ABSTRACT Background: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) serology testing evaluates the prevalence of COVID-19 cases. Methods: A seroepidemiological survey of COVID-19 among healthcare workers was performed (June 2020 to November 2020) in Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil. Overall, 10,172 and 2,129 workers participated in the first and second phases, respectively. Results: First phase: 12.7% tested positive for COVID-19 (73.5% females and 35.2% aged 30-39 years), and 29.6% were nursing technicians. Second phase: 12.1% tested positive for COVID-19 (65.5% females and 33.3% aged 40-49 years), and 24.8% were nursing assistants. Conclusions: In 2020, healthcare workers in Ribeirão Preto had COVID-19 in a similar way.

Abstract INTRODUCTION: Crotalus envenomations cause serious complications and can be fatal without appropriate treatment. Venom isoforms present and inter/intraspecific variations in the venom composition can result in different symptoms presented by bites by snakes from the same species but from different geographical regions. We comparatively evaluated the local and systemic effects caused by Crotalus durissus terrificus (Cdt), C.d. collilineatus (Cdcolli), and C.d. cascavella (Cdcasc) envenomation. METHODS: Venom chromatography was performed. Proteolytic, phospholipase, and LAAO activities were analyzed. Edema, myotoxicity, hepatotoxicity, nephrotoxicity, and coagulation alterations were evaluated. RESULTS: The venom SDS-PAGE analyses found the presence of convulxin, gyroxin, crotoxin, and crotamine in Cdt and Cdcolli venoms. Crotamine was not present in the Cdcasc venom. Cdt, Cdcollli, and Cdcasc venoms had no proteolytic activity. Only Cdcasc and Cdt venoms had phospholipase activity. LAAO activity was observed in Cdcolli and Cdcasc venoms. Cdcolli and Cdcasc venoms caused 36.7% and 13.3% edema increases, respectively. Cdt venom caused a 10% edema induction compared to those by other venoms. All venoms increased TOTAL-CK, MB-CK, and LDH levels (indicating muscle injury) and ALT, AST, GGT, and ALP levels (markers of liver damage) and were able to induce a neuromuscular blockade. Urea and creatinine levels were also altered in both plasma and urine, indicating kidney damage. Only Cdcolli and Cdcasc venoms increased TAPP and TAP. CONCLUSIONS: Together, these results allow us to draw a distinction between local and systemic effects caused by Crotalus subspecies, highlighting the clinical and biochemical effects produced by their respective venoms.

Copaifera spp. is a common tree species found in the tropical region of Latin America, popularly known as copaiba or pau-d'alho. Oil-resin from different Copaifera species and its components present several biological activities such as antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and insecticidal, including larvicidal activity against mosquitoes. Thus, bark and leaf ethanolic extracts, oil-resin, essential oil and alepterolic acid from Copaifera multijuga Hayne, Fabaceae, were tested as larvicides against the main malaria vector in the north of Brazil, Anopheles darlingi and also Aedes aegypti, the dengue vector. A. darlingi larval mortality was significantly higher than A. aegypti for most tested compounds. Bark and leaf extracts resulted in lower Lethal Concentrations (LC50) values for A. darlingi, 3 and 13 ppm, respectively, while the essential oil provided the lowest LC50 value for A. aegypti, 18 ppm. Despite of that, the lowest LC values were from the alepterolic acid for both species, i.e. 0.9 and 0.7 ppm for A. darlingi and A. aegypti, respectively.