Resumo Poucos são os estudos com foco em animais que receberam Pilocarpina (Pilo) e não desenvolveram status epilepticus (SE) comportamental e, se os mesmos se tornarão epilépticos na fase crônica do modelo. Autores observaram o brotamento das fibras musgosas no hipocampo de ratos Não-SE (NSE), enquanto outros observaram crises espontâneas e recorrentes (CER) 6 - 8 meses após receberam a droga. A excitabilidade neuronal é influenciada pelos hormônios femininos e, da mesma forma, a ocorrência de SE em ratas castradas e não-castradas. Entretanto, não é sabido se as fêmeas que não apresentam SE terão CER. O objetivo deste trabalho foi investigar se fêmeas castradas e não castradas que não tiveram SE comportamental após a injeção de Pilo desenvolverão CER dentro de um ano. Para isto, os animais receberam 360 mg/kg de Pilo e foram videomonitorados por 12 meses. As fêmeas SE castradas e não-castradas se tornaram epilépticas desde o primeiro mês pós Pilo. O comportamento epiléptico foi identificado assistindo as gravações na velocidade rápida. As fêmeas NSE castradas e não-castradas apresentaram comportamentos similares aos estágios 1 - 3 da Escala de Racine. As alterações motoras nestes grupos (NSE) foram observadas apenas quando as videomonitoração foi analisada na velocidade lenta. Além destas, manifestações comportamentais como movimentos rítmicos da cabeça, movimentos súbitos da cabeça, movimentos de todo o corpo e imobilidade também foram observadas em ambos grupos, SE e NSE. Concluímos que as fêmeas NE podem ter se tornado epilépticas. Adicionado a isto, a análise das alterações motoras na velocidade lenta foi essencial para a observação dos achados das fêmeas NSE, o que sugere que possivelmente muitas alterações motoras têm sido subestimados na pesquisa em epilepsia experimental.

Abstract Only few studies have focus on animals that received Pilocarpine (Pilo) and did not develop behavioral status epilepticus (SE) and, whether they may become epileptic in the model’s chronic phase. Previews works observed mossy fiber sprouting in the hippocampus of Non-SE (NSE) rats, while others observed spontaneous and recurrent seizures (SRS) 6 - 8 months after animals received Pilo. It is known that neuronal excitability is influenced by female hormones, as well as, the occurrence of SE in castrated and non-castrated female rats. However, it is not known whether females that received Pilo and did not show SE, may have SRS. The aim of this work was to investigate whether castrated and non-castrated female rats that did not show behavioral SE after Pilo, will develop SRS in the following one-year. For that, animals received 360 mg/kg of Pilo and were video monitored for 12 months. SE females from castrated and non-castrated groups became epileptic since the first month after drug injection. Epileptic behaviors were identified watching video monitoring recordings in the fast speed. Castrated and Non-castrated NSE animals showed behaviors resembling seizures described by Racine Scale stages 1 - 3. Motor alterations showed by NSE groups could be observed only when recordings were analyzed in slow speed. In addition, behavioral manifestations as, rhythmic head movements, sudden head movements, whole body movements and immobility were also observed in both, SE and NSE groups. We concluded that NSE female rats may have become epileptic. Adding to it, slow speed analysis of motor alterations was essential for the observation of NSE findings, which suggests that possibly many motor alterations have been underestimated in epilepsy experimental research.

Una de las comunidades del Valle Central que ha sido afectada por el dengue es Pavas, ubicada en el sector oeste del cantón central de San José. Pese a los esfuerzos realizados por la Clínica de Pavas, la participación comunitaria, durante los últimos años fue débil e insuficiente para lograr el control de la enfermedad y prevenir la aparición de nuevos casos. El objetivo de esta investigación es identificar la percepción de vulnerabilidad individual y severidad de la enfermedad que tienen las personas de la comunidad de Metrópolis II de Pavas, con respecto al dengue y formular recomendaciones a las autoridades sanitarias locales que permitan diseñar estrategias de intervención desde la perspectiva comunal. La investigación se realiza durante el mes de noviembre del año 2006 y se aplica la metodología cualitativa. Dentro de los resultados destaca que el dengue no es una prioridad de salud en la comunidad de Metrópolis II; la priorización parte de las necesidades sentidas e insatisfechas de su entorno. Los entrevistados concuerdan en que cualquier persona sin distingo de sexo, edad o condición social es vulnerable a enfermar de dengue, sin embargo existe una estigmatización y una transferencia de responsabilidad a personas menos educadas, más pobres y externas al entorno social inmediato. Se perciben conocimientos erróneos con respecto a la causa de la enfermedad, el concepto de criaderos y el modo de transmisión de la misma. En cuanto a la percepción de severidad, la mayoría concordó que se trata de una enfermedad grave, peligrosa e incluso mortal.

The community of Pavas, located in the Central Plateau of Costa Rica and within it, in the western part of San José, has been one of the most-intensely affected areas by the recent dengue epidemic. Despite the efforts of the local clinic, community participation aimed at controlling the disease has been sparse and insufficient during the past couple of years so that the goal of preventing new cases has not been met. The purpose of this research was identify the perception of individual vulnerability as well as the severity of dengue fever among individuals living in the section of Pavas called Metrópolis II and, also, to come up with a set of recommendations for the local health authorities which would allow the latter to design interventional strategies from a community perspective. This qualitative study was carried out during the month of November 2006. The main finding is that dengue fever doesn´t represent a health priority for the Metrópolis II community, this priorization resulting from other needs which are felt to be important but not yet taken care of in their environment. The subjects interviewed for this study, agreed that any individual regardless of sex, age or social condition is at risk for acquiring dengue; nevertheless, there is still, stigma attached to this condition and also a transferring of responsibility for its acquisition to groups that are less-educated, poorer or foreign to the immediate social environment. We found mistakes in the knowledge of the causes of this illness, as well as regarding the concept of breeding sites as well as the mode of transmission of dengue fever. Regarding the perception of severity, the majority of those interviewed agreed that dengue fever is a serious and dangerous condition which can even be fatal or lethal.