Karina Braga Ribeiro

Background: Heterogeneity in COVID-19 morbidity and mortality is often associated with a country's health-services structure and social inequality. This study aimed to characterize social inequalities in COVID-19 mortality in São Paulo, the most populous city in Brazil and Latin America. Methods: We conducted a population-based study, including COVID-19 deaths among São Paulo residents from March to September 2020. Age-standardized mortality rates and unadjusted rate ratios (RRs) [with corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs)] were estimated by race, sex, age group, district of residence, household crowding, educational attainment, income level and percentage of households in subnormal areas in each district. Time trends in mortality were assessed using the Joinpoint model. Results: Males presented an 84% increase in COVID-19 mortality compared with females (RR = 1.84, 95% CI 1.79–1.90). Higher mortality rates were observed for Blacks (RR = 1.77, 95% CI 1.67–1.88) and mixed (RR = 1.42, 95% CI 1.37–1.47) compared with Whites, whereas lower mortality was noted for Asians (RR = 0.63, 95% CI 0.58–0.68). A positive gradient was found for all socio-economic indicators, i.e. increases in disparities denoted by less education, more household crowding, lower income and a higher concentration of subnormal areas were associated with higher mortality rates. A decrease in mortality over time was observed in all racial groups, but it started earlier among Whites and Asians. Conclusion: Our results reveal striking social inequalities in COVID-19 mortality in São Paulo, exposing structural inequities in Brazilian society that were not addressed by the governmental response to COVID-19. Without an equitable response, COVID-19 will further exacerbate current social inequalities in São Paulo.

OBJETIVO: Investigar os fatores associados ao óbito domiciliar entre idosos que morreram por câncer em uma cidade de grande porte. MÉTODOS: Estudo descritivo, incluindo todos os óbitos por câncer (CID C00-C97) ocorridos entre 2006 e 2012, entre residentes do município de São Paulo com 60 anos de idade ou mais. A fonte de dados foi o Sistema de Informações de Mortalidade e a proporção de óbitos foi estimada segundo local, sexo, faixa etária, raça/cor, escolaridade, estado civil, tipo de câncer, disponibilidade de leitos hospitalares e ano do óbito. O teste qui-quadrado foi utilizado para investigar as associações entre o local do óbito e as variáveis sociodemográficas e clínicas. A regressão logística foi empregada para identificar fatores associados à morte domiciliar. Foram estimadas as razões de chance brutas e ajustadas e os intervalos de confiança de 95%. RESULTADOS: A maioria dos óbitos ocorreu em hospitais (88,2%). Houve associação significativa entre o local de óbito e as seguintes variáveis: sexo, raça/cor, escolaridade, faixa etária, estado civil, tipo de câncer, disponibilidade de leitos hospitalares e ano do óbito. Na análise multivariada, todas as variáveis, exceto a disponibilidade de leitos hospitalares, permaneceram como preditores independentes de óbito domiciliar. CONCLUSÕES: Houve predomínio de óbitos hospitalares, com aumento na frequência no período. O sexo feminino, maior escolaridade, o status de casado ou viúvo e a raça negra foram associados à menor chance de óbito domiciliar, enquanto o aumento da idade, a raça/cor amarela e as neoplasias sólidas estiveram associados à maior chance de morrer em casa.

Background: Persistent infection with oncogenic types of human papillomavirus (HPV) is the major risk factor for invasive cervical cancer (ICC), and non-European variants of HPV-16 are associated with an increased risk of persistence and ICC. HLA class II polymorphisms are also associated with genetic susceptibility to ICC. Our aim is to verify if these associations are influenced by HPV-16 variability.Methods: We characterized HPV-16 variants by PCR in 107 ICC cases, which were typed forHLA-DQA1,DRB1andDQB1genes and compared to 257 controls. We measured the magnitude of associations by logistic regression analysis.Results: European (E), Asian-American (AA) and African (Af) variants were identified. Here we show that inverse association betweenDQB1*05(adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 0.66; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.39–1.12]) and HPV-16 positive ICC in our previous report was mostly attributable to AA variant carriers (OR = 0.27; 95%CI: 0.10–0.75). We observed similar proportions ofHLA DRB1*1302carriers in E-P positive cases and controls, but interestingly, this allele was not found in AA cases (p = 0.03, Fisher exact test). A positive association withDRB1*15was observed in both groups of women harboring either E (OR = 2.99; 95% CI: 1.13–7.86) or AA variants (OR = 2.34; 95% CI: 1.00–5.46). There was an inverse association betweenDRB1*04and ICC among women with HPV-16 carrying the 350T [83L] single nucleotide polymorphism in theE6gene (OR = 0.27; 95% CI: 0.08–0.96). An inverse association betweenDQB1*05and cases carrying 350G (83V) variants was also found (OR = 0.37; 95% CI: 0.15–0.89).Conclusion: Our results suggest that the association between HLA polymorphism and risk of ICC might be influenced by the distribution of HPV-16 variants.