The Oropouche virus (OROV) has been circulating in the Amazon region since the 1960s, with a progressive increase in outbreaks and human cases reported in Brazil and neighboring countries. In the Rio de Janeiro state, there has been a significant rise in suspected cases of arboviruses, with only 30% of laboratory tests confirming infections with dengue, Zika, or chikungunya viruses. The investigation of OROV virus circulation in the Rio de Janeiro state was initiated and confirmed in April 2024. Our study aimed to retrospectively investigate OROV infections in dengue-suspected cases with inconclusive diagnosis in order to better understand the temporal and geographic introduction of OROV in the Rio de Janeiro state. Municipalities from Rio de Janeiro with arbovirus-like fever cases but a low percentage of dengue-positive RT-PCR test confirmations were identified in the laboratory database. Samples were selected for testing OROV infections using real-time RT-PCR as recommended by the Brazilian Ministry of Health. Municipalities in the Middle Paraíba region of the state showed 93% negative tests results for dengue, Zika, and chikungunya starting in September 2023. A total of 118 positive cases of Oropouche were recorded in the state of Rio de Janeiro between March and July 2024. Moreover, by genome sequencing of eight strains, it was shown that OROV circulating in Rio de Janeiro belongs to recently emergent M₁L₂S₂ lineage. Our findings retrospectively revealed a concentration of cases in the Middle Paraíba region and an outbreak in the rural village of Cacaria, located in the municipality of Piraí. According to our data, this region is the first area with sustained transmission in the Rio de Janeiro state.

During the first semester of 2021, all of Brazil has suffered an intense wave of COVID-19 associated with the Gamma variant. In July, the first cases of Delta variant were detected in the state of Rio de Janeiro. In this work, we have employed phylodynamic methods to analyse more than 1 600 genomic sequences of Delta variant collected until September in Rio de Janeiro to reconstruct how this variant has surpassed Gamma and dispersed throughout the state. After the introduction of Delta, it has initially spread mostly in the homonymous city of Rio de Janeiro, the most populous of the state. In a second stage, dispersal occurred to mid- and long-range cities, which acted as new close-range hubs for spread. We observed that the substitution of Gamma by Delta was possibly caused by its higher viral load, a proxy for transmissibility. This variant turnover prompted a new surge in cases, but with lower lethality than was observed during the peak caused by Gamma. We reason that high vaccination rates in the state of Rio de Janeiro were possibly what prevented a higher number of deaths.

During the first semester of 2021, all of Brazil has suffered an intense wave of COVID-19 associated with the Gamma variant. In July, the first cases of Delta variant were detected in the state of Rio de Janeiro. In this work, we have employed phylodynamic methods to analyze more than 1,600 genomic sequences of Delta variant collected until September in Rio de Janeiro to reconstruct how this variant has surpassed Gamma and dispersed throughout the state. After the introduction of Delta, it has initially spread mostly in the homonymous city of Rio de Janeiro, the most populous of the state. In a second stage, dispersal occurred to mid- and long-range cities, which acted as new close-range hubs for spread. We observed that the substitution of Gamma by Delta was possibly caused by its higher viral load, a proxy for transmissibility. This variant turnover prompted a new surge in cases, but with lower lethality than was observed during the peak caused by Gamma. We reason that high vaccination rates in the state of Rio de Janeiro were possibly what prevented a higher number of deaths. Impact statement Understanding how SARS-CoV-2 spreads is vital to propose efficient containment strategies, especially when under the perspective of new variants emerging in the next year. Still, models of SARS-CoV-2 dispersal are still largely based in large cities from high-income countries, resulting in an incomplete view of the possible scenarios consequent of a new variant introduction. The work improves this discussion by reconstructing the spatio-temporal dispersal of Delta variant since its introduction in Rio de Janeiro, a densely populated region in South America. We also analyzed the epidemiological outcome of this spread, with a decrease in lethality rate uncommon to the observed in other countries. Data summary Four supplementary figures, one supplementary table and one supplementary file are available with the online version of this article. Raw short reads of the newly sequenced genomes are available at SRA-NCBI database (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sra) under the BioProject PRJNA774631 and the assembled genomes are deposited at GISAID database (https://www.gisaid.org/) under the accession numbers listed in Table S1. Other genomic sequences used in the analyses are listed in Table S2. Epidemiological data for the state of Rio de Janeiro was obtained from https://www.saude.rj.gov.br/informacao-sus/dados-sus/2020/11/covid-19.

Descrever o desenvolvimento de um aplicativo móvel para apoio aos profissionais de saúde na correta execução e interpretação de testes rápidos para diagnóstico de HIV, diante da relevância dessas tecnologias como plataformas de interesse para o aprimoramento profissional e da escassez de oferta de soluções com este propósito. Relato de experiência de produção tecnológica de aplicativo móvel com conteúdo baseado no TELELAB. Realizou-se análise comparativa qualitativa de aplicativos voltados ao treinamento para diagnóstico de HIV, no intuito de mapear funcionalidades e escopo. A programação adotou o framework Unity® e linguagem C#. O aplicativo desenvolvido atua como estratégia complementar de assistência, fortalece as práticas de educação continuada e proporciona maior segurança à prática e determinações vigentes que envolvem o diagnóstico da doença. Destaca-se a necessidade de iniciativas de divulgação do aplicativo nos ambientes educacionais e assistenciais para ampliar impactos na política pública de controle da infecção pelo HIV.

Purpose: Human Parvovirus B19 (B19V) infection is associated with a broad spectrum of clinical manifestations, including erythema infectiosum, arthropathy, transient red cell aplasia, hepatitis, and adverse fetal outcomes. Due to nonspecific presentations and limited routine testing, B19V infection often remains undiagnosed. Despite recent reports of increased B19V activity worldwide, contemporary data on its presence in Brazil remain scarce. We investigated the circulation of underdiagnosed pathogens in patients with suspected infectious diseases, prioritizing severe and fatal cases. Methods: In this descriptive study, hybrid capture-based whole-genome sequencing was used for a broad-range viral detection and characterization. We analyzed 472 clinical specimens selected for diagnostic investigation between 2024 and 2025, according to surveillance criteria for respiratory and arboviral infections, referred to the Public Health Laboratory of the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Results: B19V was the second most frequently detected viral pathogens, being identified in 190/472 specimens. Of these, just one sample had been previously tested for this pathogen. Thirty-one cases had higher B19V genomic coverage and were therefore selected for further analysis. Notably, B19V was the only virus detected with substantial genomic coverage in nine individuals, including elderly patients, and meningitis cases with B19V-positive cerebrospinal fluid. Phylogenetic analysis showed that recovered genomes clustered within genotype 1A2. Conclusions: B19V was frequently detected in patients undergoing investigation for infectious diseases and its circulation may represent an important and underrecognized pathogen. These findings support the incorporation of B19V testing into diagnostic algorithms for unexplained infectious diseases, especially in patients presenting atypical symptoms.