Dissimilar Trypanosoma cruzi genotype-specific serological profile assessed by Chagas-Flow ATE IgG1 upon benznidazole etiological treatment of chronic Chagas disease.

The present study aimed to verify the impact of etiological treatment on the genotype-specific serological diagnosis of chronic Chagas disease patients (CH), using the Chagas-Flow ATE IgG1 methodology. For this purpose, a total of 92 serum samples from CH, categorized as Not Treated (NT, n = 32) and Benznidazole-Treated (Bz-T, n = 60), were tested at Study Baseline and 5Years Follow-up. At Study Baseline, all patients have the diagnosis of Chagas disease confirmed by Chagas-Flow ATE IgG1, using the set of attributes ("antigen/serum dilution/cut-off"; "EVI/250/30%").

Burnout and job satisfaction among emergency and intensive care providers in a public hospital.

Background: New technologies and inadequate management of work might have negative impact on the mental health of workers.

Objective: To investigate factors associated with the prevalence of burnout and levels of job satisfaction among emergency department and intensive care providers in a large public hospital.

Methods: Cross-sectional study with 91 healthcare workers, who were administered the self-report questionnaires Maslach Burnout Inventory - Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS) and Job Satisfaction Scale (JSS20/23).

[Promotion of children's rights and prevention of child abuse].

Child abuse is a complex, multi-faceted and controversial topic. A retrospective cohort study aimed to characterize the profile of children victims of domestic violence and their aggressors and to evaluate the efficiency of judicial interventions. Ninety-eight cases lodged with the Infancy and Childhood Court involving 179 children and 121 perpetrators were analyzed.

2 nd Brazilian Consensus on Chagas Disease, 2015.

Chagas disease is a neglected chronic condition with a high burden of morbidity and mortality. It has considerable psychological, social, and economic impacts. The disease represents a significant public health issue in Brazil, with different regional patterns.

[Brazilian Consensus on Chagas Disease, 2015].

Chagas disease is a neglected chronic condition that presents high morbidity and mortality burden, with considerable psychological, social, and economic impact. The disease represents a significant public health issue in Brazil, with different regional patterns. This document presents the evidence that resulted in the Brazilian Consensus on Chagas Disease.

Predictive factors for the progression of chronic Chagas cardiomyopathy in patients without left ventricular dysfunction.

The identification of predictors for the progression of chronic Chagas cardiomyopathy (CCC) is essential to ensure adequate patient management. This study looked into a non-concurrent cohort of 165 CCC patients between 1985 and 2010 for independent predictors for CCC progression. The outcomes were worsening of the CCC scores and the onset of left ventricular dysfunction assessed by means of echo-Doppler cardiography.

Depression rather than liver impairment reduces quality of life in patients with hepatitis C.

Objective: Patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) have a poorer quality of life than those with other chronic liver diseases. However, some of the factors that determine health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in these patients, such as the degree of liver fibrosis, are still controversial. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate the impact of CHC on HRQOL by conducting clinical, psychiatric, and sociodemographic evaluations.

Traffic accidents in Belo Horizonte: the view from three different sources, 2008 to 2010.

Objective: To analyze the contribution of three data sources in the description of traffic accidents in the city of Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

Methods: Exploratory study of databases: BHTRANS (metropolitan traffic and transportation authority), Hospital Admissions and Mortality Information Systems, with estimation of proportions, coefficients and odds ratios.

Results: Incomplete data was observed in the three sources, especially regarding alcohol consumption by drivers and use of safety equipment.

Evidence of substantial recombination among Trypanosoma cruzi II strains from Minas Gerais.

Due to the scarcity of evidence of sexuality in Trypanosoma cruzi, the causative agent of Chagas disease, it has been general accepted that the parasite reproduction is essentially clonal with infrequent genetic recombination. This assumption is mainly supported by indirect evidence, such as Hardy-Weinberg imbalances, linkage disequilibrium and a strong correlation between independent sets of genetic markers of T. cruzi populations.

Epidemiological profile of Trypanosoma cruzi-infected mothers and live birth conditions in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Introduction: The aim of this study was to assess the epidemiological characteristics of Trypanosoma cruzi-infected mothers and the live birth conditions of neonates.

Methods: A serological survey with IgG-specific tests was conducted using dried blood samples from newborn infants in the State of Minas Gerais. T.

Blood leukocytes from benznidazole-treated indeterminate chagas disease patients display an overall type-1-modulated cytokine profile upon short-term in vitro stimulation with Trypanosoma cruzi antigens.

Background: Benznidazole (Bz)-chemotherapy is recommended to prevent Chagas disease progression, despite its limited efficacy during chronic disease. However, the host mechanisms underlying these benefits still remain to be elucidated.

Methods: In this study, we have used short-term whole blood cultures to describe the cytokine profile of Bz-treated Indeterminate Chagas disease patients-(INDt) as compared to untreated patients-(IND).

The use of IgG antibodies in conventional and non-conventional immunodiagnostic tests for early prognosis after treatment of Chagas disease.

Treatment success of chronically infected Chagas disease patients is laborious and a positive prognosis often is made only after repetitive serological and/or parasitological examinations with continuous negative results. Recently, we have developed a non-conventional flow-cytometric method in order to detect immunoglobulin G antibodies against live trypomastigote forms of Trypanosoma cruzi and showed its usefulness in the prognosis of treatment success. In the present study, we investigated the performance of flow-cytometric anti-live trypomastigote IgG antibodies (FC-ALTA) and flow-cytometric anti-fixed epimastigote IgG antibodies (FC-AFEA), as well as conventional serological methods, for early monitoring of benznidazole treated Chagas disease patients, e.

Trypanosoma cruzi benznidazole susceptibility in vitro does not predict the therapeutic outcome of human Chagas disease.

Therapeutic failure of benznidazole (BZ) is widely documented in Chagas disease and has been primarily associated with variations in the drug susceptibility of Trypanosoma cruzi strains. In humans, therapeutic success has been assessed by the negativation of anti-T. cruzi antibodies, a process that may take up to 10 years.

[How health activities view man and how man rethinks them: an anthropological analysis of Chagas disease control].

This anthropological study addresses the cultural perceptions of a group of residents in the city of Bambuí, Minas Gerais State, Brazil, in relation to experience with Chagas disease and the impact of health measures on social life. The ethnographic study was based on open interviews, seeking to identify individual perceptions among 35 inhabitants of Bambuí (with and without Chagas disease) living in the region since the 1940s, when Chagas disease control activities were launched. Within a broad analysis of social perceptions concerning the effect of these health measures, the study sought to observe the cultural representations of the illness process.

Trypanosoma cruzi maxicircle heterogeneity in Chagas disease patients from Brazil.

The majority of individuals in the chronic phase of Chagas disease are asymptomatic (indeterminate form, IF). Each year, approximately 3% of them develop lesions in the heart or gastrointestinal tract. Cardiomyopathy (CCHD) is the most severe manifestation of Chagas disease.

Probing population dynamics of Trypanosoma cruzi during progression of the chronic phase in chagasic patients.

Our research aimed to characterize the genetic profiles of 102 Trypanosoma cruzi isolates recently obtained from 44 chronic chagasic patients from different regions of the states of Minas Gerais and Goiás in Brazil. At least two isolates were obtained from each patient at different times in order to study the parasite population dynamics during disease progression in the chronic phase. The isolates were characterized molecularly by genotyping the 3' region of the 24S alpha rRNA, the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit 2 (COII) gene, and the intergenic region of the spliced leader intergenic region (SL-IR) gene.

Immunological imbalance between IFN-gamma and IL-10 levels in the sera of patients with the cardiac form of Chagas disease.

The immune response is crucial for protection against disease; however, immunological imbalances can lead to heart and digestive tract lesions in chagasic patients. Several studies have evaluated the cellular and humoral immune responses in chagasic patients in an attempt to correlate immunological findings with clinical forms of Chagas disease. Moreover, immunoglobulins and cytokines are important for parasitic control and are involved in lesion genesis.

[Neonatal screening for congenital Chagas infection: application of latent class analysis for diagnostic test evaluation].

The present study had the aim of evaluating conventional serum tests that are used in neonatal screening for Chagas disease, with a discussion on the statistical methods available. A random sample among 23,308 newborns who were screened for congenital Chagas disease was studied using the following three tests: enzyme immunoassay, indirect immunofluorescence and indirect hemagglutination. The data were analyzed by different statistical methodologies: latent class analysis, Kappa test and relative sensitivity analysis.

Case-control study of factors associated with chronic Chagas heart disease in patients over 50 years of age.

A case-control study on chronic Chagas heart disease (CCHD) was carried out between 1997 and 2005. Ninety patients over 50 years of age were examined for factors related to (CCHD). Fourty-six patients (51.

[Representations, myths, and behaviors among Chagas disease patients with pacemakers].

This anthropological study aimed to evaluate the incorporation of pacemakers into the lives of individuals with Chagas disease. An ethnographic methodology was used, based on an open interview focusing on the personal perceptions of 15 patients with chronic Chagas cardiopathy who had required pacemaker implants at the Federal University Hospital in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais State, Brazil. As part of a broader quality of life analysis, the study investigated the cultural, physical, and psychological resources used by patients to confront, explain, and accept the disease process, including mental representations on the cultural perception of the illness and definition of social relations.

[Profile of notified tuberculosis cases and factors associated with treatment dropout].

Objective: To describe the profile of notified tuberculosis cases and analyze the factors associated with treatment dropout.

Methods: A total of 178 cases of tuberculosis notified in the western region of Belo Horizonte (Southeastern Brazil) in 2001 and 2002 and recorded in the National System for Notifiable Diseases were described. An unmatched case-control study was conducted, with data collected by means of interviews, to compare patients who dropped out of treatment with those who achieved cure.

Differential transcription profiles in Trypanosoma cruzi associated with clinical forms of Chagas disease: Maxicircle NADH dehydrogenase subunit 7 gene truncation in asymptomatic patient isolates.

The majority of individuals in the chronic phase of Chagas disease are asymptomatic (indeterminate form). Every year 2-3% of these individuals develop severe clinical manifestations (cardiac and digestive forms). In this study a Trypanosoma cruzi DNA microarray was used to compare the transcript profiles of six human isolates: three from asymptomatic and three from cardiac patients.

Use of the Trypanosoma cruzi recombinant complement regulatory protein to evaluate therapeutic efficacy following treatment of chronic chagasic patients.

One of the greatest concerns in Chagas' disease is the absence of reliable methods for the evaluation of chemotherapy efficacy in treated patients. The tests available to evaluate cure after the specific treatment are the complement-mediated lysis (CoML) and flow cytometry tests, but they are not feasible for routine clinical use. In this study, we evaluated an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) based on the recombinant Trypanosoma cruzi complement regulatory protein (rCRP) as a method to determine parasite clearance in comparison to the CoML and other methods such as conventional serology, hemoculture, and PCR in serum samples of 31 patients collected before and after the treatment, monitored for an average of 27.