RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Chagas disease (CD) treatment is commonly associated with a high incidence of adverse effects. It is crucial to study and update these adverse effects to improve the existing knowledge of which drugs to use and to clarify the information presented to patients. METHODS: We analyzed the adverse effects of benznidazole in two cohorts of patients: a large retrospective study and a small prospective study. RESULTS: This large retrospective study described the most and least common adverse effects in our area and characterized our Chagas disease population. This prospective study, along with a close follow-up of the treatment, detected more adverse effects and enhanced the patients' perception of the disease and treatment. CONCLUSIONS: This information is important for preventing non-medical-related withdrawals and for removing baseless fears. Better knowledge of patients could help us provide better care.
Asunto(s)
Enfermedad de Chagas , Efectos Colaterales y Reacciones Adversas Relacionados con Medicamentos , Nitroimidazoles , Tripanocidas , Trypanosoma cruzi , Humanos , Estudios Prospectivos , Estudios Retrospectivos , Enfermedad Crónica , Tripanocidas/efectos adversos , Enfermedad de Chagas/tratamiento farmacológico , Enfermedad de Chagas/epidemiología , Nitroimidazoles/efectos adversosRESUMEN
ABSTRACT Background: Chagas disease (CD) treatment is commonly associated with a high incidence of adverse effects. It is crucial to study and update these adverse effects to improve the existing knowledge of which drugs to use and to clarify the information presented to patients. Methods: We analyzed the adverse effects of benznidazole in two cohorts of patients: a large retrospective study and a small prospective study. Results: This large retrospective study described the most and least common adverse effects in our area and characterized our Chagas disease population. This prospective study, along with a close follow-up of the treatment, detected more adverse effects and enhanced the patients' perception of the disease and treatment. Conclusions: This information is important for preventing non-medical-related withdrawals and for removing baseless fears. Better knowledge of patients could help us provide better care.
RESUMEN
Antibodies against Phlebotomus perniciosus sandfly salivary gland homogenate (SGH) and recombinant protein rSP03B, sandfly-borne Toscana virus (TOSV), Sandfly Fever Sicilian virus (SFSV) and Leishmania, as well as DNA of the latter parasite, were investigated in 670 blood samples from 575 human donors in Murcia Region, southeast Spain, in 2017 and 2018. The estimated SGH and rSP03B seroprevalences were 69% and 88%, respectively, although correlation between test results was relatively low (ρ = 0.39). Similarly, TOSV, SFSV and Leishmania seroprevalences were 26%, 0% and 1%, respectively, and Leishmania PCR prevalence was 2%. Prevalences were significantly greater in 2017, overdispersed and not spatially related to each other although both were positively associated with SGH but not to rSP03B antibody optical densities, questioning the value of the latter as a diagnostic marker for these infections in humans.
Asunto(s)
Leishmania infantum , Leishmaniasis , Phlebotomus , Psychodidae , Virus de Nápoles de la Fiebre de la Mosca de los Arenales , Animales , Anticuerpos , Donantes de Sangre , Humanos , Leishmaniasis/parasitología , Leishmaniasis/veterinaria , Phlebotomus/parasitología , Proteínas Recombinantes , Virus de Nápoles de la Fiebre de la Mosca de los Arenales/genética , España/epidemiologíaRESUMEN
INTRODUCTION: The increasing frequency of malaria infection in our area is due to the rise in international travel and immigration from endemic malaria areas. The aim of this study is to describe the chemoprophylaxis taken and treatment given as well as the clinical, epidemiological and microbiological characteristics for those patients admitted to our hospital with malaria. METHODS: A retrospective study of patients with malaria admitted to the Hospital Virgen de la Arrixaca, between January 1998 and December 2010, was carried out. RESULTS: During this period, fifty one cases of malaria were diagnosed. 78.3% of them were immigrants of whom 65% resided in Spain and had travelled to their country of origin for a short stay. Seventy four per cent acquired the infection in central and west Africa, and Plasmodium falciparum was responsible for the majority of the cases (88%). Only four patients had taken antimalarial chemoprophylaxis but none correctly. The most frequently treatment used was a combination of quinine and doxycicline (64.7%). Inappropriate anti-malarial treatment occurred in 9 patients (17.6%). At least one indicator of severe malaria was established in 23.5% of the cases; however, the clinical outcome was successful in every case and no patient died. CONCLUSIONS: Imported malaria is observed mostly among immigrants who travel to their countries of origin for a short stay and do not take anti-malarial prophylaxis, increasing the risk of acquiring malaria. Inappropriate malarial treatment is relatively frequent in the case management of imported malaria.