The psychosocial profile of the entrepreneur: A study from the point of view of gender in Angola

Estudos anteriores em Angola mostraram que a auto-eficácia afeta negativamente a Intenção Empreendedora. Adotando a perspectiva da teoria da ação planificada, analisa-se o efeito diferencial do gênero na intenção de empreender um grupo de estudantes universitários em Angola. Os resultados mostram que não há diferenças de gênero na intenção de emprender dos/das estudantes angolanos/nas, embora as mulheres tenham médias mais elavadas, não foram encontradas diferenças significativas na Atitude, Norma Subjetiva e Auto-eficácia. Numa análise mais detalhada da escala, podemos verificar diferenças significativas em vários dos sub-índices.Previous studies in Angola have shown that there are differences in the psychosocial profile of the entrepreneur as a function of gender. Adopting the perspective of planned action theory, the differential effect of gender on the entrepreneurial intention by a group of university students from Angola is analysed. The results show that there are no gender differences in Angolan students' on the entrepreneurial intention, although women have higher statistical means, no significant differences were found in attitude, subjective norm and self-efficiency. In a more detailed analysis of the scale we can verify significant differences in several of the sub indices

Consumer Willingness to Pay for Dengue Vaccine (CYD-TDV, Dengvaxia®) in Brazil; Implications for Future Pricing Considerations

Introduction and Objective: Dengue virus is a serious global health problem with an estimated 3.97 billion people at risk for infection worldwide. In December 2015, the first vaccine (CYD-TDV) for dengue prevention was approved in Brazil, developed by Sanofi Pasteur. However, given that the vaccine will potentially be paid via the public health system, information is need regarding consumers’ willingness to pay for the dengue vaccine in the country as well as discussions related to the possible inclusion of this vaccine into the public health system. This was the objective of this research. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study with residents of Greater Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, about their willingness to pay for the CYD-TDV vaccine. Results: 507 individuals were interviewed. These were mostly female (62.4%) had completed high school (62.17%), were working (74.4%), had private health insurance (64.5%) and did not have dengue (67.4%). The maximum median value of consumers’ willingness to pay for CYD-TDV vaccine is US$33.61 (120.00BRL) for the complete schedule and US$11.20 (40.00BRL) per dose. At the price determined by the Brazil’s regulatory chamber of pharmaceutical products market for the commercialization of Dengvaxia(®) for three doses, only 17% of the population expressed willingness to pay for this vaccine. Conclusion: Brazil is currently one of the largest markets for dengue vaccine and the price established is a key issue. We believe the manufacturer should asses the possibility of lower prices to reach a larger audience among the Brazilian population

Assessing the potential of a candidate dengue vaccine with mathematical modeling

Dengue viruses are single-stranded positive-sense RNA viruses (genus Flavivirus, family Flaviviridae) that are the etiological agents of dengue fever (DF). More than 2 billion people live in dengue-endemic areas, and dengue virus infections account for an estimated 500,000 episodes of severe disease each year. A recent review suggests that these may be underestimates. Despite the fact that the virus has been expanding in geographic range over the past four decades, there are still no licensed drugs or vaccines and no consistently effective vector interventions to combat dengue. DF is caused by four antigenically distinct viral serotypes. Each type gives rise to both life-long serotype-specific immunity and short-term cross-protective immunity against the other serotypes thought to last between 2 and 9 months. The spectrum of disease ranges from asymptomatic infection to life threatening dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) and dengue shock syndrome (DSS). The most distinctive feature of dengue's clinical/epidemiological profile is the increased risk of severe disease following infection by a heterologous dengue serotype in an immunologically primed individual. During this secondary infection, a complex interaction is triggered between the host's immune system and the infecting virus. In this setting, elevated risk of severe dengue has been attributed to the circulation of sub-neutralizing concentrations of heterologous anti-dengue virus antibody creating an effect known as antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE) of infection and greater viral burden in vivo. In turn, this leads to a host immune response that is suggested to precipitate increased capillary permeability, cardiovascular shock, and hemorrhage characteristic of clinically severe dengue. Viral and other host factors may also contribute to pathogenicity. To accurately assess the effects of dengue vaccine candidates on individuals and populations, these pathophysiological mechanisms of severe dengue must be understood

DIAGNÓSTICO LABORATORIAL DA DENGUE

Nas últimas décadas a dengue tornou-se a mais importantearbovirose em termos de morbidade e mortalidade, afetandomilhões de pessoas, especialmente em países tropicais,onde as condições ambientais favorecem a proliferação domosquito vetor. Como ainda não existem vacinas e os sintomassão semelhantes aos de outras doenças, o diagnósticorápido e confiável constitui-se como fator primordial aotratamento e controle de epidemias. Nesse contexto, objetivou-se via revisão da literatura, abordar o Diagnóstico Laboratorialde Dengue. O levantamento evidenciou que noBrasil, para diagnóstico da dengue são empregados examesinespecíficos, como a “prova do laço” e o hemograma e,exames específicos, como a sorologia e o NS1 via isolamentoviral e identificação de anticorpos. Concluiu-se que o desenvolvimentocontinuado de testes diagnósticos específicos,de fácil execução e baixo custo, capazes de proporcionaranálises precoces da infecção viral, constitui-se como umaprioridade à prevenção das formas graves da doença emortalidade

Dengue and dengue hemorrhagic fever: information for health care practitioners

"Dengue is a mosquito-borne disease caused by any one of four closely related dengue viruses (DENV-1, -2, -3, and -4). Infection with one serotype of DENV provides immunity to that serotype for life, but provides no long-term immunity to other serotypes. Thus, a person can be infected as many as four times, once with each serotype. Dengue viruses are transmitted from person to person by Aedes mosquitoes (most often Aedes aegypti) in the domestic environment. Epidemics have occurred periodically in the Western Hemisphere for more than 200 years. In the past 30 years, dengue transmission and the frequency of dengue epidemics have increased greatly in most tropical countries in the American region." - p. [1]Clinical diagnosis -- What to look for when you evaluate patients for DHF -- How to treat dengue fever -- Clinical management -- Laboratory diagnosis -- EpidemiologyAlso available via the World Wide Web as an Acrobat .pdf file (1.13 MB, 4 p.)

Dengue Fever in Travelers to the Tropics, 1998 and 1999

Dengue fever (DF) has become common in western travelers to the tropics. To improve the basis for travel advice, risk factors and dengue manifestations were assessed in 107 Swedish patients for whom DF was diagnosed after return from travel in 1998 and 1999. Patient data were compared with data on a sample of all Swedish travelers to dengue-endemic countries in the same years. Only three of the patients had received pretravel advice concerning DF from their physicians. Hemorrhagic manifestations were common (21 of 74 patients) but caused no deaths. Risk factors for a DF diagnosis were travel to the Malay Peninsula (odds ratio [OR] 4.95; confidence interval [CI] 2.92 to 8.46), age 15–29 years (OR 3.03; CI 1.87 to 4.92), and travel duration >25 days (OR 8.75; CI 4.79 to 16.06). Pretravel advice should be given to all travelers to DF-endemic areas, but young persons traveling to southern and Southeast Asia for >3 weeks (who constituted 31% of the patients in our study) may be more likely to benefit by adhering to it

Dengue fever epidemic potential as projected by general circulation models of global climate change.

Climate factors influence the transmission of dengue fever, the world's most widespread vector-borne virus. We examined the potential added risk posed by global climate change on dengue transmission using computer-based simulation analysis to link temperature output from three climate general circulation models (GCMs) to a dengue vectorial capacity equation. Our outcome measure, epidemic potential, is the reciprocal of the critical mosquito density threshold of the vectorial capacity equation. An increase in epidemic potential indicates that a smaller number of mosquitoes can maintain a state of endemicity of disease where dengue virus is introduced. Baseline climate data for comparison are from 1931 to 1980. Among the three GCMs, the average projected temperature elevation was 1.16 degrees C, expected by the year 2050. All three GCMs projected a temperature-related increase in potential seasonal transmission in five selected cities, as well as an increase in global epidemic potential, with the largest area change occurring in temperate regions. For regions already at risk, the aggregate epidemic potential across the three scenarios rose on average between 31 and 47% (range, 24-74%). If climate change occurs, as many climatologists believe, this will increase the epidemic potential of dengue-carrying mosquitoes, given viral introduction and susceptible human populations. Our risk assessment suggests that increased incidence may first occur in regions bordering endemic zones in latitude or altitude. Endemic locations may be at higher risk from hemorrhagic dengue if transmission intensity increases

FALSE-NEGATIVE DENGUE CASES IN RORAIMA, BRAZIL: AN APPROACH REGARDING THE HIGH NUMBER OF NEGATIVE RESULTS BY NS1 AG KITS

Serum samples from 150 NS1-negative (Platelia ELISA) patients presumptively diagnosed with dengue were analyzed by the TaqMan probed real-time reverse transcription PCR (TaqMan qRT-PCR) method. The qRT-PCR positive samples were tested for serotype by semi-nested RT-PCR and a qualitative immunochromatographic assay for IgG and IgM. Molecular detection methods showed 33 (22%) positive samples out of 150 NS1-antigen negative samples. Of these, 72% were collected up to day 2 after the onset of symptoms, when diagnostic sensitivity of NS1-antigen test assays is significantly enhanced. Most of the cases were not characterized as secondary infection. Twenty-eight samples were successfully serotyped, 75% of which for DENV-4, 14% for DENV-2, 7% for DENV-3 and 4% for DENV-1. These findings reaffirm the hyperendemic situation of the state of Roraima and suggest a lower sensitivity of the NS1 test, mainly when DENV-4 is the predominant serotype. Health care providers should therefore be aware of samples tested negative by NS1 antigen assays, especially when clinical symptoms and other laboratory data results show evidence of dengue infection