A Qualitative Study of the Limits and Possibilities of Integrating Palliative Care in Heart Failure.

Heart failure is a progressive condition with a high burden of symptoms and clinical decompensations that causes psychological and social suffering, poor quality of life, and limited life expectancy. Therefore, it requires palliative care to control symptoms and signs, but integrating it with clinical care is complicated. We aimed to discuss the limits and possibilities of integrating palliative care in heart failure.

Descriptive report of cases of congenital syndrome associated with Zika virus infection in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, from 2015 to 2017.

Objective: to characterize cases of congenital syndrome associated with Zika virus infection (CZS) and other infectious etiologies, resident in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, from October 30, 2015, to June 30, 2017.

Methods: this was a descriptive study of suspected cases of CZS and other infectious etiologies notified on the Public Health Events Registry.

Results: 960 cases were investigated up to epidemiological week 26/2017, and 146 were confirmed for congenital infection; of these, 59 (40.

[Evaluation of the cold chain for vaccine conservation in primary healthcare centers in the South and Midwest regions of São Paulo city, Brazil, in 2011-2012].

Objective: to assess the cold chain capacity, health workers' immunobiological product conservation knowledge and practices in Primary Healthcare Centers (PHC) in São Paulo city, Brazil.

Methods: this descriptive study included 24 randomly selected PHC in the South and Midwest regions of the city; between December 2011 and July 2012, we interviewed the health workers on their vaccine conservation knowledge/practice and observed the local infrastructure, using a form developed for this project; we assigned points to items of the form and classified each PHC as sufficient, regular or insufficient.

Results: most of the 24 PHC evaluated were administered by Social Organizations; all of them had vaccine storage chambers; 5 PHC reported using their maximum storage capacity; 9 PHC were classified as having sufficient knowledge/practice and 15 as having regular knowledge/practice.