Profile of children and adolescents affected by chronic rheumatic heart disease in Brazil

Abstract

Chronic rheumatic heart disease consists of a group of acute or chronic heart diseases that occurs as a result of rheumatic fever. Rheumatic fever is an inflammatory disease triggered by pharyngeal tonsillitis caused by the bacterium Streptococcus pyogenes. It is more frequent in children between 5 and 15 years of age. It can affect skin, joints, brain and heart. The most common complication is the damage to the mitral valve of the heart. To quantify the number of hospitalizations by age, sex and region of children and adolescents affected by chronic rheumatic heart disease. Through the database of the SUS Hospital Information System (SIH/SUS), the hospitalization forms for chronic rheumatic heart disease in Brazil were evaluated from 2016 to 2019, provided by DATASUS/Ministry of Health. The results showed that the most affected sex is female (57.57%), in the region the Southeast region stands out (41.34%). The city with the highest number of registered cases is São Paulo (19.55%), followed by Belo Horizonte (15.81%). Among the age group, it is the 10-14-year-old age group with the highest incidence, totaling 681 reported cases. This study expresses and proves that the female population is quite affected in Brazil. Among the cases analyzed, the female gender predominates in reported cases and the most affected age group is between 10 and 14 years. It was also evidenced that low educational level, as well as low income and poor basic sanitation are factors that influence the onset of the disease.