Our objective was to describe the prevalence of low concentrations of retinol, β-carotene, and vitamin E in a group of HIV-infected Latin American children and a comparison group of HIV-exposed, uninfected children. Our hypothesis was that the rates of low concentrations of these micronutrients would be higher in the HIV-infected group than those in the HIV-exposed, uninfected group. This was a cross-sectional substudy of a larger cohort study at clinical pediatric HIV centers in Latin America. Serum levels of micronutrients were measured in the first stored sample obtained after each child’s first birthday by high-performance liquid chromatography. Low concentrations of retinol, β-carotene and vitamin E were defined as serum levels below 0.70 μmol/L, 0.35 μmol/L and 18.0 μmol/L, respectively. The population for this analysis was 336 children (124 HIV-infected, 212 HIV-exposed, uninfected) aged ≥ 1 to < 4 years of age. Rates of low concentrations were 74% for retinol, 27% for β-carotene, and 89% for vitamin E. These rates were not affected by HIV status. Among the HIV-infected children those treated with antiretrovirals were less likely to have retinol deficiency, but no other HIV-related factors correlated with micronutrient low serum levels. Low concentrations of retinol, β-carotene and vitamin E are very common in children exposed to HIV living in Brazil, Argentina and Mexico, regardless of HIV-infection status.

The incidence of laryngeal histoplasmosis is low when compared to the total number of cases. Less than 100 cases of laryngeal histoplasmosis have been described in the medical literature. Isolated laryngeal involvement may lead to the misdiagnosis and mistreatment of tuberculosis or laryngeal cancer, according to some reports. The development of hoarseness in a patient with histoplasmosis or a laryngeal mass leading to hoarseness, might be suggestive of laryngeal histoplasmosis. When histoplasmosis is included among the differential diagnoses of a laryngeal lesion, the biopsy should be limited to a small tissue fragment, enough to perform histological tests. The laboratory technicians must be warned about the possibility of histoplasmosis, because special dyes have to be used to confirm this diagnosis.

Background and Aims There is little information on the incremental prognostic importance of frailty beyond conventional prognostic variables in heart failure (HF) populations from different country income levels. Methods A total of 3429 adults with HF (age 61 ± 14 years, 33% women) from 27 high-, middle- and low-income countries were prospectively studied. Baseline frailty was evaluated by the Fried index, incorporating handgrip strength, gait speed, physical activity, unintended weight loss, and self-reported exhaustion. Mean left ventricular ejection fraction was 39 ± 14% and 26% had New York Heart Association Class III/IV symptoms. Participants were followed for a median (25th to 75th percentile) of 3.1 (2.0–4.3) years. Cox proportional hazard models for death and HF hospitalization adjusted for country income level; age; sex; education; HF aetiology; left ventricular ejection fraction; diabetes; tobacco and alcohol use; New York Heart Association functional class; HF medication use; blood pressure; and haemoglobin, sodium, and creatinine concentrations were performed. The incremental discriminatory value of frailty over and above the MAGGIC risk score was evaluated by the area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve. Results At baseline, 18% of participants were robust, 61% pre-frail, and 21% frail. During follow-up, 565 (16%) participants died and 471 (14%) were hospitalized for HF. Respective adjusted hazard ratios (95% confidence interval) for death among the pre-frail and frail were 1.59 (1.12–2.26) and 2.92 (1.99–4.27). Respective adjusted hazard ratios (95% confidence interval) for HF hospitalization were 1.32 (0.93–1.87) and 1.97 (1.33–2.91). Findings were consistent among different country income levels and by most subgroups. Adding frailty to the MAGGIC risk score improved the discrimination of future death and HF hospitalization. Conclusions Frailty confers substantial incremental prognostic information to prognostic variables for predicting death and HF hospitalization. The relationship between frailty and these outcomes is consistent across countries at all income levels.

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Introduction Aging is accompanied by changes in body composition and cardio metabolic parameters, which indicate the onset of chronic degenerative diseases such as cardiovascular, coronary and metabolic diseases. The prevention of these diseases in the elderly may depend on changes in risk factors related to life style, with physical activities as one of the most important components for a healthy life style. Objectives To assess the impact of a very active life style in body composition and cardio metabolic parameters in a sample of the elderly population in the city of Recife. Methodology A cross-sectional study conducted with the elderly (age ≥ 60 years) that were allocated into two groups of sedentary life style, and very active, according to the variable "physical exercise" of the table of coronary risk (CR) of the Michigan Heart Association, which considers the recreational and occupational effort played by the individual. The variables related to body composition were body weight, body fat percentage (%F), lean body mass, fat mass and body mass index (BMI). The cardio metabolic parameters were obtained from the CR, blood pressure and casual blood glucose. The independent T test and Fishers exact test were used, considering P &lt; 0.05. Results The sample consisted of 363 elderly people (156 men and 207 women), 61 being very active and 302 sedentary. A significant part of the very active elderly (p = 0.001) was between 60 and 69 years (n = 41 - 69%), and none of the elderly aged ≥ 80 years (n = 21) was categorized as very active. The very active elderly presented body mass (p = 0.01), %F (p = 0.005), fat mass (p = 0.0007), BMI (p = 0.005), casual blood glucose levels (p = 0.003) and CR (p &lt; 0.0001) significantly lower than the sedentary elderly. Conclusion The elderly with very active life style have body composition and cardio metabolic parameters better than the sedentary elderly of the sample.

BACKGROUND: Brazil is facing increasing cycles of numbers of infected people and deaths resulting from coronavirus disease 2019 . This situation involves a series of factors, including the behavior of the population, that can be decisive for controlling the disease. OBJECTIVE: To determine the knowledge, attitudes and practices of the Brazilian population regarding COVID-19. DESIGN AND SETTING: Cross-sectional survey-type study, conducted using a population sample from different Brazilian states. METHODS: A quantitative, descriptive and analytical approach was used. Sampling was done according to convenience and via snowballing. The data collection instrument was a knowledge, attitudes and practices system. RESULTS: 1,655 people from all over Brazil participated in the survey; 80% were living in the southern region and 70.15% were female. More than 90% had knowledge and good attitudes relating to the means of transmission, preventive care and symptoms associated with COVID-19, although their knowledge and attitudes were not fully reflected in daily practices, for which there was lower adherence (80%). Greater knowledge was correlated with older participants, larger number of children, female sex and marital status; better attitude, with female sex and complete higher education; and better practices, with greater age, larger number of children and female sex. CONCLUSION: A large part of the population has general knowledge about COVID-19, but not all knowledge was applied in practice. Older people, females and university graduates stood out as the best informed and most committed to controlling the disease.

A histoplasmose com acometimento único de laringe é uma ocorrência rara da doença, com menos de 100 casos relatados na literatura, quando comparada ao número de pacientes diagnosticados com histoplasmose. Tal localização, quando isolada, pode induzir, erroneamente, ao diagnóstico e tratamento de tuberculose ou câncer de laringe, com casos relatados de tratamentos iniciados para essas doenças. Em um paciente com histoplasmose que desenvolva rouquidão, deve-se pensar no acometimento laríngeo da histoplasmose, enquanto que uma massa laríngea produzindo rouquidão deve incluir em seu diagnóstico diferencial a histoplasmose laríngea. Quando se pensa em histoplasmose como causa de uma lesão laríngea, a biópsia deve ser limitada, removendo a menor quantidade de tecido necessária para o diagnóstico O patologista deve ser avisado da possibilidade do diagnóstico, já que podem ser necessários corantes especiais para o diagnóstico.

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