COVID-19: Distance learning to empower educators and health assistants in rural areas.

Background: Educators and health assistants can act as key players in controlling the pandemic. In general, they are respected by the community, especially in rural areas, and can help guide and raise the population's awareness of preventive measures. The objective of this paper is to evaluate the results in knowledge progress of an e-learning course offered to educators and health assistants by a public university and to analyze the profile and satisfaction of the participants.

Prognosis of chronic Chagas heart disease and other pending clinical challenges.

In this chapter, the main prognostic markers of Chagas heart disease are addressed, with an emphasis on the most recent findings and questions, establishing the basis for a broad discussion of recommendations and new approaches to managing Chagas cardiopathy. The main biological and genetic markers and the contribution of the electrocardiogram, echocardiogram and cardiac magnetic resonance are presented. We also discuss the most recent therapeutic proposals for heart failure, thromboembolism and arrhythmias, as well as current experience in heart transplantation in patients suffering from severe Chagas cardiomyopathy.

Benznidazole, itraconazole, and their combination for the treatment of chronic experimental Chagas disease in dogs.

Treatment for Chagas disease has limited efficacy in the chronic phase. We evaluated benznidazole (BZ) and itraconazole (ITZ) individually and in association in dogs 16 months after infection with a BZ-resistant Trypanosoma cruzi strain. Four study groups (20 animals) were evaluated and treated for 60 days with BZ, ITZ, or BZ + ITZ, and maintained in parallel to control group infected and not treated (INT).

Quality of Telehealth Services in Primary Care in the State of Minas Gerais.

Telemedicine is seen as an important tool to face contemporary health challenges. The factors that help improve quality in these services must be studied. The objective of this work was to assess the quality of telehealth primary care services offered in the State of Minas Gerais -Brazil, based on the ISO 13131 standard.

Evaluation of parasite and host genetics in two generations of a family with Chagas disease.

Chagas disease, caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi, is considered to be a multifactorial disease associated with host and parasite genetics, which influence clinical aspects of the disease and other host conditions. In order to understand better the evolution of the disease, this study intended to evaluation of parasite and host genetics in two generations of a family with Chagas disease from the Alto Paranaiba region, Minas Gerais, Brazil, comprising a mother and her five daughters. Several features were evaluated, including the characterization of T.

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.

Chagas cardiomyopathy: The potential effect of benznidazole treatment on diastolic dysfunction and cardiac damage in dogs chronically infected with Trypanosoma cruzi.

Cardiac involvement represents the main cause of mortality among patients with Chagas disease, and the relevance of trypanocidal treatment to improving diastolic dysfunction is still doubtful. In the present study, we used a canine model infected with the benznidazole-sensitive Berenice-78 Trypanosoma cruzi strain to verify the efficacy of an etiologic treatment in reducing the parasite load and ameliorating cardiac muscle tissue damage and left ventricular diastolic dysfunction in the chronic phase of the infection. The effect of the treatment on reducing the parasite load was monitored by blood PCR and blood culture assays, and the effect of the treatment on the outcome of heart tissue damage and on diastolic function was evaluated by histopathology and echo Doppler cardiogram.

Prevalence of rheumatic heart disease in a public school of Belo Horizonte.

Background: Previous studies indicate that compared with physical examination, Doppler echocardiography identifies a larger number of cases of rheumatic heart disease in apparently healthy individuals.

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of rheumatic heart disease among students in a public school of Belo Horizonte by clinical evaluation and Doppler echocardiography.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted with 267 randomly selected school students aged between 6 and 16 years.

A serological, parasitological and clinical evaluation of untreated Chagas disease patients and those treated with benznidazole before and thirteen years after intervention.

The etiological treatment of Chagas disease is recommended for all patients with acute or recent chronic infection, but controversies remain regarding the benefit of chemotherapy and interpretations of the parasitological cure after etiological treatment. This study compares the laboratory and clinical evaluations of Chagas disease patients who were diagnosed 13 years earlier. Fifty-eight Chagas disease patients (29 treated with benznidazole and 29 untreated) were matched at the time of treatment based on several variables.

P-wave dispersion and left atrial volume index as predictors in heart failure.

Background: Studies have shown that P-wave dispersion (PWD) and left atrial volume index (LAVi) are predictors of cardiovascular events (CE).

Objective: To verify the prognostic value of PWD and LAVi for the occurrence of CE in patients with heart failure (HF).

Methods: This was a longitudinal prospective study of 78 consecutive patients with a mean age of 47.

Myocardial scars correlate with eletrocardiographic changes in chronic Trypanosoma cruzi infection for dogs treated with Benznidazole.

Objectives: The cardiac form of Chagas disease is evidenced by a progressive cardiac inflammation that leads to myocarditis, fibrosis and electrocardiographic (ECG) conduction abnormalities. Considering these characteristics, the aim of this study was to prospectively evaluate the early ECG changes in dogs that were experimentally inoculated with Benznidazole (Bz)-susceptibly (Berenice-78) and Bz-resistant (VL-10, and AAS) Trypanosoma cruzi strains and, later, evaluate the efficacy of Bz treatment for preventing these ECG alterations.

Methods: Electrocardiographic changes of treated and untreated animals were prospectively evaluated for up to 270 days after infection, at which point collagen (right atrium) quantification was performed.

Cardiomyopathy prognosis after benznidazole treatment in chronic canine Chagas' disease.

Objectives: To evaluate the effects of benznidazole on Chagas' disease cardiac prognosis using an experimental dog model of infection.

Methods: A total of 28 dogs were divided into three groups: 10 were infected with Trypanosoma cruzi and treated benznidazole during the chronic phase, 10 were infected but untreated, and 8 were non-infected/healthy. The trypanocidal efficacy was measured by parasite kDNA detection in blood and cardiac tissue samples.

In-house ELISA method to analyze anti-Trypanosoma cruzi IgG reactivity for differential diagnosis and evaluation of Chagas disease morbidity.

Introduction: The goal was to develop an in-house serological method with high specificity and sensitivity for diagnosis and monitoring of Chagas disease morbidity.

Methods: With this purpose, the reactivities of anti-T. cruzi IgG and subclasses were tested in successive serum dilutions of patients from Berilo municipality, Jequitinhonha Valley, Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Evaluating the experience of training through videoconferences in primary care.

Introduction: The technological innovations that are a part of organizational realities allow for new possibilities in social processes. In Belo Horizonte, Brazil, the municipality established a system of training through videoconferences in primary care connecting professors and professionals from primary care units to discuss assistance problems in medicine, nursing, and dentistry.

Objective: An evaluation of the professionals' perception regarding the system of training through videoconferences in primary care.

Low doses of simvastatin therapy ameliorate cardiac inflammatory remodeling in Trypanosoma cruzi-infected dogs.

Chagas cardiomyopathy remodeling is based on the presence of Trypanosoma cruzi in heart tissue and on the complex inflammatory response leading to a myocardium fibrosis and alterations in conductive and functional heart parameters. This study aims to evaluate Simvastatin on the inflammatory response and heart functionality using dogs infected with Y strain of T. cruzi.

Seroprevalence of Chagas disease in schoolchildren from two municipalities of Jequitinhonha Valley, Minas Gerais, Brazil; six years following the onset of epidemiological surveillance.

Six years after the beginning of the epidemiological surveillance of Chagas disease in Berilo and José Gonçalves de Minas, Jequitinhonha Valley, MG, Brazil, a serological inquiry was performed to observe whether the transmission of this endemy was occurring in this area. A randomized sample of 1,412 children seven to 14 years old, was screened. Six asymptomatic children were found to be positive, leading to 0.

Active orthostatic stress and respiratory sinus arrhythmia in patients with Chagas' disease with preserved left ventricular global systolic function.

Objective: To assess the use of the active orthostatic stress test for detecting vagal dysfunction in patients with Chagas' disease with preserved overall systolic function, and to compare it with the respiratory sinus arrhythmia test.

Methods: Sixty-one chagasic patients (Ch) and 38 nonchagasic (NCh) patients with no significant evidence of heart disease or systemic diseases underwent Doppler echocardiography and autonomic function tests. The respiratory sinus arrhythmia test was performed through electrocardiographic recording during deep breathing, at 6 ripm, calculating the E:I ratio (mean ratio between the longest expiratory RR interval and the shortest inspiratory RR interval at each cycle).

Cardiovascular function in elderly patients with chronic chagasic cardiopathy.

The objective of this work was to verify the degree and type of heart damage of elderly chagasic patients seen at an outpatient referral center and to compare them with the changes found in young chagasic patients with a similar degree of heart damage. Elderly and young patients without advanced cardiopathy presented good functional behavior. Elderly patients with advanced cardiopathy had more ventricular premature beats (VPB) in 24 h and less functional capacity in the exercise test than young patients of the same subgroup.

Premature acute myocardial infarction in a child with nephrotic syndrome.

We report a case of acute myocardial infarction in a nephrotic child. A 7-year-old boy with a 4-year history of steroid-unresponsive nephrotic syndrome due to mesangial proliferation disease presented with acute vomiting and chest pain. An electrocardiogram showed ST elevation and pathological Q waves in leads consistent with anterior and septal myocardial infarction.

The Valsalva maneuver in Chagas disease patients without cardiopathy.

Background: The Valsalva maneuver is a simple and reliable test of parasympathetic heart control that can also be used as a trigger of cardiac arrhythmia. Few studies are available about the Valsalva maneuver in Chagas disease patients without cardiac involvement and their results are contradictory. In a cross-sectional study, we compared Chagas disease patients without cardiac involvement and normal individuals using the Valsalva maneuver in order to study the vagal cardiac control and the occurrence of cardiac arrhythmia in the early phase of Chagas disease.