Benznidazole therapy for Chagas disease in asymptomatic Trypanosoma cruzi -seropositive former blood donors: evaluation of the efficacy of different treatment regimens.

Introduction:: Chagas disease currently affects 5.7 million people in Latin America and is emerging in non-endemic countries. There is no consensus concerning the efficacy of trypanocidal therapy for patients with the chronic form of the disease.

Local food environment and fruit and vegetable consumption: An ecological study.

Ecological studies are essential for understanding the environment-diet relationship. The purpose of this study was to describe environmental conditions and their relationship with fruit and vegetable (FV) consumption among Brazilian public health service users in the city of Belo Horizonte. We evaluated food stores contained within 1600 m buffer zones at 18 Health Academy Programme sites, from 2013 to 2014.

Benznidazole Use among Patients with Chronic Chagas' Cardiomyopathy in an Endemic Region of Brazil.

Chagas disease (CD) is a neglected tropical disease that affects individuals in almost every country in Latin America. There are two available drugs with antiparasitic profiles; however, only benznidazole (BZN) has been approved for commercialization in Brazil. The usefulness of prescribing BZN for patients with chronic Chagas cardiomyopathy (CCC) is controversial.

Longitudinal study of patients with chronic Chagas cardiomyopathy in Brazil (SaMi-Trop project): a cohort profile.

Purpose: We have established a prospective cohort of 1959 patients with chronic Chagas cardiomyopathy to evaluate if a clinical prediction rule based on ECG, brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels, and other biomarkers can be useful in clinical practice. This paper outlines the study and baseline characteristics of the participants.

Participants: The study is being conducted in 21 municipalities of the northern part of Minas Gerais State in Brazil, and includes a follow-up of 2 years.

Food environment of fruits and vegetables in the territory of the Health Academy Program.

This study provides a spatial analysis of distribution and access to commercial fruit and vegetable establishments within the territory of a representative sample of public fitness facilities known as the Health Academy Program (HAP) in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais State, Brazil. The study evaluated commercial food establishments within a buffer area based on a radius of 1,600 meters around each of 18 randomly selected fitness facilities. Quality of access to fruits and vegetables was assessed by the Healthy Food Store Index (HFSI), consisting of the variables availability, variety, and advertising of fruits, vegetables and ultra-processed foods.

Control measures to trace ≤ 15-year-old contacts of index cases of active pulmonary tuberculosis.

This was descriptive study carried out in a medium-sized Brazilian city. In ≤ 15-year-old contacts of index cases of active pulmonary tuberculosis, we assessed compliance with the Brazilian national guidelines for tuberculosis control. We interviewed 43 contacts and their legal guardians.

[Diagnosis of streptococcal pharyngotonsillitis in children and adolescents: clinical picture limitations].

Objective:: To assess the utility of clinical features for diagnosis of streptococcal pharyngotonsillitis in pediatrics.

Methods:: A total of 335 children aged 1-18 years old and presenting clinical manifestations of acute pharyngotonsillitis (APT) were subjected to clinical interviews, physical examinations, and throat swab specimen collection to perform cultures and latex particle agglutination tests (LPATs) for group A streptococcus (GAS) detection. Signs and symptoms of patients were compared to their throat cultures and LPATs results.

Gender Differences in Risk Factors for Delayed Diagnosis of HIV/AIDS in a Midsized City of Brazil.

Patients treated in the specialized service at a midsized city in Brazil participated in a cross-sectional study that aimed to identify the risk factors for delayed diagnosis of HIV/AIDS. Through interviews and review of medical records, information was collected on sociodemographic and clinical characteristics and diagnoses. The study included 403 patients, of whom 216 (53.

Satisfaction with physical and social surroundings and the habit of smoking cigarettes in the metropolitan area of Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

The objective of this study was to examine the association between individual satisfaction with social and physical surroundings and the habit of smoking cigarettes. Data from the Health Survey of Adults from the metropolitan area of Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil, were used. Based on a probability sample, participants (n = 12,299) were selected among residents aged 20 years old or more.

Contribution of the Retrovirus Epidemiology Donor Study (REDS) to research on blood transfusion safety in Brazil.

The Retrovirus Epidemiology Donor Study (REDS) program was established in the United States in 1989 with the purpose of increasing blood transfusion safety in the context of the HIV/AIDS and human T-lymphotropic virus epidemics. REDS and its successor, REDS-II were at first conducted in the US, then expanded in 2006 to include international partnerships with Brazil and China. In 2011, a third wave of REDS renamed the Recipient Epidemiology and Donor Evaluation Study-III (REDS-III) was launched.

[Contribution of hospitalizations for primary care-sensitive conditions to the profile of admissions in the public health care system].

Objective: To describe the epidemiological profile of hospitalizations in the city of Divinópolis, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, to estimate the prevalence of hospitalizations for primary care-sensitive conditions (HPCSC), and to evaluate the factors associated with the occurrence of HPCSC.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted of the two public health care institutions in Divinópolis qualified to hospitalize individuals; that is, a general hospital and an urgent care unit. The data were collected between July and October 2011.

Temporal distribution of blood donations in three Brazilian blood centers and its repercussion on the blood supply.

Background: Seasonal distribution of blood donation hinders efforts to provide a safe and adequate blood supply leading to chronic and persistent shortages. This study examined whether holidays, geographical area and donation type (community versus replacement) has any impact on the fluctuation of donations.

Methods: The numbers of blood donations from 2007 through 2010 in three Brazilian Retrovirus Epidemiological Donor Study II (REDS-II) participating centers were analyzed according to the week of donation.

Electrocardiographic abnormalities in Trypanosoma cruzi seropositive and seronegative former blood donors.

Background: Blood donor screening leads to large numbers of new diagnoses of Trypanosoma cruzi infection, with most donors in the asymptomatic chronic indeterminate form. Information on electrocardiogram (ECG) findings in infected blood donors is lacking and may help in counseling and recognizing those with more severe disease.

Objectives: To assess the frequency of ECG abnormalities in T.

A novel experience in the use of control charts for the detection of nosocomial infection outbreaks.

Objective: This study aims to compare different control charts to monitor the nosocomial infection rate per 1,000 patient-days.

Methods: The control charts considered in this study were the traditional Shewhart chart and a variation of this, the Cumulative Sum and Exponentially Weighted Moving Average charts.

Results: We evaluated 238 nosocomial infections that were registered in the intensive care unit and were detected by the Committee for Nosocomial Infection Control in a university hospital in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, in 2004 and 2005.

Confidential donation confirmation as an alternative to confidential unit exclusion: 15 months experience of the HEMOMINAS foundation.

Background: Confidential unit exclusion remains a controversial strategy to reduce the residual risk of transfusion-transmitted infections.

Objective: This study aimed to analyze confidential unit exclusion from its development in a large institution in light of confidential donation confirmation.

Methods: Data of individuals who donated from October 1, 2008 to December 31, 2009 were analyzed in a case-control study.

Decline in prevalence and asymmetric distribution of human T cell lymphotropic virus 1 and 2 in blood donors, State of Minas Gerais, Brazil, 1993 to 2007.

Introduction: Human T cell lymphotropic virus types 1 and 2 (HTLV-1/2) are endemic in Brazil and are screened for in transfusion services since 1993. This study evaluated the evolution of the prevalence of HTLV-1 and 2 in blood donors of the Hemominas Foundation from 1993 to 2007, and its geographical distribution in State of Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Methods: The Hemominas Foundation is a centralized blood center in Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Enhanced classification of Chagas serologic results and epidemiologic characteristics of seropositive donors at three large blood centers in Brazil.

Background: A major problem in Chagas disease donor screening is the high frequency of samples with inconclusive results. The objective of this study was to describe patterns of serologic results among donors to the three Brazilian REDS-II blood centers and correlate with epidemiologic characteristics.

Study Design And Methods: The centers screened donor samples with one Trypanosoma cruzi lysate enzyme immunoassay (EIA).

[Spatial-temporal distribution of potential blood donors at the Hemominas Foundation, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais State, Brazil, in 1994 and 2004].

The main goal of this study was to describe the spatial and temporal distribution of candidates for blood donation in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais State, Brazil, who appeared at the Hemominas Foundation in 1994 and 2004. The study also compared the candidates for age, gender, and clinical approval for blood donation in space and space-time. Data were obtained from a cross-sectional study for 1994 and were randomly selected from all donor candidates for 2004.

Demographic profile of blood donors at three major Brazilian blood centers: results from the International REDS-II study, 2007 to 2008.

Background: The profile of blood donors changed dramatically in Brazil over the past 20 years, from remunerated to nonremunerated and then from replacement to community donors. Donor demographic data from three major blood centers establish current donation profiles in Brazil, serving as baseline for future analyses and tracking longitudinal changes in donor characteristics.

Study Design And Methods: Data were extracted from the blood center, compiled in a data warehouse, and analyzed.

Visceral leishmaniasis in large Brazilian cities: challenges for control.

The objectives of this article were to discuss the rapid spread of visceral leishmaniasis in urban areas of Brazil and to raise practical questions and perspectives related to control of the disease. Among the proposed methods, the elimination of seropositive dogs is the most controversial and least accepted by society. Its impact on incidence rates varies among studies (positive in some and relatively unimportant in others).

[Urban health: "the city is a strange lady, smiling today, devouring you tomorrow"].

More than half of the world's population is living in cities and the world is turning more and more urbanized. This literature review explores the ramifications of urban transformation, showing how cities take shape and impact human health in our times. While cities can offer positive opportunities, their negative impacts related to the lack of social organization, precarious urban living and working conditions, lack of governance and opportunities as well as the lack of strategies for promoting social equity tend to increase the adverse effects on the health of the urban communities.

A case-control study of microenvironmental risk factors for urban visceral leishmaniasis in a large city in Brazil, 1999-2000.

Objectives: We investigated potential microenvironmental risk factors for visceral leishmaniasis in urban and suburban areas, and developed risk scores to characterize the household and the neighborhood. These scores may be useful to identify microenvironments within cities that place residents at greater risk of visceral leishmaniasis.

Methods: In this case-control study, cases were all persons with visceral leishmaniasis reported from July 1999 through December 2000 in the Belo Horizonte metropolitan area, Brazil.

Seasonal variation of Lutzomyia longipalpis in Belo Horizonte, State of Minas Gerais.

Between October, 1997 and September, 1999 in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais a study of seasonal variation of Lutzomyia longipalpis was carried out in three distinct areas of the municipality. Sand flies were sampled at 15-day intervals in three residences, in each of which two CDC light traps were installed, one indoors and the other in the peridomicile. A total of 397 sand flies were captured in the three areas, with 65%, 30% and 1% of specimens collected in the eastern, northeast and Barreiro districts, respectively.

The urban environment from the health perspective: the case of Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.

This study aims to determine spatial patterns of mortality and morbidity for five health problems in an urban environment: homicides, adolescent pregnancy, asthma hospitalization, and two vector-borne diseases, dengue and visceral leishmaniasis. All events were obtained through the city health database and geoprocessed using residential addresses and 80 planning units consisting of census tracts. We used thematic maps, proportionate mortality/morbidity ratios by planning unit, and the overlapped rank of the 20th worse planning unit rates for each event.