Group In Peru Research Articles

Polimorfismo genético de la apolipoproteína E en una población peruana

Objectives. To determine the allelic and genotypic frequencies of the APOE gene in a sample of a population group in Peru. Materials and methods. Cross-sectional analytic study in 189 apparently healthy volunteers, workers of the Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Neurológicas in Lima, Perú, divided into 5 groups by birth department and two generations ancestry. Genomic DNA was amplified using PCR-RFLP. The resulting fragments were detected by 12 % polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Results. The Ɛ3 allele is the most frequent in all the groups (93.9 %), with low Ɛ4 (5 %) and Ɛ2 (1.1 %) allele frequencies. The analysis of heterozygosity (H) for each group displays intermediate diversity between 10 and 20%. Population genetic diversity (Ht) and diversity within populations (Hs) are 14.43 % and 14.31% respectively, suggesting genetic proximity between the studied groups for the ApoE polymorphism. Conclusions. Allele frequencies of the ApoE gene found show that allele Ɛ3 has one of the highest frequencies and Ɛ4 allele one of the lowest compared to other population groups in the world, with possible implications in the risk of neurological, cardiovascular and other diseases in our country.

Interview

Prof. Garcia is a Wellcome Trust Senior International Research Fellow in Public Health and Tropical Medicine and a Coordinating Member of the Cysticercosis Working Group in Peru. Neurocysticercosis is a global health problem and is majorly responsible for the high prevalence of epilepsy in the developing world. Despite the introduction of potent cysticidal drugs, this parasitic disease continues to pose a threat to millions of people living in these areas. More recent efforts, directed to interrupt all interrelated steps in the life cycle of the causal agent, the pork tapeworm Taenia solium, will undoubtedly reduce the impact burden of the disease. In this regard, the work of Dr. Hector H. Garcia is commendable, as he is co-directing a large-scale control program for the disease complex Taeniasis-cysticercosis in Tumbes, Perú , whose final lresults we are anxiously awaiting.

Exclusive online Knowledge Exchange essays appearing in January 2012 at http://www.anthropology‐news.org

Abstract:“Global Wood Politics: Gibson Guitar Style” by Jose E Martinez‐Reyes“Close Encounters of the Mashco Kind: Attack by an Isolated Indigenous Group in Peru” by Glenn H Shepard JrKeywords:Guitar raid, Lacey act, fish and wildlife service, Mashco‐Piro, Peru, isolated group, INDEPA

Comparing Influences on Peruvian Climate Change Policy: Information, Knowledge, and Concern Among Political Elites

Climate change is considered as the most important contemporary global environmental problem. Despite research efforts from the social sciences to understand how individuals perceive the problem, few studies have focused on policy makers, specially in developing countries. This study seeks to determine the similarities and differences between elite government groups in Peru. It focuses on the knowledge about climate change, environmental concern, and sources of policy information, and how these factors affect policy preferences. Studies in other countries reveal that these factors can influence both the prioritization of environmental policy issues and the content of policy proposals.

The effect of rural-to-urban migration on social capital and common mental disorders: PERU MIGRANT study

ObjectiveThis study aims to investigate whether there are differences in the prevalence of common mental disorders and social capital between migrant and non-migrant groups in Peru.MethodologyThe PERU MIGRANT study is a cross-sectional study comprising three groups: an urban group from a shanty town in Lima; a rural group from a community in Ayacucho-Peru; and a migrant group originally from Ayacucho currently living in the same urban shanty town. Common mental disorders were assessed using the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), and social capital was assessed using the Short Social Capital Assessment Tool (SASCAT). Poisson regression with robust standard errors was used to estimate prevalence ratios.ResultsThe overall prevalence of common mental disorders was 39.4%; the highest prevalence was observed in the rural group. Similar patterns were observed for cognitive social capital and structural social capital. However after adjustment for sex, age, family income and education, all but one of the significant relationships was attenuated, suggesting that in this population migration per se does not impact on common mental health disorders or social capital.ConclusionsIn the PERU MIGRANT study, we did not observe a difference in the prevalence of common mental disorders, cognitive and structural social capital between migrant and urban groups. This pattern of associations was also similar in rural and urban groups, except that a higher prevalence ratio of structural social capital was observed in the rural group.

Epidemiología y control de la cisticercosis en el Perú

Neurocysticercosis, the infection of the human central nervous system by the larval stage of the cestode Taenia solium, is an important cause of epilepsy and other neurological manifestations in Peru and most developing countries. Since 1987, the Cysticercosis Working Group in Peru has performed a series of epidemiological studies which led to estimate the impact and to better understand the transmission of Taenia solium. This information was later applied to the design and execution of a control program in Tumbes, in the Northern Coast of Peru. This paper reviews the main epidemiological findings, as well as the conceptual framework of the elimination program and the tools used. Advances in the control of taeniasis/cysticercosis in our country open the road towards its elimination and potential eradication.

Epidemiología y control de la cisticercosis en el Perú

Neurocysticercosis, the infection of the human central nervous system by the larval stage of the cestode Taenia solium, is an important cause of epilepsy and other neurological manifestations in Peru and most developing countries. Since 1987, the Cysticercosis Working Group in Peru has performed a series of epidemiological studies which led to estimate the impact and to better understand the transmission of Taenia solium. This information was later applied to the design and execution of a control program in Tumbes, in the Northern Coast of Peru. This paper reviews the main epidemiological findings, as well as the conceptual framework of the elimination program and the tools used. Advances in the control of taeniasis/cysticercosis in our country open the road towards its elimination and potential eradication.

Expansion of HIV and syphilis into the Peruvian Amazon: a survey of four communities of an indigenous Amazonian ethnic group

In 2004, cases of HIV and syphilis were reported in an indigenous community in the Peruvian Amazon. This study sought to determine the prevalence of HIV and syphilis in four remote communities of the same indigenous ethnic group located further from an urban center than the original community, and to identify risk factors for HIV and syphilis transmission. Rapid and confirmatory tests for HIV and syphilis were performed. A questionnaire elicited demographic information, risk factors for sexually transmitted infections, and knowledge/beliefs about HIV/AIDS. We collected 282 blood samples and conducted interviews with 281 (99.6%) participants. The confirmed syphilis prevalence rate was 3.2% (9/282; 3.7% (5/135) for men and 2.7% (4/147) for women). The confirmed HIV prevalence rate was 0.7% (2/282), with both infections in men who had sex with men (MSM). Self-reported MSM activity was 39.7%. There was poor knowledge about HIV infection, transmission, and prevention, and low acceptance of known prevention methods. HIV and syphilis are now prevalent in remote Amazonian communities of an indigenous group in Peru. Expansion of the HIV epidemic into the Amazon requires an urgent public health response.

GRAVeDAD De LA GASTRoeNTeRITIS CAUSADA PoR Vibrio parahaemolyticus DeL GRUPo PANDÉMICo eN eL PeRÚ

Objective. To determine the epidemiological and clinic characteristics of gastroenteritis caused by Vibrio parahaemolyticus strains of the pandemic group in Peru. Material and methods. Clinical and laboratory records were searched in 100 cases of gastroenteritis caused by V parahaemolyticus, either of the pandemic or non pandemic group. Clinical and epidemiological data were collected and statistical analysis was done to evaluate if the severity of illness was associated with the pandemic group. Results. Epidemiological data were collected in 85% of cases, and clinical data were only available in 37% of cases, mainly on those hospitalized. Cases associated with the pandemic strains had a higher probability of liquid stools (96.3% vs. 62.5%, p<0.05), moderate or severe dehydration (100% vs. 60%, p<0.05), and hospital care (98% vs. 42.9%, p<0.0001). Cases aged thirty or older were associated with the pandemic strains (63% vs. 39.5%, p<0.05). Conclusions. Vibrio parahaemolyticus of the pandemic group causes more severe gastrointestinal disease than none pandemic strains, with higher probability of requiring hospital care. Based on this report, it is advisable to include the identification of V. parahaemolyticus in the etiological diagnosis of agents causing severe gastroenteritis in the Peruvian health system.

Advocacy in the Amazon and the Camisea gas project: implications for non-government public action

The article considers international advocacy concerning the exploitation of gas reserves in an area inhabited by an isolated indigenous group in Peru, the Machigengua. Considerable international advocacy activity was centred mainly in Washington, DC. Poor communication between those directly affected and international environmental NGOs characterised very different and not always compatible agendas. The article concludes that this failure to adapt the international lobby both to the views of the indigenous population and to political realities in Peru severely weakened the impact of the international advocacy work.

Satellite Symposia Sunday July 2, 2006 14:30-16:00 Hall 1 Merritt-Putnam Symposium Preventing epilepsy-a realistic goal?

Abstract 1 L. Forsgren ( 1 Professor of Neurology, Department of Neurology, Umeå University Hospital, Umeå, Sweden ) Purpose: To give an overview of the most common causes of epilepsy, with special emphasis on causes that are potentially preventable. Methods: Survey of population-based epidemiological studies of epilepsy from high- and low-income countries. Results: In population-based studies of epilepsy, presumed causes are identified in a minority–between 30 and 50%. The most common potentially preventable causes are infectious (e.g., neurocysticercosis, meningitis/encephalitis), stroke, head trauma, and perinatal/early brain damage events. Neurocysticercosis is caused by ingestion of eggs discharged from humans with intestinal infection of the adult worm. The disease is common in many low-income countries. The proportion of epilepsy caused by neurocysticercosis is unknown. However, if 10% of epilepsies in endemic countries are assumed to be due to neurocysticercosis, this would account for around three million people. The proportion of epilepsies caused by meningitis/encephalitis is difficult to estimate due to variability of the causative microbial agents by time and place. It is likely that more than 100,000 people worldwide develop post-infectious epilepsy annually. Studies show that 3–4 % of a stroke population develops epilepsy. Based on a stroke incidence of 250 per 100,000 in ages 25 years and above, and a 30% one-month mortality, it can be estimated that around 200,000 new cases with epilepsy are seen annually. In most studies, stroke is the most commonly identified cause of epilepsy, and it is estimated that 4–9 million people worldwide suffer from post-stroke epilepsy. Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)–both moderate and severe–accounts for 3–5% of all epilepsies, i.e., 1.5–2.5 million patients globally. Conclusions: Reduction of poverty, improved sanitation, mass vaccination, treatment of hypertension and proper use of intoxicating agents would prevent many from developing epilepsy. Suggested reading Annegers JF, Hauser WA, Beghi E et al. The risk of unprovoked seizures after encephalitis and meningitis. Neurology 1988;38:1407–10 Annegers JF, Hauser WA, Coan SP, Rocca WA. A population-based study of seizures after traumatic brain injuries. N Engl J Med 1998;338:20–4 Camilo O, Goldstein LB. Seizures and epilepsy after ischemic stroke. Stroke 2004;35:1769–75 Carpio A. Neurocysticercosis: an update. Lancet Infect Dis 2002;2:751–62 Carpio A, Hauser WA. Prognosis for seizure recurrence in patients with newly diagnosed neurocysticercosis. Neurology 2002;59:1730–4 D'Ambrosio R, Perucca E. Epilepsy after head injury. Curr Opin Neurol 2004;17:731–5 Forsgren L, Edvinsson SO, Blomquist HK et al. Epilepsy in a population of mentally retarded children and adults. Epilepsy Res 1990;6:234–48 Garcia HH, Del Brutto OH; Cysticercosis Working Group in Peru. Neurocysticercosis: updated concepts about an old disease. Lancet Neurol 2005;4:653–61

Neurocysticercosis

Neurocysticercosis is a leading cause of seizures and epilepsy in the developing world and is an increasingly important health issue in the United States. Recent results from the Cysticercosis Working Group in Peru provide new evidence supporting the use of antiparasitic agents in highly selected patients with active cysts and seizures.

Poverty, Health Infrastructure and the Nutrition of Peruvian Children

After the Peruvian economic crisis of the late 1980s, the 1990s witnessed a significant pro-poor expansion of the country`s health infrastructure that was instrumental in increasing preventive and primary health care expenditures. Using empirical evidence, this paper discusses the effect of this expansion in health infrastructure on child nutrition in Peru, as measured by the height-for-age z-score. Using a pooled sample from the 1992, 1996 and 2000 rounds of the Peruvian DHS, this analysis controls for biases in the allocation of public investments by using a district fixed effects model. The econometric analysis finds a positive albeit small effect of the expansion of the last decade. After desegregating by type of location, however, the effect was found to be significant only in urban areas. Furthermore, the effect is highly nonlinear and has a pro-poor bias. The estimated coefficient for health infrastructure in less endowed districts is 10 times higher than that in the better-endowed districts. The pro-poor bias refers to the fact that the estimated effect is larger for children of less educated mothers. In this sense, this policy seems to have had a pro-poor bias within urban areas, while at the same time excluding the rural population, a traditionally marginalized population group in Peru. These findings support the idea that reducing distance and waiting time barriers may be necessary, but that more explicitly inclusive policies are required to improve the health of the rural poor, especially indigenous groups, so that they can escape this kind of poverty trap.

New Species and New Combinations of Grammitidaceae from Peru

We describe two new species from Peru, Ceradenia tryonorum and Terpsichore youngii (Grammitidaceae). Ceradenia tryonorum is a member of subg. Ceradenia and is unusual in having hydathodes. Terpsichore youngii belongs to the T. taxifolia group. Three new combinations are made: Melpomene youngii, Terpsichore anfractuosa, and T. subscabra. We provide a key for the nine species of the T. taxifolia group in Peru.

Touring Ancient Times: The Present and Presented Past in Contemporary Peru

Peru offers important perspectives for understanding the presence of the past, particularly as expressed on various landscapes of national and local identity, social and political power, and economic development. As Peru's archaeological past is converted into a vast tourist project, contradictory, negotiated, and contested relationships are played out in a constantly changing drama, with ruins, indigenous people, ordinary city residents, foreign tourists, the Peruvian government, and the private sector as the actors. Concerned with how representations of the past are created and received differently by various groups in Peru, particularly in Cusco and Nazca, I show the importance of concentrating attention on the local context in which the pragmatics and poetics of archaeological tourism are orchestrated, demonstrating the insufficiency of studies focused exclusively on the role of nationalism/nationalist discourse in contemporary constructions of the past. [Keywords: Peru, tourism, authenticity, archaeological heritage, identity]

Una política de renta básica para el Perú: ¿podrá funcionar?

This article assesses the pros and cons of a basic income grant and estimates the financial cost of paying a similar benefit to very specific groups in Peru. This is an old concept in the economic literature and is associated with a “negative income tax”. A universal basic income grant can be an adequate instrument to smooth consumption and distribute some purchasing power to the poor. The shift in effective demand after paying a basic income can have important multiplier effects on small local markets and on the creation of work opportunities. The exercise suggests that the implementation of such instrument should be gradual and accompanied by a substantial increase in general government revenues. Since a basic income policy can have a non-trivial positive impact in the reduction of poverty and in increasing both equity and social cohesion, its appropriateness should be given enough thought.

Exchange Rates and Interest Groups in Peru, 1950-1996

The review of Peruvian exchange rate policies during the last fifty years prompts several questions. First, why did the government choose some exchange rate regimes over others? Second, why did governments target certain exchange rate levels? Third, why, in certain episodes, did governments refuse to abandon an exchange rate peg?

Increased prevalence of cysticercosis and taeniasis among professional fried pork vendors and the general population of a village in the Peruvian highlands. Cysticercosis Working Group in Peru.

Two different populations in Saylla, a Peruvian village near Cusco, known for chicharrones, a local pork dish, were surveyed by serology and stool examination to determine the prevalence and epidemiologic characteristics of Taenia solium infection. Group I (n=43), the chicharroneros, were members of families professionally devoted to the making and selling of chicharrones, and Group II (n=102) was a sample of the general population of the same village. Unlike people in Group I, general villagers only occasionally prepare or sell this food product, and then only to their neighbors or relatives. The prevalence of taeniasis was extremely high (8.6%) for the chicharroneros and 3% for the general villagers. Seroprevalence for cysticercosis by immunoblot was similarly high in both groups (23.3% and 23.8%, respectively). Being female, older than 30, and having daily contact with pork were factors strongly associated with a positive serologic result for cysticercosis in the chicharroneros, whereas males were more frequently seropositive in the general villagers group. Antibody reaction to more antigen bands in immunoblots and neurologic symptoms were more common among the chicharroneros. Also, in the general villagers group, seroprevalence increased with each exposure factor, ranging from 9.4% in individuals who did not raise pigs to 50% in the small subgroup that raised pigs, butchered their own animals, sold pork, and sold chicharrones, suggesting that these activities are related to increased risk for tapeworm or larval infection.

Rates of tetanus protection and transplacental tetanus antibody transfer in pregnant women from different socioeconomic groups in Peru.

In developing countries, neonatal tetanus causes significant mortality. Using a new competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to measure anti-tetanus toxin antibody levels, we compared rates of protection, total antibody levels, and maternal-to-fetal antibody ratios between different socioeconomic groups in Peru. Upper-middle-class women 25 years and older had significantly lower rates of protection and mean anti-tetanus toxin antibody levels than did lower-class women of the same age. Nevertheless, the former had higher fetal-to-maternal antibody ratios, independent of maternal age, total antibody levels, or parity. We conclude that future vaccination programs in Latin America must target upper-middle-class as well as lower-class women.

Distribution of hydatidosis and cysticercosis in different Peruvian populations as demonstrated by an enzyme-linked immunoelectrotransfer blot (EITB) assay. The Cysticercosis Working Group in Peru (CWG).

A serosurvey for human hydatidosis and cysticercosis was performed in different regions of Peru. Those regions included a known endemic area for cystic hydatid disease, a cooperative in the central Peruvian Andes near the city of Tarma, Department of Junin; three areas endemic for cysticercosis in the Departments of Ancash, Cuzco, and San Martin, where the status of hydatid disease is not well defined; and an urban shantytown near Lima, where neither zoonosis is known to be present. A seroprevalence for hydatidosis 1.9% (6 of 309) was found with both the enzyme-linked immunoelectrotransfer blot (EITB) and double diffusion assays in the area endemic for hydatidosis. Seroprevalence in the other zones tested was zero using only the EITB assay. Cysticercosis seroprevalence was high in pig-raising zones but low in the high-altitude, sheep-raising areas and in the seaport of Callao. No cross-reactions between Echinococcus granulosus and cysticercosis were noted in any of the regions studied. Hydatid infection remains a major health problem in the central Peruvian Andes where sheep raising is widely practiced; however, in those regions where mainly swine are raised, human hydatid infection is not a problem.