LICIA NATAL FERNANDES
Projetos de Pesquisa
Unidades Organizacionais
Departamento de Patologia, Faculdade de Medicina
LIM/49 - Laboratório de Protozoologia, Hospital das Clínicas, Faculdade de Medicina - Líder
LIM/49 - Laboratório de Protozoologia, Hospital das Clínicas, Faculdade de Medicina - Líder
2 resultados
Resultados de Busca
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- A survey of flaviviruses in birds in green areas of Sao Paulo, Brazil(2016) ORICO, Lilian Dias; FERNANDES, Licia Natal; MELO, Marcos Antonio; ZWARG, Ticiana; LEVI, Jose Eduardo; MARRELLI, Mauro ToledoIntroduction: This study aimed to investigate Flavivirus infection in birds captured in green areas of Sao Paulo. Methods: Oropharyngeal swabs, cloacal swabs, and blood samples from 170 birds captured in two green areas in Sao Paulo, Brazil were subjected to real time-polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) analysis of Flavivirus specific NS5 gene fragment. Results: All samples were negative for the presence of viral ribonucleic acid (RNA). Conclusions: Despite the negative results, Flavivirus surveillance must be performed regularly due to favorable ecological conditions for virus circulation and transmission among birds in these areas and their close proximity to humans.
- Detection of Culex flavivirus and Aedes flavivirus nucleotide sequences in mosquitoes from parks in the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil(2016) FERNANDES, Licia Natal; PAULA, Marcia Bicudo de; ARAUJO, Alessandra Bergamo; GONCALVES, Elisabeth Fernandes Bertoletti; ROMANO, Camila Malta; NATAL, Delsio; MALAFRONTE, Rosely dos Santos; MARRELLI, Mauro Toledo; LEVI, Jose EduardoThe dengue viruses are widespread in Brazil and are a major public health concern. Other flaviviruses also cause diseases in humans, although on a smaller scale. The city of Sao Paulo is in a highly urbanized area with few green spaces apart from its parks, which are used for recreation and where potential vertebrate hosts and mosquito vectors of pathogenic Flavivirus species can be found. Although this scenario can contribute to the transmission of Flavivirus to humans, little is known about the circulation of members of this genus in these areas. In light of this, the present study sought to identify Flavivirus infection in mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) collected in parks in the city of Sao Paulo. Seven parks in different sectors of the city were selected. Monthly mosquito collections were carried out in each park from March 2011 to February 2012 using aspiration and traps (Shannon and CD C-CO2). Nucleic acids were extracted from the mosquitoes collected and used for reverse-transcriptase and real-time polymerase chain reactions with genus-specific primers targeting a 200-nucleotide region in the Flavivirus NS5 gene. Positive samples were sequenced, and phylogenetic analyses were performed. Culex and Aedes were the most frequent genera of Culicidae collected. Culex flavivirus (CxFV)-related and Aedes flavivirus (AEFV)- related nucleotide sequences were detected in 17 pools of Culex and two pools of Aedes mosquitoes, respectively, among the 818 pools of non-engorged females analyzed. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of CxFV and AEFV in the city of Sao Paulo and Latin America, respectively. Both viruses are insect- specific flaviviruses, a group known to replicate only in mosquito cells and induce a cytopathic effect in some situations. Hence, our data suggests that CxFV and AEFV are present in Culex and Aedes mosquitoes, respectively, in parks in the city of Sao Paulo. Even though Flavivirus species of medical importance were not detected, surveillance is recommended in the study areas because of the presence of vertebrates and mosquitoes that could act as amplifying hosts and vectors of flaviviruses, providing the required conditions for circulation of these viruses.