Exibindo 1771 - 1800 de 2728
This Thursday (17/2) the Fiocruz Genomic Network released new figures on the lineages and variants of the Sars-CoV-2 virus in Brazil. The data are computed every week on the Network’s platform, using data obtained from the EpiCoV platform, from GISAID (Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data), an international platform used to share the genomic data of influenza and Sars-CoV-2 viruses.
The Fiocruz Genomic Network site gathers data about lineages and variants of the Sars-CoV-2 virus in Brazil (Image: Josué Damacena - IOC/Fiocruz)
As previously observed, the Omicron variant is…
Article
A Fiocruz Brasília e o Ministério Público do Distrito Federal e Territórios (MPDFT) assinaram, na última sexta-feira (11/2), um acordo de cooperação para o desenvolvimento do projeto Territórios da Construção de Si: processos de desinstitucionalização de jovens e adolescentes pela maioridade. O foco do projeto é a garantia dos direitos de jovens em situação de risco e vulnerabilidade social – em especial, aqueles que se encontram acolhidos em abrigos institucionais da Assistência Social do DF.
Quando atingem os 18 anos, os adolescentes devem deixar os abrigos, e estudar esse processo de…
Article
O CoronaFatos está chegando ao fim da sua temporada e neste episódio o programa faz uma espécie de 'resumão' com tudo o que você precisa saber sobre o atual momento da pandemia de Covid-19. A pandemia ainda não acabou e não é possível ter certeza sobre o caminho que ela tomará. Mas com a visualização de uma possível trégua na fase mais aguda da crise, o programa fala sobre como estão as curvas de casos e de mortes provocadas pelo coronavírus, aborda a hipótese da transformação da emergência sanitária em endemia, reforça os cuidados de prevenção que ainda são necessários e esclarece dúvidas…
Article
A technological innovation may contribute to the quest for the leprosy elimination, one of the humanity oldest diseases. An international team of scientists, led by the Oswaldo Cruz Institute (IOC/Fiocruz), in partnership with Microsoft AI for Health and the Novartis Foundation, has developed a diagnostic assistant, based on artificial intelligence, which can help identify suspected leprosy lesions. The technology has been called AI4Leprosy.
Photographer records skin lesion on project volunteer (Photo: Fareed Mirza/AI4Leprosy)
An article published in the scientific journal The Lancet…
Article
Looking at the map, the distance between the countries is big. Within the American continent, Mexico is the Spanish-speaking country that is farthest away from Brazil. But the two nations are closer to each other than it may seem. Fiocruz and Mexican institutions have joint projects, a cooperation that can expand even further, judging by the interest demonstrated by consul Héctor Humberto Valezzi Zafra. Together with the deputy consul in Rio de Janeiro, Ana Luisa Vallejo Barba, the diplomat was received by Fiocruz president Nísia Trindade Lima last Thursday (February 10th) at the Official…
Article
COVID-19 diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines are powerful reminders: health technologies can help to shape the way in which societies control disease. Challenges in ensuring global, equitable access to these fruits of biomedical research and development (R&D) during the COVID-19 pandemic have highlighted the urgency of reorienting the system towards the public interest. The first step is a clearer articulation of what R&D in the global public interest is. That is what we seek to do here.
There are four major concerns about biomedical R&D, despite its impressive technological…
Article
In a geopolitical context marked by disputes and inequalities, there are many economic, social, and environmental challenges in the path of those aiming to reduce these inequalities and achieve better global health outcomes. Based on this point of view, issues such as multilateralism and a possible new world order were discussed last Thursday (February 10) during the first Advanced Seminar in Global Health and Health Diplomacy this year. Promoted by the Fiocruz Global Health Center (CRIS/Fiocruz), the webinar brought together three specialists to discuss perspectives for 2022.
“Health is not…
Article
A study analyzed the geographic distribution and the incidence of co-infection with a human T-lymphotropic virus (HTLV) and a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in Bahia, which is an endemic state for both retroviruses. The research was carried out using all samples submitted to serological tests at the Central Public Health Laboratory of Bahia (Lacen-BA), from 2004 to 2013. The total was about 130,000 samples from 358 of the 417 municipalities in Bahia. The research results, coordinated by Fiocruz Bahia researcher Maria Fernanda Grassi, were published in the Frontiers in Medicine journal. In…
Article
As reported by the State Health Secretariats of Rio de Janeiro and Santa Catarina, Fiocruz has identified three cases of the BA.2 lineage of the Omicron variant, using genetic sequencing. Two of the cases occurred in Rio de Janeiro and the other in the southern state of Santa Catarina. The findings were confirmed by the Laboratory of Measles and Respiratory Viruses of the Oswaldo Cruz Institute (IOC/Fiocruz), a national reference center for respiratory viruses for the Brazilian Ministry of Health, which has been mapping genomes of the virus since early in the pandemic. The laboratory is part…
Article
The Fiocruz Genomic Network has released new data on the status of lineages and variants of the Sars-CoV-2 in Brazil, based on the genomic surveillance produced by the Network and by other initiatives. According to the publication, while in December 39.4% of sequenced genomes belonged to the Omicron variant, in January 2022 this rate rose to 95.9%. The variant has now been found in all of the country’s regions. The Network Report shows that omicron now fully dominates the epidemiological scenario of Covid-19 in Brazil. It also highlights technological innovations developed by the Fiocruz…
Article
Celebrated last Sunday (January 30), the World Neglected Tropical Diseases Day draws attention to infections that affect more than one billion people worldwide, and yet receive little in terms of attention and investment. These diseases, such as Chagas disease, dengue fever, leishmaniasis, hanseniasis, schistosomiasis and worm-related illnesses, affect mostly poor people, resulting in death or in great health problems, worsening people’s quality of life as they make it harder to remain in school and in the workforce.
Selenium was evaluated for the first time in patients with chronic Chagas…
Article
When a new advisory group of the World Health Organization (WHO) for neglected diseases holds its first meeting this Friday, January 1st, there will be a Brazilian in the room. Thiago Moreno L. Souza, a researcher of the Center for Technological Development in Health (CDTS/Fiocruz), is one of the 14 participants from all over the world selected for the Strategic and Technical Advisory Group which will be working with the Working Group for Neglected Diseases for Access to Effective and Safe Drugs (STAG WGA).
Thiago Moreno Souza is one of the 14 participants from all over the world selected for…
Article
Researchers of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, in the United States, in a partnership with the Oswaldo Cruz Institute (IOC/Fiocruz) and with the University of São Paulo (USP) and other institutions, have given an important step towards the finding of a treatment for yellow fever. Considered a worldwide trend, synthetic monoclonal antibodies have been the subject of studies all over the planet. These antibodies are laboratory products and bind to a specific region of the viral particle, interrupting the infection process.
(Image: Oswaldo Cruz Institute)
Drugs of this kind were…
Article
We all had some degree of hope that the end of 2021 and the beginning of 2022 would bring us the much-awaited retraction of the pandemic. However, the emergence of the new Omicron variant dragged us away from the end of the tunnel we were longing for. Many countries, including some with powerful health systems, excellent living conditions, and high levels of vaccination, are hitting record numbers of contagions every day.
So far, the challenge on the horizon for 2022 is to overcome the pandemic and the immense sanitary and socio-economic inequality, achieve social and economic recovery…
Article
Science, technology and innovation to create resiliency, recover the planet from the impacts of COVID-19 and prepare it to face future health crises, including the ones resulting from environmental problems. This was the focus of the Global Sustainable Technology and Inovation Conference (G-Stic), an international reference in the debate that relates science, technology and innovation to the 2030 Agenda, which took place in Dubai from January 17th to 19th, 2022. Fiocruz takes part in it since 2019, through Fiocruz Strategy for the 2030 Agenda (EFA 2030), being invited by G-Stic to be a cohost…
Article
At a moment in which the world is watching a new peak of COVID-19 cases, preliminary analysis of a study on safetey and immunogenicity indicate that the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine as a booster shot increases the immune response against the variants of concern Beta, Delta, Alpha, and Gamma. An analysis made separately with samples of the research also shows an increased response of antibodies against the Omicron variant, which is behind the new wave of the disease.
Preliminary analysis of a study indicate that the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine as a booster shot increases the immune…
Article
Com o objetivo de ampliar a divulgação de notícias sobre Covid-19 para pessoas com deficiências auditivas, a Coordenação de Comunicação Social (CCS/Fiocruz) lançou um programa semanal que reúne as principais notícias publicadas na Agência Fiocruz de Notícias (AFN) traduzidas para a Língua Brasileira de Sinais (Libras) e com áudio em português.
Confira outras edições do AFN Acessibilidade.
Article
This Friday (January 7), Fiocruz received assent from the National Agency of Sanitary Surveillance (Anvisa) for the alteration in the register of the COVID-19 vaccine (recombinant), which requested the addition of the Foundation as a producer of the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API). After the transference of the AstraZeneca technology and with the approval of Anvisa, the Foundation is now the first institution in the country that is allowed to produce and distribute a 100% Brazilian COVID-19 vaccine to the Ministry of Health.
Up to this moment, Fiocruz has the equivalent of 21…
Article
A study published on medRXiv, this Wednesday (December 29th), shows that the four vaccines applied in Brazil provide a high degree of additional protection against symptomatic infections and severe cases of COVID-19 in people who had already contracted Sars-CoV-2 previously. The study, led by Julio Croda and Manoel Barral-Neto, Fiocruz researchers, also reinforces the importance of a full vaccination scheme, even for those people.
Vaccine production at Bio-Manguinhos (Image: Bernardo Portella/Bio-Manguinhos/Fiocruz)
As preprint (without peer review), Effectiveness of CoronaVac, ChAdOx1,…
Article
A third AstraZeneca vaccine dose significantly increases neutralizing antibodies levels against the Ômicron variant (B.1.1.529), a new study indicates. The research was conducted independently by researchers from different institutions, including Fiocruz and Oxford University. And these results were published in preprint form on the bioRxiv platform (Omicron-B.1.1.529 leads to widespread escape from neutralizing antibody responses) on Thursday.
A third AstraZeneca vaccine dose significantly increases neutralizing antibodies levels against the Ômicron variant (Image:Peter Ilicciev)
"As we have…
Article
For three consecutive mornings in Brazil, or three nights on the other side of the world, in China, the CAS-Fiocruz webinar on Infectous Diseases brought together researchers from the Foundation and the Chinese Academy of Sciences to exchange information on topics such as COVID-19, vaccines, zika, dengue, and other diseases common to both sides of the globe. The webinar took place on December 14th, 15th, and 16th.
The event opening, on Wednesday (12/14), was held by the president of Fiocruz, Nísia Trindade Lima, and the vice-president of CAS, Zhang Yaping. Nísia and Zhang highlighted the…
Article
As with other COVID-19 immunizers, a booster dose of AstraZeneca vaccine is also required after the complete vaccination schedule. This is indicated by a new study involving Brazil and Scotland, and published in the scientific journal The Lancet on Monday (12/20). The research, of which Fiocruz is part, shows the decrease in vaccine protection over time and in face of the new variants’ emergence.
The assessment, carried out at a time of intense variants of concern circulation and the Omicron emergence, reinforces the importance of the pandemic dynamics surveillance. The follow-up, which is…
Article
The ties between Fiocruz and the United States Consulate in Rio de Janeiro should become closer next year. On 12/16, the consul Jacqueline Ward and the president of Fiocruz, Nísia Trindade Lima, met at the Official Residence. On the agenda, scientific cooperation between Brazilian and American institutions, the XVI National Malaria Research Meeting and a parallel symposium organized by the Foundation and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases/National Institutes of Health of the United States (NIAID-NIH), with the international experts' participation, such as Anthony Fauci…
Article
Continuing an institutional movement to promote science through the dissemination of actions, research, events and courses in other languages, Fiocruz has just incorporated two new courses to the Global Health Training Centre. This time they were "What is Open Science?" and "Open Access", which were translated from Portuguese into English and Spanish. They integrate the series on Open Science developed by the Fiocruz Virtual Campus in partnership with several actors of the Foundation. Both courses, of 10h each, are especially aimed at postgraduate students and researchers, but can be taken by…
Article
When the World Health Organization (WHO) decided to classify the Omicron strain of the new coronavirus as a variant of concern, it took into account the recommendations of a group of specialists. The so-called Technical Advisory Group on Sars-CoV-2 Evolution (TAG-VE) is a select group of scientists that includes a Brazilian virologist in its line-up: Brazilian researcher Marilda Siqueira, chief of the Laboratory of Measles and Respiratory Viruses of the Oswaldo Cruz Institute (IOC/Fiocruz).
The advisory group consists of 25 scientists of excellence in different specialties, such as virology,…
Article
A project resulting from a partnership between the Ministry of Health, Fiocruz, Lacen-PR, and the Federal University of São Paulo (Unifesp) was one of those selected by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for funding, as part of the creation of two global networks aimed at fighting antimicrobial resistance. With Ana Paula Assef, head of the Hospital Infection Research Laboratory (LAPIH) at the Oswaldo Cruz Institute (IOC/Fiocruz), as the principal investigator, the Strengthening Brazilian Surveillance System for Antimicrobial Resistance program aims to reinforce the…
Article
The first edition of the bulletin on the COVID-19 vaccines' effectiveness in the Brazilian population, from Fiocruz's Vigivac project, was published on Thursday (12/9). The report, which presents analyses of the four vaccines administered in Brazil from January to October 2021, points out that all of them confer a great reduction in the risk of infection, hospitalizations, and death from COVID-19. Considering serious outcomes (hospitalization or death) in individuals aged 20-80 years, protection ranged from 83% to 99% for all immunizers. In the population under 60, all vaccines showed…
Article
In a pioneering initiative, the Foundation inaugurates this Monday (13/12), COVID-19 Biobank (BC19-Fiocruz). Located in Rio de Janeiro, at Expansão campus, BC19-Fiocruz will enable the design and conduct of research, technological development and clinical trials related to COVID-19, regardless of the geographic location of human biological material and viruses. With the capacity to store up to one and a half million samples of human and non-human biological materials, the Foundation's new unit will make a decisive contribution to Brazilian science.
Marcelo Queiroga, minister of Health, and…
Article