SARS-CoV-2 is the causative agent of the current COVID-19 pandemic. Disease clinical manifestations range from asymptomatic to severe multiple organ damage. SARS-CoV-2 uses ACE2 as a cellular receptor, which is abundantly expressed in the small intestine, allowing viral replication in the gastrointestinal tract. Viral RNA has been detected in the stool of COVID-19 patients and viable viruses had been isolated in some of these samples. Thus, a putative role of SARS-CoV-2 fecal-oral transmission has been argued. SARS-CoV-2 is shed in human excreta and further disposed in the sewerage or in the environment, in poor basic sanitation settings. Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) is a valuable population level approach for monitoring viral pathogens and has been successfully used in different contexts. This review summarizes the current global experience on SARS-CoV-2 WBE in distinct continents and viral detection in polluted surface water. The advantages and concerns of this strategy for SARS-CoV-2 surveillance are discussed. Outcomes suggest that WBE is a valuable early warning alert and a helpful complementary surveillance tool to subside public health response, to tailor containment and mitigation measures and to determine target populations for testing. In poor sanitation settings, contaminated rivers could be alternatively used as a source for environmental surveillance.

Worldwide, infections by influenza viruses are considered a major public health challenge. In this study, influenza B vaccine mismatches and clinical aspects of Victoria and Yamagata infections in Brazil were assessed. Clinical samples were collected from patients suspected of influenza infection. In addition, sociodemographic, clinical, and epidemiological information were collected by the epidemiological surveillance teams. Influenza B lineages were determined by real-time RT-PCR and/or Sanger sequencing. In addition, putative phylogeny–trait associations were assessed by using the BaTS program after phylogenetic reconstruction by a Bayesian Markov Chain Monte Carlo method (BEAST software package). Over 2010–2020, B/Victoria and B/Yamagata-like lineages co-circulated in almost all seasonal epidemics, with B/Victoria predominance in most years. Vaccine mismatches between circulating viruses and the trivalent vaccine strains occurred in five of the eleven seasons (45.5%). No significant differences were identified in clinical presentation or disease severity caused by both strains, but subjects infected by B/Victoria-like viruses were significantly younger than their B/Yamagata-like counterparts (16.7 vs. 31.4 years, p < 0.001). This study contributes to a better understanding of the circulation patterns and clinical outcomes of B/Victoria- and B/Yamagata-like lineages in Brazil and advocate for the inclusion of a quadrivalent vaccine in the scope of the Brazilian National Immunization Program.

Coxsackievirus B5 (CVB5) is one of the most prevalent enteroviruses types in humans and causes annual epidemics worldwide. In the present study, we explored viral genetic diversity, molecular and epidemiological aspects of CVB5 obtained from cerebrospinal fluid and stool samples of patients with aseptic meningitis or acute flaccid paralysis, information that is still scarce in Brazil. From 2005 to 2018, 57 isolates of CVB5 were identified in the scope of the Brazilian Poliomyelitis Surveillance Program. Phylogenetic analyses of VP1 sequences revealed the circulation of two CVB5 genogroups, with genogroup B circulating until 2017, further replaced by genogroup A. Network analysis based on deduced amino acid sequences showed important substitutions in residues known to play critical roles in viral host tropism, cell entry, and viral antigenicity. Amino acid substitutions were investigated by the Protein Variation Effect Analyzer (PROVEAN) tool, which revealed two deleterious substitutions: T130N and T130A. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report to use in silico approaches to determine the putative impact of amino acid substitutions on the CVB5 capsid structure. This work provides valuable information on CVB5 diversity associated with central nervous system (CNS) infections, highlighting the importance of evaluating the biological impact of certain amino acids substitutions associated with epidemiological and structural analyses.

Influenza A virus (IAV) infection affects the human respiratory tract, causing an acute and highly contagious disease. Individuals with comorbidities and in the extremes of age are classified as risk groups for serious clinical outcomes. However, part of the severe infections and fatalities are observed among young healthy individuals. Noteworthy, influenza infections lack specific prognostic biomarkers that would predict the disease severity. Osteopontin (OPN) has been proposed as a biomarker in a few human malignancies and its differential modulation has been observed during viral infections. However, OPN expression levels in the primary site of IAV infection have not been previously investigated. Therefore, we evaluated the transcriptional expression patterns of total OPN (tOPN) and its splicing isoforms (OPNa, OPNb, OPNc, OPN4, and OPN5) in 176 respiratory secretion samples collected from human influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 cases and a group of 65 IAV-negative controls. IAV samples were differentially classified according to their disease severity. tOPN was more frequently detected in IAV samples (34.1%) when compared with the negative controls (18.5%) (p < 0.05), as well as in fatal (59.1%) versus non-fatal IAV samples (30.5%) (p < 0.01). OPN4 splice variant transcript was more prevalent in IAV cases (78.4%) than in the negative controls (66.1%) (p = 0.05) and in severe cases (85.7%) in relation to the non-severe ones (69.2%) (p < 0.01). OPN4 detection was also associated with severity symptoms such as dyspnea (p < 0.05), respiratory failure (p < 0.05), and oxygen saturation < 95% (p < 0.05). In addition, the OPN4 expression level was increased in the fatal cases of respiratory samples. Our data indicated that tOPN and OPN4 had a more pronounced expression pattern in IAV respiratory samples, pointing to the potential use of these molecules as biomarkers to evaluate disease outcomes.

RESUMO O Município do Rio de Janeiro (MRJ) estava entre as cidades com altas taxas de mortalidade ao longo da pandemia de Covid-19. Neste estudo, analisamos as taxas de incidência, de mortalidade e letalidade por Covid-19 nas áreas com predominância de Aglomerados Subnormais (ASN). Foram considerados todos os 36 bairros da Sub-Bacia do Canal do Cunha (SBCC) associadas às características demográficas, socioeconômicas e epidemiológicas, com estatística espacial de Moran. A taxa de incidência nos bairros da SBCC foi de 621,5/10.000 habitantes. Complexo do Alemão, Mangueira, e Maré tiveram maiores proporções de casos e mortes. A menor incidência (33,6/10.000 habitantes) e mortalidade (8,3/10.000 habitantes), mas com maior taxa de letalidade (24,7%) foi registrada no Complexo do Alemão. Foi observado correlação negativa entre a taxa de mortalidade e a proporção de habitantes nos bairros com ASN (rho= -0,433; p=0,023). Na estatística espacial, houve correlação inversa para a incidência da Covid-19 (índice Moran, -0,155863; p=0,02). Conclui-se que incidência e mortalidade nas áreas de ASN estão significativamente relacionadas com as estruturas sociodemográficas, demandando o reforço dos sistemas de vigilância e de controle da Covid-19 em territórios de favelas. As recomendações não farmacológicas e a Atenção Primária à Saúde em favelas desempenham relevante papel na redução da transmissão, mortalidade e iniquidades em saúde.

RESUMO O objetivo foi avaliar a relação espacial dos indicadores de saneamento (acesso à água e ao esgoto), considerando a modelagem da concessão da Companhia Estadual de Águas e Esgotos do Rio de Janeiro (Cedae), e a sua possível relação com a incidência da Covid-19, nos bairros com e sem áreas de favelas. Os dados de casos confirmados da Covid-19 analisados foram obtidos no Painel Saúde do Rio de Janeiro. Foi considerado o fracionamento do município em quatro blocos regionais. Nos 163 bairros da cidade, a taxa de incidência média foi de 9,78 casos/1.000 hab. Os bairros com as menores taxa de incidência foram aqueles com predominância de aglomerados subnormais (favelas), baixa renda per capita e cobertura de saneamento, sugerindo maior lacuna de testagem e subnotificação de casos. Reduzir a inequidade e o racismo estrutural deveria ser prioritário. A sindemia da Covid-19 contribuiu fortemente para perdas socioeconômicas e de saúde pública significativas. Em um cenário de reconstrução, é imprescindível retomar o compromisso para com os Objetivos de Desenvolvimento Sustentável da Agenda 2030 das Nações Unidas.