The enemies of the cold

The viruses also travel of airplane. It is truth. E if in the destination to find hot and propitious temperatures to its propagation does not give rest to the man. Happily that our Winter is marked by temperatures at least below of the 15 degrees. But in the Spring she is necessary to be more intent.

Hemorrhagic fever of Lassa, affections or fevers or of the Crimeia are only some names that for itself only righten any one. For us, Portuguese, seem to be far, but a simple climatic change can make with that the mosquitos or small flyers if can dislocate for other regions, since that with propitious climates to its survival. For here, and for the time being, the climate is not the sky but yes that in protects them. However, some specialists alert for the danger of the inbound of the Spring, with the temperatures to be magnified.

according to coordinating of the Center of Studies of Vectors and Infectious Illnesses of the Institute Ricardo Jorge, Armindo Filipe, for the time being " we are defended with the temperature, because the agents who can originate these illnesses do not obtain to talk back themselves in Portugal ".

However, alert, from the next Spring we will have to be intent. With upper temperatures the 20 centigrade degrees, the ecological conditions are more favorable for the survival of the mosquitos or small flyers who take off blood of the people to survive. " A time infectados, becomes infectious ", clarifies the responsible one.

In the Europe, the specialists in the substance defend, the cares must start to turn themselves toward the illnesses of viral origin that do not pass of person for person, but need a vector, or either, of an animal to infectarem the human beings. Maioritariamente they are provoked by viruses that circulate in the tropinais countries - 500 viruses transmitted for mosquitos have more than or carraças.

" The Ébola is part of another group of illnesses. So far it was only identified in Africa and drama is that it is not known as the virus survives. One thought that its reservoir was in the monkeys, but these died and the illness came back. While not to uncover the natural history of the illness, if it cannot advance much more ", it remembers Armindo Filipe.

The same already it is not transferred with the.causing parasite of the malaria, therefore the investigators seem to have discovered its form of survival and, in consequência, already they can give in front plus a pacing in the fetching of handlings.

In the past month of October, one I occasion of malaria killed at least 818 people in the Burundi, including at least 100 children. The epidemic came out in the province of Mwaro, in the center of the Burundi. The epidemic afectou later the provinces of Gitega and Cititoke. Still any vaccine for prevention of the illness does not exist, however, this also can be prevented through a daily or weekly dose of medicines anti-malaria, used for handling, that the majority of the Africans cannot pay.

The responsible ones for the National Program of Contagious diseases foresee that one in each two burandeses can contract the illness, that kills about two million people per year in Africa.

The Plasmodium falciparum, one of the.causing parasites of the malaria, it gets the nutrients of that needs opening pores in the membrane infectados red globules, as had recently disclosed the studies carried through for one equips of North American investigators. This, that is the species most mortal of parasite of the malaria, is to become resistant the actuais handlings and the discovery, already announced in the Nature magazine, it could be important for the development of new forms of handling. After a parasite of the malaria infectar a red globule, it has to get proteins, sugars and percursores of DNA to survive and this it digests the hemoglobina (that it gives the red color to the blood).

But the studies of electrofisiologia developed by equip of Sanjay Desai, of the Institute of Illnesses Alérgicas and Infecciosas, and Joshua Zimmerberg, of the National Institute of the Infantile Health and Human Development, in the United States, had demonstrated that the parasite also creates small punctures in the membrane of the cells to extract nutrients. It is not known if the creation of channels implies " protein change in the cellular membrane or the introduction of a proteinic molecule produced by the proper parasite ", explains one of the investigators.

At this moment, the investigators are to try to identify the molecules that form the channel because, with this information, they can be capable to develop medicines that hinder the parasite to get nutrients and, therefore, to grow and if to multiply. Or either, the new handlings can pass for killing the parasite to the hunger.

Another one of males that they can come of far is caused by the virus of the Valley of the Rift. It provokes a serious illness very, with hemorrhagic fevers and ocular problems. It can be mortal. The virus, that was only known in Africa, entered in September of 2000 in Saudi Arabia and killed sets of ten of people. It is transmitted by mosquitos.

" Fortunately, the virus still did not enter in the Europe, what it can come to happen. If this dumb virus of vector, of agent who carries it, can be very virulent ", explains Armindo Filipe.

In 1994, the European Network was created will be Import Viral Disease (ENIVD), with headquarters in Berlin, that spreads out for all the countries information on the cases suspicious and goes following the passage of the sick people. Armindo Filipe is the Portuguese representative of the ENIVD, that had chance to change information with this organism when, in January of 2000, passed for Lisbon a German sick person with fever of Lassa. Therefore it is... it is that the viruses also travel and the expenditure that would give to desinfectar all the airplanes after one voo moves away any possibility from if being able to say with all the certainty that any danger for the eurpeus travellers does not have exactly, inside of European territory.

" It does not have any possibility of desinfectar all the airplanes. He would be caríssimo and are thousand of mosquitos that travel every day ", remembers responsible the Institute the Ricardo Jorge.

But according to responsible by the Job of Health, Hygiene and Security of the TAP, when the devices make scale in endémicos countries, disinfections with sprays in some places of the device are made where the mosquitos can travel.

The countries most dangerous in this point of view are, according to specialists, the Uganda, Sudan, Nigéria and Zaire, where some of these viruses are endémicos.

However, also we do not go to think that now to travel of airplane it is an attitude to prevent not to contract this or that one vírua. It is that also it has international rules (of the Civil International Aviation Organization - ICAO) that they hinder the input of passengers with contagious diseases infectum-. These sick people immediately are embarked by means of a special authorization. However, he remains to know when it is that somebody is infectado, a time that has travellers that when embarks they are still in the phase where the symptoms had not been disclosed.