The Zika virus, transmitted by the bite of the Aedes aegypti mosquito, has caught the attention of the international community, especially health professionals and researchers, due to the large number of cases recorded in Brazil. After studies, it was possible to associate infection by the virus with births of babies with microcephaly and other abnormalities, affecting more than two thousand children at the height of the Zika virus epidemic in the country, between 2015 and 2016.
From this, researchers from Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), through the Fernandes Figueira National Institute of Women's, Children's and Adolescents' Health (IFF/Fiocruz), began to develop projects focused on different aspects of the disease. One of them, coordinated by the IFF/Fiocruz researcher, Lucia Maria Costa Monteiro, addresses “sequelae in the urinary system in children exposed to fetal infection by Zika virus and with neurological injuries”. On April 30, the researcher visited the units of Santos Dumont Institute (ISD), in Macaíba (RN), and spoke with preceptors, internship supervisors, health professionals and multidisciplinary residents of the Anita Garibaldi Health Education and Research Center (CEPS/ISD), in addition to researchers and students of the Master's degree in Neuroengineering at Edmond and Lily Safra International Institute of Neuroscience (IIN-ELS/ISD), who develop work or research related to the Zika virus. Also participating in the meeting were the guests Nivia Rodrigues Arrais, responsible for the microcephaly outpatient clinic at Onofre Lopes University Hospital (HUOL/UFRN/EBSERH), It is Rafael Pauletti, responsible for the uropediatrics outpatient clinic at Luiz Antonio Fonseca Santos Health Center, from Macaíba (RN).
The Fiocruz researcher came to establish a partnership with the ISD, related to children with microcephaly who have dysfunctions in the urinary system, known as neurogenic bladder. As Lucia explained, the idea is to recognize institutions, in the Northeast, that can train health professionals to diagnose and monitor these cases, and that can act as multipliers in the region, in places that need this knowledge. During the visit, Monteiro stated that the “Santos Dumont Institute has all the technological knowledge to work with the neurological and urodynamic areas, in addition to having qualified professionals. Without a doubt, it is a place that has all the potential to carry out this training in partnership with Fiocruz”.
According to Reginaldo Freitas Junior, Director of Teaching and Research at ISD, this partnership is important, “because it broadens the prospects for comprehensive care for children with congenital syndrome associated with Zika virus infection, a need in Rio Grande do Norte, and strengthens the integrated teaching, research and extension actions that the Santos Dumont Institute already develops in this area of activity”.
Since 2016, Ordinance No. 1,430 of the Ministry of Health has enabled CEPS/ISD as Specialized Rehabilitation Center in the auditory, physical and intellectual areas (CER III). Among the clinics offered is the microcephaly clinic. The ISD CER III serves users from Macaíba, Natal, São Gonçalo do Amarante, Extremoz and Parnamirim.
Text and photos: Ariane Mondo / Ascom – ISD
Featured photo: Luiz Paulo Juttel / Ascom – ISD
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Santos Dumont Institute (ISD)
Social organization that maintains ties with the Ministry of Education (MEC) and whose mission is to promote education for life, forming citizens through integrated teaching, research and extension actions and to contribute to a fairer and more humane transformation of the Brazilian social reality.
