than [...]

The human intestine is an environment inhabited by many bacteria and other microorganisms collectively known as the gut microbiome, gut microbiota or intestinal flora. In most people, it contributes to wellness. A healthy gut indicates a stronger immune system, improved metabolism, and a healthy brain and heart, among other functions. Escherichia coli is one of the bacteria found in practically everyone’s gut microbiota, where it performs important functions, such as producing certain [...]

An article published in the journal eLife reports a study in which researchers concluded that the proportion of the population previously infected by SARS-CoV-2 (infection-induced seroprevalence) can be estimated using blood donation samples. The findings offer a sort of “portrait” of the first year of the COVID-19 epidemic in Brazil. According to the authors, their novel methodology can also be used to track and estimate collective immunity to other infectious [...]

In Brazil, a group of researchers has reported the largest outbreak to date of COVID-associated candidemia caused by the same drug-resistant strain of Candida parapsilosis, a fungus that invades the bloodstream and can lead to death. The outbreak occurred in 2020-21 in an intensive care unit (ICU) at a tertiary referral hospital in Salvador, Bahia state, during one of the peaks of the COVID-19 pandemic. In an article published in the journal Emerging Microbes and Infections, the researchers [...]

Experiments conducted in Brazil by researchers at the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP) and the University of São Paulo (USP) showed that visceral fat – fat around the liver, intestines and other organs, considered a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, diabetes and high blood pressure – contributes more to severe COVID-19 than subcutaneous fat. To reach this conclusion, Marcelo Mori, a professor at UNICAMP’s Institute of Biology and one of the leaders of the [...]

Rapid, cheap and accurate tests continue to be essential for epidemiological surveillance and for health services to monitor and contain the spread of SARS-CoV-2. Brazilian scientists have contributed to endeavors in this field by developing an electrochemical immunosensor that detects antibodies against the virus. The innovation is described in an article published recently in the journal ACS Biomaterials Science and Engineering. In search of a novel diagnostic method, the group opted [...]

Rapid, cheap and accurate tests continue to be essential for epidemiological surveillance and for health services to monitor and contain the spread of SARS-CoV-2. Brazilian scientists have contributed to endeavors in this field by developing an electrochemical immunosensor that detects antibodies against the virus. The innovation is described in an article published recently in the journal ACS Biomaterials Science and Engineering. In search of a novel diagnostic method, the group opted [...]

When Brazilian immunologist Helder Nakaya visited Evandro Chagas Institute in Belém (the capital of Pará state, Brazil) in 2017, there was a commotion because one of its best microscopists was retiring and much of the knowledge used for fast and accurate identification of the protozoan Leishmania would be lost."I was dismayed by the waste of losing all that expertise, which it had taken decades to acquire. We began researching and trying to train a computer program to use [...]

Researchers at the University of Campinas (UNICAMP) in São Paulo, Brazil, have resorted to a thoroughly unconventional method to treat COVID-19 in a patient with a rare genetic disease that makes her immune system unable to combat viruses and other pathogens. She was instructed to take 30 milliliters of breast milk every three hours for a week. The breast milk was donated by a woman who had been vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2. After testing positive for 120 days by RT-PCR, the patient [...]