A cross-sectional study on the prevalence and morbidity of schistosomiasis was conducted in the main settlement of the municipality of Alhandra, in the southern coastal region of the state of Paraíba, in 2010. The results of this study were compared with the results of a previous study conducted in the same area in 1979. The systematic sampling per family conglomerate included approximately 10% of the resident population in the urban area of Alhandra. Faecal examinations were performed using the Kato-Katz method. The clinical forms of the disease were classified in accordance with FS Barbosa as Type I - intestinal form, Type II - hepatointestinal form and Type III - hepatosplenic form. The prevalence of the infection in 2010 was 10.05%, whereas in 1979 it was 46.6% among untreated patients. The percentages of the three clinical forms in 2010 were as follows: 95.3% Type I, 4.6% Type II and 0% Type III; in 1979, the percentages were 94.4%, 3% and 2.6% for Types I, II and III, respectively. In 1979, 6.07% of the Biomphalaria glabrata specimens (the intermediate host in this area) excreted cercariae, where in 2010 only 1.27% of the specimens caught excreted the parasite.

Este estudo contou com uma amostra de 110 pacientes epilépticos residentes no Cariri paraibano, tendo sido desenvolvido em três etapas sucessivas. Durante a primeira etapa, aplicou-se a ficha epidemiológica visando identificar fatores de risco associados ao complexo teníase-cisticercose na etiologia da epilepsia dos pacientes. A segunda etapa consistiu em exames imunológicos dos 110 pacientes com a utilização da técnica EITB para a identificação de anticorpos séricos anti-cisticercos, e da técnica ELISA para a presença de antígenos circulantes. Na terceira etapa, treze pacientes com sorologia considerada positiva foram submetidos a exames tomográficos. A partir da aplicação do questionário, foram detectados alguns fatores de risco. A soroprevalência constatada foi 118,2/1000 habitantes. Dos 13 pacientes com sorologia positiva para cisticercose, 46,1% têm lesões sugestivas de cisticercose de localização parenquimatosa. Conclui-se que os municípios estudados apresentam perfil epidemiológico compatível com a ocorrência do complexo teníase-cisticercose e que a cisticercose possivelmente desempenhe papel importante no surgimento da epilepsia nesses pacientes.

This research involved a sample of 110 epileptic patients from western Cariri, Paraíba, Brazil and it has been developed in three successive phases. During the first one, an epidemiological form was applied with the aim of identifying risk factors related to the taeniasis cysticercosis complex in the etiology of the patients' epilepsy. The second phase consisted of immunological exams of 110 patients, by means of the EITB technique to identify the anti-cysticerci serum antibodies, whereas the presence of circulating antigens was verified through the ELISA technique. In the third phase, thirteen patients who were seropositive, were submitted to brain CT scan. Applying the questionnaire enabled us to know some risk factors. The seroprevalence detected was 118.2/1000 inhabitants. Out of the 13 seropositive patients for cysticercosis, 46.1% presented parenchymal cysticercotical damage. Based on these results, we are able to conclude that the studed towns reveal an epidemiological profile which is compatible with the occurrence of the taeniasis cysticercosis complex and cysticercosis plays an important role in the sprouting of epilepsy in these patients.

Foram estudados 186 pares de indivíduos sorologicamente positivos e negativos para infecção chagásica, da mesma idade e sexo, do Sertão da Paraíba e 200 indivíduos também sorologicamente positivos nos municípios de Oeiras e Colônia do Piauí. Depois de confirmados por pelo menos dois outros testes sorológicos: imunofluorescência indireta quantitativa, ELISA, hemaglutinação ou fixação do complemento,foi feito o exame clínico, eletrocardiográfico e radiológico nos indivíduos selecionados para o estudo exenodiagnóstico, hemocultura e PCR em amostras representativas dos casos soropositivos. As manifestações clínicas predominantes entre os soropositivos em ambas as áreas foram palpitações, dispnéia aos esforços, disfagia, odinofagia, pirose e obstipação. As freqüências das alterações eletrocardiográficas sugestivas da doença de Chagas foram, respectivamente, na Paraíba e no Piauí: BAV = 3,8 % e 2 %, BRD III = 6,4 % e 7 %, BRD III + HBAE = 10,7 % e 10,5 % e extra-sístoles ventriculares complexas = 2,7 % e 3,% . O xenodiagnóstico foi positivo em 13 % dos casos soropositivos da Paraíba e em 34 % dos casos do Piauí, enquanto que o PCR foi positivo, respectivamente, em 44,6 e 59,5 %. A hemocultura realizada apenas no Piauí foi positiva em 25,7 % dos casos estudados. Foram realizados inquéritos triatomínicos em 132 domicílios e peridomicílios no Sertão da Paraíba e em 159 na Caatinga do Piauí, sendo capturados 16 exemplares de T. brasiliensis não infectados no peridomicílio na Paraíba e 750 exemplares no Piauí, dos quais 625 foram examinados: 49 de T. pseudomaculata não infectados com T. cruzi (19 no intradomicílio e 30 no peridomicílio) e 576 de T. brasiliensis (371 no intradomicílio e 205 no peridomicílio) entre os quais 32 (5,5% ) estavam infectados com T. cruzi (31 no intradomicílio e um no peridomicílio).

A clinical and electrocardiographic case control study was carried out with 186 pairs of persons with positive and negative serology for T. cruzi infection from the Sertão Paraíba and in 200 seropositive cases from the region of Caatinga in the State of Piauí, North-eastern Brazil. The predominant clinical manifestations in seropositive cases in both areas were: palpitations, dyspnea on effort, precordial pain, dysphagia, odynophagia, pyrosis and intestinal constipation. The EKG abnormalities rates suggestive of chronic chagasic cardiopathy were respectively in Paraíba and Piauí: AV block 3.8% and 2%, RBBB 111 6.4% and 7%, RBBB III + LAB 10.7% and 10.5%, and multifocal extrasystoles 2.7% and 3%. Xenodiagnosis in a sample of 54 seropositive individuais in the Sertão of Paraíba and in 120 in the Caatinga of Piauí was revealed 13% and 34 % positive; PCR tests in a sample of 47 seropositives in Paraíba and 101 in Piauí revealed positives in 44.6 % and 59.5% respectively. Blood culture in LIT media of 101 seropositive cases from the Caatinga of Piauí was positive for T. cruzi in 25.7%. A triatomine survey carried out in a sample of 132 domiciles and peridomiciles in the Sertão of Paraíba and in a sample of 159 in the Caatinga of Piauí showed the following results: In Paraíba, 16 specimens of T. brasiliensis, not infected with T. cruzi, were captured. In Piauí, 750 triatomines were captured, of these 625 were examined: 49 were T. pseudomaculata, not infected with T. cruzi (19 in peridomiciles and 30 in the domiciles), and 576 were T. brasiliensis (371 in the domiciles and 205 in the peridomiciles) and of this latter specie 32 (5.5%) were infected with T. cruzi (31 in the domiciles and one in the peridomicile).

Analisaram-se os determinantes de utilização da assistência pré-natal, entre famílias de baixa renda.. Dados foram coletados de todas as mães com residência permanente no Município de Caaporã, no Estado da Paraíba, Brasil, com filhos até cinco anos de idade na data da entrevista. Através da estatística descritiva e multivariada, analisaram-se os diferenciais de utilização dos serviços e os efeitos de algumas variáveis sociodemográficas sobre o uso do cuidado pré-natal.

The determinants of prenatal care in the state of Paraíba, Brazil, are examined. A population of 769 rural and urban women resident in the municipality of Caaporã and who had had a child within the five years immediatly preceding the survey were interviewed. It was found that there are deficiencies in the provision of health services, especially in the rural area. While 80 percent of the women resident in the urban area had some prenatal care, more than 40 percent of women in the rural area had received no prenatal care at all. Through cross tabulations and multivariate analysis, the study assesses the diferentials in the utilization or services and the net effect of socio-demographic variables on the use of prenatal care. It was found that there is a positive association between education and preganancy of use of prenatal care and a negative association between rural residence and the use of prenatal care.

Analisaram-se os determinantes de utilização da assistência pré-natal, entre famílias de baixa renda.. Dados foram coletados de todas as mães com residência permanente no Município de Caaporã, no Estado da Paraíba, Brasil, com filhos até cinco anos de idade na data da entrevista. Através da estatística descritiva e multivariada, analisaram-se os diferenciais de utilização dos serviços e os efeitos de algumas variáveis sociodemográficas sobre o uso do cuidado pré-natal.

The determinants of prenatal care in the state of Paraíba, Brazil, are examined. A population of 769 rural and urban women resident in the municipality of Caaporã and who had had a child within the five years immediatly preceding the survey were interviewed. It was found that there are deficiencies in the provision of health services, especially in the rural area. While 80 percent of the women resident in the urban area had some prenatal care, more than 40 percent of women in the rural area had received no prenatal care at all. Through cross tabulations and multivariate analysis, the study assesses the diferentials in the utilization or services and the net effect of socio-demographic variables on the use of prenatal care. It was found that there is a positive association between education and preganancy of use of prenatal care and a negative association between rural residence and the use of prenatal care.