ACCREDIT: Validation of clinical score for progression of COVID-19 while hospitalized.

Unlabelled: COVID-19 is no longer a global health emergency, but it remains challenging to predict its prognosis.

Objective: To develop and validate an instrument to predict COVID-19 progression for critically ill hospitalized patients in a Brazilian population.

Methodology: Observational study with retrospective follow-up.

Effect of an exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation program on quality of life of patients with chronic Chagas cardiomyopathy: results from the PEACH randomized clinical trial.

To investigate the effect of an exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation program on the quality of life (QoL) of patients with chronic Chagas cardiomyopathy (CCC). PEACH study was a single-center, superiority randomized clinical trial of exercise training versus no exercise (control). The sample comprised Chagas disease patients with CCC, left ventricular ejection fraction < 45%, without or with HF symptoms (CCC stages B2 or C, respectively).

Development of a mobile application to represent food intake in inpatients: dietary data systematization.

Background: Nutritional risk situations related to decreased food intake in the hospital environment hinder nutritional care and increase malnutrition in hospitalized patients and are often associated with increased morbidity and mortality. The objective of this study is to develop and test the reliability and data similarity of a mobile application as a virtual instrument to assess the acceptability and quality of hospital diets for inpatients.

Methods: This intra- and interobserver development and reliability study investigated an in-hospital food intake monitoring application based on a validated instrument for patients with infectious diseases who were treated at the Evandro Chagas National Institute of Infectious Diseases (INI/FIOCRUZ).

Validation of the NAT Chagas IVD Kit for the Detection and Quantification of in Blood Samples of Patients with Chagas Disease.

In the absence of validated biomarkers to control the cure of Chagas disease, PCR-based diagnosis is being used as the main tool for an early indication of therapeutic failure. However, since it is considered a technique of complex reproducibility, mainly due to difficulties in establishing accurate controls to guarantee the quality of the reaction, the use of PCR for Chagas disease diagnosis is restricted to specialized centers. In an effort to disseminate the molecular diagnosis of Chagas disease and its applications, new diagnostic kits based on qPCR have been made available in the market in recent years.

Hepatitis A seroprevalence among special populations in the Rio de Janeiro Metropolitan Area, Brazil.

The objectives were to estimate hepatitis A virus seroprevalence in subjects attending to a travel medicine and immunization clinic in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and to develop a prediction model for hepatitis A virus seroprevalence. This retrospective research included individuals sequentially from April 2011 to June 2019 at a travel medicine and special population immunization clinic with an anti-hepatitis A virus IgG chemiluminescence result. Participants' data were verified via electronic medical records.

Evaluation of nutritional status and adherence to dietary monitoring among patients with human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 infection.

Background & Aims: The nutritional status of people infected with Human T-Cell Leukemia Virus type 1 (HTLV-1) is rarely studied. Malnutrition affects the immune system, but the consequences of this remain unknown in HTLV-1 infection. This study aimed to analyze the nutritional status, food intake, and ability to adhere to dietary counseling in people with symptomatic HTLV-1 infection.

Systematic review on efficacy of preventive measures for surgical site infection by multiple-drug resistant gram-negative bacilli.

Background: There are no specific recommendations for prevention of surgical site infection (SSI) caused by multidrug resistant Gram-negative bacilli (MDR-GNB). Our objective was to systematically review the literature evaluating the efficacy and safety of measures specifically designed to prevent MDR-GNB SSI.

Methods: We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL and LILACS databases up to February 18, 2020.

Socio-epidemiological factors and comorbidities associated with Chagas disease manifestations in two urban reference health care centres in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Background: Chagas disease (CD) is still an important public health issue in Latin America. This study aims to analyse the association between socio-epidemiological factors and comorbidities with clinical manifestations of CD.

Methods: We performed a cross-sectional study of 985 adult patients (65±11 y; 59.

Relationship between Dietary Fatty Acid Intake with Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease and Liver Fibrosis in People with HIV.

We aimed to evaluate the relationship between food intake of lipids with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and/or liver fibrosis in people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). In this cross-sectional study, transient elastography was used to detect the presence of NAFLD and/or liver fibrosis. The dietary intake of fats and fatty acids (FA) were assessed by two 24 h dietary recalls (24-HDR) ( = 451).

Effects of Selenium treatment on cardiac function in Chagas heart disease: Results from the STCC randomized Trial.

Background: Chagas disease (caused by infection) evolves to chronic chagasic cardiomyopathy (CCC) affecting 1.8 million people worldwide. This is the first randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blinded, clinical trial designed to estimate efficacy and safety of selenium (Se) treatment in CCC.

Temporal changes in the clinical-epidemiological profile of patients with Chagas disease at a referral center in Brazil.

Introduction: We aimed to describe the sociodemographic, epidemiological, and clinical characteristics of patients with chronic Chagas disease (CD) at an infectious disease referral center. Changes in patient profiles over time were also evaluated.

Methods: This retrospective study included patients with CD from November 1986-December 2019.

Prevalence of metabolic syndrome and associated factors among patients with chronic Chagas disease.

The increase in life expectancy and the migration of individuals with Chagas disease (ChD) from rural to urban centers exposes them to the development of chronic-degenerative abnormalities that may increase the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS). The present study aimed to identify the prevalence of MetS and its components in individuals with chronic ChD. This is a cross-sectional study with 361 patients of both sexes, aging >18 years, followed at a national reference center (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil).

Benznidazole decreases the risk of chronic Chagas disease progression and cardiovascular events: A long-term follow up study.

Background: Chagas disease (CD) remains an important endemic disease in Latin America. However, CD became globalized in recent decades. The majority of the chronically infected individuals did not receive etiologic treatment for several reasons, among them the most conspicuous is the lack of access to diagnosis.

Discussing the Score of Cardioembolic Ischemic Stroke in Chagas Disease.

Chagas disease is an important infection in Latin America but it is also reported in non-endemic countries all over the world. Around 30% of infected patients develop chronic Chagas cardiopathy, which is responsible for most poor outcomes, mainly heart failure, arrhythmias and thromboembolic events. Of all thromboembolic events, stroke is the most feared, due to the high probability of evolution to death or disability.

Progression Rate from the Indeterminate Form to the Cardiac Form in Patients with Chronic Chagas Disease: Twenty-Two-Year Follow-Up in a Brazilian Urban Cohort.

Unlabelled: Most patients with chronic Chagas disease (CD) present the indeterminate form and are at risk to develop the cardiac form. However, the actual rate of progression to the cardiac form is still unknown.

Methods: In total, 550 patients with the indeterminate CD form were followed by means of annual electrocardiogram at our outpatient clinic.

Events preceding death among chikungunya virus infected patients: a systematic review.

Since its re-emergence in the late 1990s, there have been reports of Chikungunya fever (CHIK-F) presenting with severe or atypical findings. There is little knowledge regarding the clinical events leading to the death of patients with CHIK-F. This study aimed to systematically review the literature regarding CHIK-F and identify clinical features preceding death.

Seroprevalence of varicella antibodies in adults without clinical history of disease.

Varicella in adults and immunocompromised patients can be severe. The clinical diagnosis of varicella has high accuracy and the history of disease has a high positive predictive value for protection. A significant portion of adults, however, cannot remember if they have had varicella, especially older individuals.

Accuracy of Determine TB-LAM Ag to detect TB in HIV infected patients associated with diagnostic methods used in Brazilian public health units.

Background: Determine TB-LAM Ag (LAM) is a point of care test developed to diagnose tuberculosis (TB). The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic performance of LAM in people living with HIV using Brazilian public health network algorithm for TB diagnosis.

Methods And Findings: A cross-sectional study design was used to enroll 199 adult patients in two sites in Rio de Janeiro and two in São Paulo.

Addressing travelers' perception of risk in pre-travel care: Reports from a travel clinic in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Introduction: Travel medicine is aimed at promoting health risk reduction. However, travelers' perception of risk is subjective and may influence implementation of recommendations. This study reports on travelers' perception of risk, pre-travel characteristics, and recommended interventions.

Daily 800 mg versus 600 mg Efavirenz for HIV Patients Treating Tuberculosis with a Rifampicin-Based Regimen: An Open Label Randomized Controlled Trial.

Objectives: Pharmacokinetics studies recommend increasing efavirenz dosage in tuberculosis/HIV patients using rifampicin. We aimed to evaluate efficacy and safety of 600 versus 800 mg of efavirenz in tuberculosis/HIV patients using rifampicin.

Design: We conducted an open label, multicentre, randomized trial from 2006 to 2012.

Exploring the parasite load and molecular diversity of Trypanosoma cruzi in patients with chronic Chagas disease from different regions of Brazil.

Chagas disease is still a major public health issue in many Latin American countries. One of the current major challenges is to find an association between Trypanosoma cruzi discrete typing units (DTUs) and clinical manifestations of the disease. In this study, we used a multilocus conventional PCR and quantitative real time PCR (qPCR) approaches to perform the molecular typing and parasite load quantification directly from blood specimens of 65 chronic Chagas disease patients.

A protocol update for the Selenium Treatment and Chagasic Cardiomyopathy (STCC) trial.

Unlabelled: Several studies evaluating clinical forms of chronic Chagas disease show that about one-third of patients present cardiac involvement. Heart failure, sudden death and cardioembolic stroke are the main mechanisms of death in Chagas heart disease. The impact of specific etiologic treatment on the prognosis of patients with chronic Chagas heart disease is very limited regardless of the presence or absence of heart failure.

Quality of life and associated factors in patients with chronic Chagas disease.

Objectives: To evaluate the quality of life (QoL) of patients with Chagas disease (CD) and the association between QoL domains and several clinical, socioeconomic and lifestyle characteristics of this population.

Methods: Cross-sectional observational study conducted from March 2014 to March 2017 including a total of 361 outpatients followed at Evandro Chagas National Institute of Infectious Disease, Brazil. QoL was assessed using the Portuguese shorter version of the original WHO Quality of Life questionnaire (WHOQOL-BREF).