Browsing by Author "Pereira, Catarina"
Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
Results Per Page
Sort Options
- Children Exposure assessment to patulin through the intake of apple based productsPublication . Pereira, Catarina; Alvito, Paula; Seljak, Barbara; Vasco, ElsaNowadays, food safety is of major concern since more chemicals are present in our environment. Food is an important route of exposure to contaminants as mycotoxins. Patulin (PAT) is a toxic secondary metabolite produced by a wide range of fungal species growing on fruit, including apples, pears, grapes and others. Children are a vulnerable part of the population due to, in part, their physiology, a fairly restricted diet and a higher intake relative to their body. Within the safety evaluation procedure of any chemical substance, one crucial step is the dietary exposure assessment. Exposure assessment combines data on concentrations of a chemical substance present in food with the quantity of those foods consumed. Food consumption data are an essential element for risk assessment and EFSA recommended the application of weighed food diaries as main dietary assessment method for 0-36 months children. An online software to entry consumption data are a very useful tool for exposure assessment. The Open Platform for Clinical Nutrition (OPEN) is a Web-based application that provides clinical dietitians and the general population with an online dietary assessment and diet planning tool. It can be used with any food composition dataset that complies with the EuroFIR standards for data harmonisation. In Portugal no data are available on child consumption between 0-36 months and data on mycotoxins occurrence in baby foods are scarce. The main objectives of this study were to: i) determine the contents of patulin in apple based foods, ii) develop tools and procedures for the collection of individual food consumption data for infants, iii) test the above mentioned tools and procedures within a pilot dietary survey and iv) analyse the collected data and evaluate the tools and procedures used, providing recommendations for potential improvements and/or revisions.
- Clonal expansion across the seas as seen through CPLP-TB database: a joint effort in cataloguing Mycobacterium tuberculosis genetic diversity in Portuguese-speaking countriesPublication . Perdigão, João; Silva, Carla; Diniz, Jaciara; Pereira, Catarina; Machado, Diana; Ramos, Jorge; Silva, Hugo; Abilleira, Fernanda; Brum, Clarice; Reis, Ana J.; Macedo, Maíra; Scaini, João L.; Silva, Ana B.; Esteves, Leonardo; Macedo, Rita; Maltez, Fernando; Clemente, Sofia; Coelho, Elizabeth; Viegas, Sofia; Rabna, Paulo; Rodrigues, Amabélia; Taveira, Nuno; Jordao, Luísa; Kritski, Afrânio; Silva, José Lapa e; Mokrousov, Igor; Couvin, David; Rastogi, Nalin; Couto, Isabel; Pain, Arnab; McNerney, Ruth; Clark, Taane G.; von Groll, Andrea; Dalla-Costa, Elis R.; Rossetti, Maria Lúcia; Silva, Pedro E.A. da; Viveiros, Miguel; Portugal, IsabelTuberculosis (TB) remains a major health problem within the Community of Portuguese Language Speaking Countries (CPLP). Despite the marked variation in TB incidence across its member-states and continued human migratory flux between countries, a considerable gap in the knowledge on the Mycobacterium tuberculosis population structure and strain circulation between the countries still exists. To address this, we have assembled and analyzed the largest CPLP M.tuberculosis molecular and drug susceptibility dataset, comprised by a total of 1447 clinical isolates, including 423 multidrug-resistant isolates, from five CPLP countries. The data herein presented reinforces Latin American and Mediterranean (LAM) strains as the hallmark of M. tuberculosis populational structure in the CPLP coupled with country-specific differential prevalence of minor clades. Moreover, using high-resolution typing by 24-loci MIRU-VNTR, six cross-border genetic clusters were detected, thus supporting recent clonal expansion across the Lusophone space. To make this data available to the scientific community and public health authorities we developed CPLP-TB (available at http://cplp-tb.ff.ulisboa.pt), an online database coupled with web-based tools for exploratory data analysis. As a public health tool, it is expected to contribute to improved knowledge on the M. tuberculosis population structure and strain circulation within the CPLP, thus supporting the risk assessment of strain-specific trends.
- Insights on the Mycobacterium tuberculosis population structure associated with migrants from Portuguese-speaking countries over a three-year period in greater Lisbon, Portugal: Implications at the public health levelPublication . Pereira, Catarina; Gomes, Pedro; Taveira, Ricardo; Silva, Carla; Maltez, Fernando; Macedo, Rita; Costa, Catarina; Couvin, David; Rastogi, Nalin; Viveiros, Miguel; Perdigão, João; Portugal, IsabelTuberculosis among foreign-born patients is a key indicator of country-level epidemiological profiles and, of an increasing concern in Europe given the more intensified migratory waves of refugees. Since Portugal presents a lower immigrant-associated TB incidence rate when compared to other European countries, we sought to characterize the epidemiology and transmission dynamics among the foreign-born population coming from Portuguese-speaking countries that are associated with higher TB incidences. In the present study we analyzed 133 Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates obtained from foreign-born individuals over a three-year period in Lisbon, Portugal, using molecular epidemiological methods such as spoligotyping and 24-loci MIRU-VNTR. Moreover, all strains were subjected to drug susceptibility testing. The genetic profiles obtained suggest that strain importation from Portuguese speaking countries plays a less important role in TB epidemiology but instead argue in favor of a high degree of penetrance of Portuguese endemic strains to the migrant population, including multidrug resistant strains, which is particularly relevant to active screening programs.
- Mycobacterium tuberculosis genetic diversity and drug resistance across Portuguese-speaking countries and CPLP-TB: a novel framework and surveillance tool for the Lusophone communityPublication . Perdigão, João; Silva, Carla; Diniz, Jaciara; Pereira, Catarina; Machado, Diana; Ramos, Jorge; Silva, Hugo; Abilleira, Fernanda; Brum, Clarice; Reis, Ana J.; Macedo, Maíra; Scaini, João L.; Silva, Ana B.; Esteves, Leonardo; Macedo, Rita; Maltez, Fernando; Clemente, Sofia; Coelho, Elizabeth; Viegas, Sofia; Rabna, Paulo; Rodrigues, Amabélia; Taveira, Nuno; Jordão, Luísa; Kritski, Afrânio; Lapa e Silva, José; Mokrousov, Igor; Couvin, David; Rastogi, Nalin; Couto, Isabel; Pain, Arnab; McNerney, Ruth; Clark, Taane G.; von Groll, Andrea; Dalla-Costa, Elis R.; Rossetti, Maria Lúcia; da Silva, Pedro E.A; Viveiros, Miguel; Portugal, IsabelBackground: Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major health problem within the Community of Portuguese Language Speaking Countries (CPLP). Despite the marked variation in TB incidence across its member-states and continued human migratory flux between countries, a considerable gap in the knowledge on the Mycobacterium tuberculosis population structure and strain circulation between the countries still exists. Materials and Methods: To address this, we have assembled and analyzed the largest CPLP M. tuberculosis molecular and drug susceptibility dataset, comprised by a total of 1447 clinical isolates, including 423 multidrug-resistant isolates, from five CPLP countries. Genotyping analysis was carried out by 15/24 Mycobacterial Interspersed Repetitive Unit – Variable Number of Tandem Repeat (MIRU-VNTR) and Spoligotyping. Drug Susceptibility testing was performed using standardized BACTEC 960 MGIT methodology or through the resazurin microtiter assay (REMA). Results: The data herein presented reinforces Latin American and Mediterranean (LAM) strains as the hallmark of M. tuberculosis populational structure in the CPLP coupled with country-specific differential prevalence of minor clades. Moreover, using high-resolution typing by 24-loci MIRU-VNTR, six cross-border genetic clusters were detected, thus supporting recent clonal expansion across the Lusophone space. To make this data available to the scientific community and public health authorities we developed CPLP-TB (available at http://cplp-tb.ff.ulisboa.pt), an online database coupled with web-based tools for exploratory data analysis. Conclusions: As a public health tool, CPLP-TB is expected to contribute to improved knowledge on the M. tuberculosis population structure and strain circulation within the CPLP, thus supporting risk assessment of strain-specific trends.
- Tuberculosis across the seas: CPLP-TB - a joint effort in cataloguing mycobacterium tuberculosis genetic diversity in the lusophone spacePublication . Perdigão, João; Silva, Carla; Diniz, Jaciara; Pereira, Catarina; Machado, Diana; Ramos, Jorge; da Silva, Fernanda; Brum, Clarice; Reis, Ana J.; Macedo, Maíra; Scaini, João L.; Silva, Ana B; Esteves, Leonardo; Macedo, Rita; Clemente, Sofia; Coelho, Elizabeth; Viegas, Sofia; Rabna, Paulo; Rodrigues, Amabélia; Taveira, Nuno; Jordao, Luisa; Couto, Isabel; von Groll, Andrea; Dalla-Costa, Elis R.; Rossetti, Maria Lúcia; da Silva, Pedro E. A.; Viveiros, Miguel; Portugal, IsabelThe Community of Portuguese Language Speaking Countries (CPLP) comprises nine countries across four continents, accounting for 7.2% of the world’s land area, and where tuberculosis (TB) is still a cause of public health concern. A marked variation in TB incidence (23 to 551 cases per 100 000 habitants) can be observed across the different member-states and, despite of this, a considerable gap in the knowledge on the Mycobacterium tuberculosis population structure and country-level geospatial distribution still exists. To address this we have gathered a comprehensive set of molecular and phenotypic drug susceptibility data on approximately 1150 different clinical isolates, from different partners, across 5 distinct portuguesespeaking countries. This initial dataset comprises molecular genotypic data obtained by either 12, 15 or 24-loci Mycobacterial Interspersed Repetitive Unit – Variable Number of Tandem repeat (MIRU-VNTR) and/or Spoligotyping. The complete dataset therefore includes M. tuberculosis clinical isolates from Portugal (n≈370), Angola (n≈80), Guinea-Bissau (n≈13), Mozambique (n≈14) and Brazil (n≈680). To make this data available to the scientific community and public health authorities we have developed CPLP-TB, an online database coupled with webbased tools that enable exploratory data analysis. This new tool specifically directed at CPLP countries include advanced data analysis capability together with graphical visualization tools (e.g. dendrogram and choropleth mapping). As a public health tool, it is expected to contribute for a deeper knowledge on the combined population structure and strain circulation between countries, thus enabling the assessment of strain specific trends in a broader macroepidemiological context. Furthermore, this new tool provides a new framework for interlaboratory cooperation on TB molecular epidemiology.