The Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (F.iocruz) obtained from the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) registration of the first molecular biology kit in the country for detecting the genetic material of bacteria that cause rickettsiosis, in particular Rocky Mountain spotted fever and typhus.
Conceived by the Oswaldo Cruz Institute (IOC/Fiocruz) and produced at the Institute of Molecular Biology of Paraná (IBMP), the IBMP Biomol Rickettsiosis Kit uses the real-time PCR technique, capable of identifying — with high levels of specificity (94%) and sensitivity (100%) — the presence or absence of bacteria of the genus Rickettsia in the collected samples.
From a faster and more specific laboratory diagnosis, diseases caused by these infectious agents can be identified in the initial phase, when there are still no detectable antibodies that allow confirmation through serological tests.
“AFiocruz has a historical social role and is once again at the forefront, developing diagnostic products necessary for the epidemiological surveillance of neglected diseases of public health importance. It is with pride and a sense of accomplishment that we deliver this product”, highlights the president of the Foundation, Mario Moreira.
Recently, cases of spotted fever in São Paulo raised the alarm of the medical and health authorities, and drew the population's attention to the condition, which was considered not very widespread.
“The high levels of the test meet the current need for more robust surveillance of Rocky Mountain spotted fever and other rickettsiosis, enabling more effective and timely actions”, highlights Elba Lemos, researcher at the Laboratory of Hantaviruses and Rickettsiosis of the IOC, where the kit was started to be built.
“It is important for different groups and institutions to come together for the development of new technologies that allow Brazil to be more self-sufficient in its diagnostic tests and treatments”, reinforces the researcher.
The need to create technologies that identify the causes of diseases more precisely and in a shorter period of time was also emphasized by the director-president of IBMP, Pedro Barbosa.
“The IBMP Biomol Rickettsiosis Kit joins the products in the portfolio aimed at neglected tropical diseases, along with kits for trachoma, leprosy, Chagas disease, among others, and reinforces IBMP's mission to contribute to the access and democratization of diagnosis more accurate and effective and consequently the adoption of the most appropriate treatment for Brazilian citizens”, he points out.
With advances in the diagnosis of Rocky Mountain spotted fever and other rickettsiosis, Elba recalls that Brazilian Rocky Mountain spotted fever needs to be treated quickly due to the severity of the disease's evolution resulting from the damage caused by the bacteria to the human body.
“When the patient arrives at the health unit with suspected Rocky Mountain spotted fever, samples must be collected for analysis and treatment must be started immediately, even without laboratory confirmation”, he adds.
The proposal to create a molecular biology kit to detect rickettsiosis began to be designed in 2009, based on postdoctoral projects at the Laboratory of Hantaviruses and Rickettsiosis of the IOC, in collaboration with the Institute of Technology in Immunobiologicals (Bio-Manguinhos).
Under Elba's supervision, postdoctoral students at the time, Maria Inês Doria Rossi and Daniela Tupy de Godoy, as well as researcher Tatiana Rozental Burdman, studied the feasibility of technologies that could identify Rickettsia bacteria and other genera.
Subsequently, the collaboration was transferred to the IBMP and the research continued with Liana Lumi Ogino, Matheus Ribeiro da Silva Assis and Thayssa Alves Coelho da Silva, in addition to Jorlan Fernandes de Jesus who took over the supervision of the project alongside Elba.
Upon completion of the Kit, the IOC continued as a consultant in the production and validation of the technology's performance.
A Rocky Mountain spotted fever it is a non-contagious acute febrile infectious disease of worldwide distribution that can cause, depending on the bacterial species, from asymptomatic forms to more severe cases, with a high possibility of death.
In Brazil, one of the diseases that generate severe cases of high lethality is associated with infection by the bacteria Rickettsia rickettsii (Brazilian spotted fever), transmitted mainly by ticks of the species Amblyomma sculptum e Amblyomma Cajennense, popularly known as star tick.
Milder cases of Rocky Mountain spotted fever associated with the species Rickettsia parkeri, transmitted by the tick Amblyomma ovale, have also been described mainly in the state of Santa Catarina. In the world, there are more than 20 species of the Rickettsia genus that can cause Rocky Mountain spotted fever.
According to data from the Ministry of Health and State Health Secretariats, between 2000 and 2022, the disease caused 2.636 infections, with 920 deaths. In 2023, the country registered until June, 49 cases and 6 deaths.
The Special Bulletin – Neglected Tropical Diseases, published by the Ministry of Health in March 2021, points out that, in the period from 2010 to 2020, Rocky Mountain spotted fever was more frequent in men (71%), in the economically active age group of 20 to 39 years. Of the confirmed cases, 63% were hospitalized. The likely site of infection most reported by confirmed cases was the rural area, with 45%.
Most cases report contact with ticks and frequenting forest environments, rivers and waterfalls. The highest concentration of cases is seen in the Southeast and South regions, where it generally occurs sporadically as isolated cases or small outbreaks.
In Brazil, the disease has the character of compulsory notification to the Ministry of Health.
The Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (F.iocruz) obtained from the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) registration of the first molecular biology kit in the country for detecting the genetic material of bacteria that cause rickettsiosis, in particular Rocky Mountain spotted fever and typhus.
Conceived by the Oswaldo Cruz Institute (IOC/Fiocruz) and produced at the Institute of Molecular Biology of Paraná (IBMP), the IBMP Biomol Rickettsiosis Kit uses the real-time PCR technique, capable of identifying — with high levels of specificity (94%) and sensitivity (100%) — the presence or absence of bacteria of the genus Rickettsia in the collected samples.
From a faster and more specific laboratory diagnosis, diseases caused by these infectious agents can be identified in the initial phase, when there are still no detectable antibodies that allow confirmation through serological tests.
“AFiocruz has a historical social role and is once again at the forefront, developing diagnostic products necessary for the epidemiological surveillance of neglected diseases of public health importance. It is with pride and a sense of accomplishment that we deliver this product”, highlights the president of the Foundation, Mario Moreira.
Recently, cases of spotted fever in São Paulo raised the alarm of the medical and health authorities, and drew the population's attention to the condition, which was considered not very widespread.
“The high levels of the test meet the current need for more robust surveillance of Rocky Mountain spotted fever and other rickettsiosis, enabling more effective and timely actions”, highlights Elba Lemos, researcher at the Laboratory of Hantaviruses and Rickettsiosis of the IOC, where the kit was started to be built.
“It is important for different groups and institutions to come together for the development of new technologies that allow Brazil to be more self-sufficient in its diagnostic tests and treatments”, reinforces the researcher.
The need to create technologies that identify the causes of diseases more precisely and in a shorter period of time was also emphasized by the director-president of IBMP, Pedro Barbosa.
“The IBMP Biomol Rickettsiosis Kit joins the products in the portfolio aimed at neglected tropical diseases, along with kits for trachoma, leprosy, Chagas disease, among others, and reinforces IBMP's mission to contribute to the access and democratization of diagnosis more accurate and effective and consequently the adoption of the most appropriate treatment for Brazilian citizens”, he points out.
With advances in the diagnosis of Rocky Mountain spotted fever and other rickettsiosis, Elba recalls that Brazilian Rocky Mountain spotted fever needs to be treated quickly due to the severity of the disease's evolution resulting from the damage caused by the bacteria to the human body.
“When the patient arrives at the health unit with suspected Rocky Mountain spotted fever, samples must be collected for analysis and treatment must be started immediately, even without laboratory confirmation”, he adds.
The proposal to create a molecular biology kit to detect rickettsiosis began to be designed in 2009, based on postdoctoral projects at the Laboratory of Hantaviruses and Rickettsiosis of the IOC, in collaboration with the Institute of Technology in Immunobiologicals (Bio-Manguinhos).
Under Elba's supervision, postdoctoral students at the time, Maria Inês Doria Rossi and Daniela Tupy de Godoy, as well as researcher Tatiana Rozental Burdman, studied the feasibility of technologies that could identify Rickettsia bacteria and other genera.
Subsequently, the collaboration was transferred to the IBMP and the research continued with Liana Lumi Ogino, Matheus Ribeiro da Silva Assis and Thayssa Alves Coelho da Silva, in addition to Jorlan Fernandes de Jesus who took over the supervision of the project alongside Elba.
Upon completion of the Kit, the IOC continued as a consultant in the production and validation of the technology's performance.
A Rocky Mountain spotted fever it is a non-contagious acute febrile infectious disease of worldwide distribution that can cause, depending on the bacterial species, from asymptomatic forms to more severe cases, with a high possibility of death.
In Brazil, one of the diseases that generate severe cases of high lethality is associated with infection by the bacteria Rickettsia rickettsii (Brazilian spotted fever), transmitted mainly by ticks of the species Amblyomma sculptum e Amblyomma Cajennense, popularly known as star tick.
Milder cases of Rocky Mountain spotted fever associated with the species Rickettsia parkeri, transmitted by the tick Amblyomma ovale, have also been described mainly in the state of Santa Catarina. In the world, there are more than 20 species of the Rickettsia genus that can cause Rocky Mountain spotted fever.
According to data from the Ministry of Health and State Health Secretariats, between 2000 and 2022, the disease caused 2.636 infections, with 920 deaths. In 2023, the country registered until June, 49 cases and 6 deaths.
The Special Bulletin – Neglected Tropical Diseases, published by the Ministry of Health in March 2021, points out that, in the period from 2010 to 2020, Rocky Mountain spotted fever was more frequent in men (71%), in the economically active age group of 20 to 39 years. Of the confirmed cases, 63% were hospitalized. The likely site of infection most reported by confirmed cases was the rural area, with 45%.
Most cases report contact with ticks and frequenting forest environments, rivers and waterfalls. The highest concentration of cases is seen in the Southeast and South regions, where it generally occurs sporadically as isolated cases or small outbreaks.
In Brazil, the disease has the character of compulsory notification to the Ministry of Health.
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