Valuing tonsillitis manifestations in schoolchildren in Rio de Janeiro.

Objective: To evaluate the importance attributed to tonsillitis by guardians and their level of knowledge about the disease, correlating their management with their schooling and socioeconomic profiles.

Methods: A quantitative, descriptive and observational cross-sectional study involving students aged 5 to 17 years from state-owned and private schools. A questionnaire was applied on management of tonsillitis and knowledge about rheumatic fever, addressing demographic and socioeconomic data.

24-hour Holter findings in infants with in-utero exposure to the Zika virus: a series of cases.

Severe neurological problems and other special manifestations such as high prevalence of structural cardiac changes has been described in infants vertically exposed to the Zika virus (ZIKV) and has been called congenital Zika virus syndrome (CZS). Previous studies have shown that the 24-hour Holter heart rate variability (HRV) analysis allows the prediction of worse outcomes in infants with neurological impairment and higher risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), hypertension, diabetes mellitus and other cardiovascular diseases. This study describes the 24-hour Holter findings of infants with confirmed vertical exposure to the ZIKV by positive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays in the mother's blood during pregnancy and/or in the urine or cerebrospinal fluid of the newborn.

Effectiveness of generic direct-acting agents for the treatment of hepatitis C: systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: To compare the efficacy of generic direct-acting agents and brand-name medicines for treating hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection by conducting a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Methods: We searched online databases for studies that reported sustained virological responses 12 weeks after the end of HCV treatment with generic direct-acting agents. We derived pooled proportions of treated patients with a sustained virological response from intention-to-treat and per-protocol analyses.

Effectiveness of direct-acting agents for hepatitis C and liver stiffness changing after sustained virological response.

Background And Aim: Few studies have evaluated sustained virological response (SVR) rates by direct-acting agents (DAAs) and liver stiffness measurement (LSM) changing post-SVR in limited-resource settings. We aimed to describe the effectiveness of DAAs for hepatitis C virus treatment and to assess the changing of LSM post-SVR.

Methods: This retrospective study analyzed data of consecutive hepatitis C virus-infected patients treated by DAAs from 2015 to 2017 in two tertiary centers in Brazil.