Human Chagas disease (CD), also known as American trypanosomiasis, is a vector-borne tropical disease caused by the protozoan hemoflagellate Trypanosoma cruzi. CD was discovered and initially described by Dr. Carlos Chagas in 1909, at Lassance, Minas Gerais, Brazil 1. In Latin American countries, CD causes 12,000 to 14,000 deaths annually 2 and affects 5.7 to 7.0 million people 3. More affordable traveling conditions from Latin America to non-Seroprevalence of Trypanosoma cruzi infection among blood donors in the state of Bahia, Brazil

HIV+ persons have a significantly increased risk of cancer when compared to the general population. The excess cancer risk observed during HIV infection is particularly higher for infection‐related malignancies. Mechanisms underlying this remain unclear, but both HIV‐related and HIV‐unrelated factors have been postulated to play a role. Here, we (i) review newly published data on cancer burden in the setting of HIV infection with a focus on HIV‐related risk factors for cancer; (ii) discuss emerging data on cancer among HIV+ persons living in low‐ and middle‐income countries; and (iii) review guideline recommendations for cancer screening among HIV+ persons and discuss ongoing studies investigating strategies for cancer screening among HIV+ patients.

Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma represents approximately 30%–40% of all diagnoses of non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma and may represent up to 80% of all lymphomas that arise in the palatine tonsils. Several studies have attempted to correlate clinical, laboratorial, and tissue factors with the prognosis of the lymphomas, such as the International Prognostic Index, the tissue expression of some proteins, and the lymphocyte count at the time of diagnosis, as well as to correlate Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection with worse prognoses. Patients with palatine tonsil DLBCL, from Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, were studied in order to identify prognostic factors. Twenty-four patients with DLBCL were studied. The factors that negatively influenced the patients' survival rates were the lymphocyte count at the time of diagnosis <1.000/mm3 and the Bcl-2 protein expression. There was no CD5 expression in these lymphomas, and neither was there an association with EBV infection.

Despite the benefits of HAART, HIV-infected patients are increasingly affected by different malignancies. We compared a 5-year-period survival time and prognostic factors for HIV-1-infected individuals diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHL) in a nested case-control study, with non-HIV-infected individuals in Salvador, Brazil. Survival time and prognostic factors were compared to HIV-negative patients. 31 cases (versus 63 controls) had a significantly more advanced NHL at diagnosis and lower mean CD4 count (26 cells/mm3) than controls. Mean overall survival (OS) was 35.8 versus 75.4 months, for cases and controls, respectively (P < 0.001), while mean event-free survival time (EFS) was 34.5 months for cases, versus 68.8 for controls (P = 0.002). Higher IPI, increased LDH levels, bone marrow infiltration, lower absolute lymphocyte counts (<1,000 cells/mm3), and type B symptoms were associated with a shorter survival time for cases. Although patients without poorer prognostic factors at baseline had an OS comparable to controls, the mean CD4 cell count for cases was similar for patients with favorable and nonfavorable response to therapy. Our findings suggest that HIV-1 infection is significantly associated with a shorter survival time for patients with NHL, independently of other predictive factors and of disease stage.

Atualmente, é coordenadora médica do pronto atendimento do Hospital Especializado Couto Maia e médica infectologista do Centro Estadual Especializado em Diagnóstico, Assistência e Pesquisa. 5 Graduado em Medicina pela Universidade Federal da Bahia (UFBA), especialista em Pneumologia e mestre em Medicina e Saúde pela UFBA. Atualmente, é professor do curso de Medicina da Faculdade de Tecnologia e Ciências (FTC).

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is the result of a mutation in haemoglobin S, which causes physical and chemical changes. Haemoglobin S is prone to premature destruction, culminating in chronic haemolytic anaemia. In addition, this structure, being more rigid and not flexible, fixes more easily to the wall of the vascular endothelium, contributing to thrombotic phenomena and culminating in blood vessel stenosis [1].All these processes of chronic haemolytic anaemia and vaso-occlusive processes generate changes in several organs and systems, including changes in the auditory system, typically sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL), and in structures

Aims: To produce a systematic review with meta-analysis on the hematological manifestations of COVID-19, comparing the changes among the clinical severity groups. Study Design: We conducted a systematic review with meta-analyses. Methodology: A systematic review was carried out based on the PRISMA 2020 protocol in Medline/Pubmed, Embase, LILACS and SciElo databases. A standardized mean difference was calculated to assess the differences between the groups, with a confidence interval of 95%. Heterogeneity was calculated using the Chi-square test and the I2 test. Significant heterogeneity was defined as p<0.10 or I2>50%. Results: The systematic review search identified a total of 2682 articles, and at the end of the screening, 55 were selected for review and 16 for meta-analysis. The selected articles enrolled 13,289 participants, 10,312 with a mild to moderate clinical condition and 3977 with a severe to critical clinical condition. When comparing the severe disease group with the mild disease group, it was found that the mean values of leukocytes, neutrophils, C-reactive protein (CRP), ferritin, fibrinogen, and prothrombin time (PT) were significantly higher, and the lymphocyte count was significantly lower in the severe group. Conclusions: Individuals with severe COVID-19 had reduced lymphocyte count and elevated leukocytes, neutrophils, CRP, ferritin, fibrinogen, and PT.

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