It is well documented that Chagas disease (CD) can pose a public health problem to countries. As one of the World Health Organization Neglected Tropical Diseases undoubtedly calls for comprehensive healthcare, transcending a restricted biomedical approach. After more than a century since their discovery, in 1909, people affected by CD are still frequently marginalised and/or neglected. The aim of this article is to tell the story of their activism, highlighting key historical experiences and successful initiatives, from 1909 to 2019. The first association was created in 1987, in the city of Recife, Brazil. So far, thirty associations have been reported on five continents. They were created as independent non-profit civil society organisations and run democratically by affected people. Among the common associations’ objectives, we notably find: increase the visibility of the affected; make their voice heard; build bridges between patients, health system professionals, public health officials, policy makers and the academic and scientific communities. The International Federation of Associations of People Affected by CD - FINDECHAGAS, created in 2010 with the input of the Americas, Europe and the Western Pacific, counts as one of the main responses to the globalisation of CD. Despite all the obstacles and difficulties encountered, the Federation has thrived, grown, and matured. As a result of this mobilisation along with the support of many national and international partners, in May 2019 the 72nd World Health Assembly decided to establish World Chagas Disease Day, on 14 April. The associative movement has increased the understanding of the challenges related to the disease and breaks the silence around Chagas disease, improving surveillance, and sustaining engagement towards the United Nations 2030 agenda.

BACKGROUND Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus are the most important arbovirus vectors in the world. OBJECTIVES This study aimed to investigate and compare the infestation pattern of these species in a neighbourhood of Recife, Brazil, endemic for arboviruses in 2005 (T1) and 2013 (T2). METHODS Infestation, distribution and relative abundance of these sympatric species were recorded by egg collection using a network of 59 sentinel ovitraps (s-ovt) at fixed sampling stations for 12 months in T1 and T2. FINDINGS A permanent occupation pattern was detected which was characterised by the presence of egg-laying females of one or both species with a high ovitrap positivity index (94.3 to 100%) throughout both years analysed. In terms of abundance, the total of eggs collected was lower (p < 0.005) in T2 (146,153) than in T1 (281,103), although ovitraps still displayed a high index of positivity. The spatial distribution showed the presence of both species in 65.1% of the 148 s-ovt assessed, while a smaller number of traps exclusively contained Ae. aegypti (22%) or Ae. albopictus (13.2%) eggs. MAIN CONCLUSIONS Our comparative analysis demonstrated the robustness of the spatial occupation and permanence of Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus populations in this endemic urban area.

São apresentados os resultados de quatro expedições, realizadas entre 1962 e 19652, nas quais foram levantadas as formas perenes de algodoeiro existentes em regiões da bacia do rio São Francisco, dos estados nordestinos, do litoral paulista e adjacências, de Mato Grosso, sul de Goiás e Triângulo Mineiro. À maneira de S. G. Stephens, as formas em aprêço são discriminadas, conforme seu modo de ocorrência, em seis categorias: A) selvagem ou asselvajadas; B) semi-asselvajadas; C) domésticas; D) de subsistência; E) cultivares primitivos; F) tipos nativos melhorados. Consideradas em função do desenvolvimento econômico-social, essas categorias articulam-se formando um sistema que se adequa ao estudo da evolução do algodoeiro como planta cultivada. Rim-de-boi (G. barbadense r. brasiliense Hutch), Quebradinho (G. barbadense L.) e Mocó, ecótipo de G. hirsutum r. marie-galante Hutch., os três tipos principais de algodoeiros nativos, são encontrados nas formas B, C, D e E. Apenas o Mocó apresenta-se, também, como linhagens melhoradas (F) e tem real expressão na economia nacional. Vários outros tipos perenes de G. hirsutum e de G. barbadense, êstes últimos distintos dos tipos nativos, ocorrem como formas domésticas (C) e semi-asselvajadas (B). A única forma selvagem ou asselvajada (A) descoberta - "caicoense" - não parece relacionar-se, pelo menos diretamente, com nenhum dos tipos anteriores. Várias hipóteses são aventadas, principalmente sobre origem, evolução e migração dos três tipos mais difundidos, ampliando as perspectivas das investigações. É apresentado um mapa mostrando a distribuição geográfica dos vários tipos e as regiões de maior interesse a serem exploradas no prosseguimento das investigações.

Four expeditions, covering regions of Brazil, located between 5.° and 25.° south, latitude, were performed by the authors, during the period from 1962 to 1965. They were supported by the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo and their aims were: (a) to determine the present geographical distribution of perennial forms of cotton plants; (b) to get samples of these forms to keep them in herbaria and in living collections, at the Instituto Agronômico, Campinas, for further studies. The working program was based on the S. G. Stephens, discrimination of perennial forms of cotton plants according to the mode of their occurrence, namely: wild, semi-feral, commensal, subsistence, primitive cultigen and improved native type. Several regions of the following states were explored in the expeditions: (1st) regions of the São Francisco river basin of the states Minas Gerais, Bahia and Pernambuco; (2nd) the northeastern region, comprising Alagoas, Pernambuco, Paraíba, Rio Grande do Norte and Ceará; (3rd) coastal regions of the state of São Paulo; (4th) regions of the state of Mato Grosso, southern part of Goiás and a region of the state of Minas Gerais, known as "Triângulo Mineiro". Three native types were recognized as being the most largely dispersed: (1) the "kidney" cotton (Gossypium barbadense r. brasiliense Hutch.) found in most of the studied regions. Its center of origin seems to be the northern part of the state of Mato Grosso; the "Quebradinho" (G. barbandese L.) which is found from the inner regions of the states Goiás, Minas Gerais and Bahia as far as the coastal mountains of São Paulo. Although it is admitted that this type has spread south from the state Maranhão, in the 19th century, its center of origin is not known yet; (3) the "Moco", an ecotype of G. hirsutum r. marie galante Hutch., is present in all semi-arid regions of northeastern Brazil. Of these three types, the latter is the only really important one as economic crop and presenting improved strains. Many evidences indicate the Seridó valley as its center of origin. The three cotton types were found as semi-feral, commensal, subsistence, and primitive cultigen forms. A wild cotton was traced near Caicó, Rio Grande do Norte, and named "caicoense", but it does not seem that it is related with any of the above referred types. Several perennial types of G. hirsutum, distinct from "Mocó", were collected as commensal and semi-feral forms in several regions of the northeast. Some types of G. barbadense, different from the native ones, were acknowledged in coastal regions of Alagoas, Bahia, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, and also near the border of Paraguay. They probably are remnants of ancient introductions. The results of the expeditions are shown on a map, pointing out the geographical distribution of the cotton types located.

A fim de verificar o efeito do acúmulo de inseticidas no solo, fêz-se um ensaio em vasos de Mitscherlich, empregando-se os inseticidas BHC, toxafeno, lindano e DDT, incorporados ao solo. Os três últimos foram experimentados também na forma de emulsão, enquanto que o BHC entrou no ensaio apenas na forma de pó. As quantidades de inseticidas empregadas foram correspondentes àquelas recebidas pelo solo no fim de 1, 3 e 7 anos de cultura algodoeira, tratada com as quantidades recomendadas para cada um dêles. Em terra arenosa, do tipo arenito Bauru, a dose de BHC correspondente à recebida pelo solo em um ano de cultura com o algodoeiro (108,5 kg/ha) já causou um decréscimo de produção de 20%; a dose correspondente a 3 anos produziu um decréscimo de 56% e a correspondente a 7 anos anulou a produção. Entretanto, após ter o solo permanecido sem cultura durante um ano agrícola, os efeitos tóxicos do BHC decresceram, a ponto de mesmo a dose correspondente a 7 anos de cultura ter permitido alguma produção. Dos outros inseticidas sòmente o toxafeno em emulsão e quando empregado em dose 7 vêzes mais forte do que a recomendada, que é de 18,6 l/ha de emulsão a 50%, causou algum prejuízo à produção, reduzindo-a de 30% na cultura feita logo após a sua aplicação no solo. Em conseqüência de um acidente ocorrido e mencionado no texto, não se obtiveram dados de uma segunda cultura com êste inseticida, após ter o solo "descansado" durante um ano agrícola. Em terra-roxa os efeitos tóxicos do BHC foram menos intensos. Neste tipo de terra a dose correspondente à recebida pelo solo no fim de um ano de cultura algodoeira não prejudicou em nada o algodoeiro. As doses correspondentes às recebidas pelo solo no fim de 3 e 5 anos de cultura algodoeira causaram sensíveis decréscimos de produção. Na segunda cultura, entretanto, feita nos mesmos solos após terem êstes permanecido sem cultura durante um ano, não houve nenhuma diferença entre as plantas tratadas e testemunhas, quer quanto ao desenvolvimento ou à produção, o que mostra que na terra-roxa os efeitos tóxicos do BHC, nas doses estudadas, desapareceram completamente do solo no fim de dois anos.

The effects of increasing amounts of insecticides added to the soil on the growth of cotton plants were studied. This was an attempt to verify whether or not a possible accumulation of insecticides in the soil might become detrimental to plant growth. The experiment was carried out in Mitscherlich pots with two types of soil: one sandy (arenito de Bauru) and the other clayey (terra-roxa). The amounts of insecticides added to the pots were calculated on an area basis to correspond to those applied to cotton plantings at the end of 1, 3, and 7 crops, and are called in this paper doses 1, 3, and 7, respectively. The amounts of insecticides as recommended for cotton in the state of São Paulo are as follows: BHC, 108 kg; Toxaphene, 14.5 k; Lindane, 0.4 kg and DDT, 3.6 kg. In the sandy soil, doses 1 and 3 of BHC caused 20% and 56% reduction in yield, respectively; dose 7 inhibited the production completely. Dose 7 of Toxaphene (72.24 kg/ha) when applied in emulsion form showed some toxicity. The same insecticide applied at the rate of 101.5 kg/ha in powdered form did not have any toxic effect nor did the emulsifier (15 ml of tritton 177 + xilol q.s.p. 100 ml) when applied alone. Lindane, emulsified Lindane, and DDT did not have any adverse effect on the cotton plant0 growth and yield. After the first crop the soil in each pot was passed through a sieve, returned to the pot and left undisturbed for one year. Cotton was then planted again. The development of the plants in this second planting was very irregular. This was due to aluminum toxicity, because the protective painting of the aluminum trays of the Mitscherlich pots came off in many spots and the metal wos attocked by the salts used as a fertilizer, forming aluminum salts that were detrimental to the plants. It wos possible, however, to see that toxic effects of the BHC added to the soil decreased fast enough after two years to allow even the plants in pots which received dose 7 of the insecticide to come to bearing. In the experiment with clayey soil only BHC was used since it was the only insecticide that showed a dangerous level of toxicity. The doses employed were 1, 3, and 5. Here too these numbers mean that the omounts of BHC added to the soil correspond to the omounts applied to cotton fields after 1, 3, and 5 years of cultivation, respectively. In the clayey soil, dose 1 of BHC did not decreose the yield nor caused any other toxicity symptom. Doses 3 and 5 decreased the yield in 14 % ond 27%, respectively, but the analysis of variance did nat show a significant difference between the two results. The growth and yield of the plants sown offer the soil had been left undisturbed far one year did not show any difference between the control ond treated plants, thus indicating that the toxic effects of the BHC had completely disappeared.