Risk of COVID-19 in Chagas Disease Patients: What Happen with Cardiac Affectations?

Abstract

Background: Chagas disease is considered a neglected tropical disease. The acute phase of Chagas disease is characterized by several symptoms: fever, fatigue, body aches, headache and cardiopathy’s. Chronic phase could be asymptomatic or symptomatic with cardiac compromise. Since the emergence of the pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the cardiovascular involvement has been identified as a complication commonly reported in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Due to the lack of knowledge of the cardiac affectations that this virus could cause in patients with Chagas disease, the aim of this review is to describe the possible cardiac affectations, as well as the treatment and recommendations that patients with both infections should carry out. Methods: The authors revised the recent and relevant literature concerning the topic and discussed advances and limitations of studies on COVID-19 and their impact in Chagas disease patients, principally with cardiac affectations. Results: There currently exists little information about the consequences that Chagas disease patients can suffer when they are infected with COVID-19. Conclusions: This review highlights the emerging challenges of access to medical care and future research needs in order to understand the implications that co-infections (SARS-CoV-2 or other viruses) can generate in Chagas disease-infected people.

Impact of COVID-19 In-hospital Mortality in Chagas Disease Patients

“…The literature regarding T. cruzi /SARS-CoV-2 coinfection is still scarce, especially considering patients with Chagas heart disease (CHD) ( 8 ). In addition, CHD involves a complex interaction between different processes related to tissue damage due to parasite persistence, inflammation, specific immune response, among other physiological abnormalities ( 9 ).…”

Challenges of addressing neglected tropical diseases amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa: A case of Chagas Disease

“…The development of a vaccine may also reduce the prevalence rates of CD. However, vaccine testing will be met with ethical implications and will require early detection of CD in test subjects, which has not yet proven to be applicable [ 11 , [19] , [20] , [21] ].…”

“…Before the surge of novel SARS-CoV-2, the aetiological pathogen causing the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, most NTDs were paid little to no attention by various healthcare systems, having weak public health approaches, diagnostic delays, and ineffective clinical management guidelines and resources. Therefore, the recent emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the impact of NTDs, bringing numerous social, economic, epidemiological, and health challenges to daily lives [ 2 , 3 ]. Currently, very little emphasis is put on CD as most healthcare systems and governments are focused on mitigating the spread of COVID-19 [ 4 ].…”

Perfil epidemiológico da Doença de Chagas Aguda no Estado do Pará entre os anos de 2016 a 2020

“…Entretanto, ocorreu apenas uma redução significativa nos anos de 2019 a 2020 nos casos confirmados da DC, o qual pode estar relacionada a negligência da doença durante a pandemia da Covid-19 em associação com a subnotificação dos casos e o aumento na dificuldade no acesso à saúde, dificultando assim, o diagnóstico, tratamento e monitoramento que colabora com a deterioração clínica dos indivíduos acometidos. Portanto, a doença cada vez mais se torna um problema de saúde pública, pois tal diminuição do acesso aos serviços de saúde podem levar a cronicidade da doença, aumentando as condições de morbidade desses indivíduos, o que afeta posteriormente sua qualidade de vida (Zaidel, 2020;Alberca, 2020;Diaz-Hernandez, 2021).…”