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Objective: To understand the repercussions of COVID-19 on the path of pregnancy., Method: Qualitative, participatory action research (PAR) study, based on Paulo Freire's Research Itinerary. A virtual culture circle was held in October 2020, with the participation of 12 pregnant women, living in the South and Southeast regions of Brazil., Results: In the virtual culture circle, pregnant women talked and critically reflected on two generating themes: flowers and thorns in the course of pregnancy. They meant living in the virtual culture circle as spaces for sharing experiences, welcoming and learning, among others., Conclusions: For the participants, pregnancy during the pandemic brought difficulties such as social isolation, absence from work and the university, fears, anxieties, loneliness and insecurities. However, it also improved health care, intensifying self-care and investment in family relationships.

Background: Tuberculosis is a curable disease, which remains the leading cause of death among infectious diseases worldwide, and it is the leading cause of death in people living with HIV. The purpose is to examine survival and predictors of death in Tuberculosis/HIV coinfection cases from 2009 to 2013., Methods: We estimated the survival of 2,417 TB/HIV coinfection cases in Porto Alegre, from diagnosis up to 85 months of follow-up. We estimated hazard ratios and survival curves., Results: The adjusted risk ratio (aRR) for death, by age, hospitalization, and Directly Observed Treatment was 4.58 for new cases (95% CI: 1.14-18.4), 4.51 for recurrence (95% CI: 1.11-18.4) and 4.53 for return after abandonment (95% CI: 1.12-18.4). The average survival time was 72.56 ± 1.57 months for those who underwent Directly Observed Treatment and 62.61 ± 0.77 for those who did not., Conclusions: Case classification, age, and hospitalization are predictors of death. The occurrence of Directly Observed Treatment was a protective factor that increased the probability of survival. Policies aimed at reducing the mortality of patients with TB/HIV coinfection are needed., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2021 Brand et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Background: TB/HIV coinfection is a serious public health issue in Brazil, and patients with coinfection have difficulty adhering to treatments. Directly observed treatment (DOT) has been recommended by the World Health Organization, considering the vulnerability of those affected. The purpose is to investigate the occurrence of DOT and associated factors compared to conventional treatment in Porto Alegre, Brazil., Methods: A retrospective cohort study was carried out with all patients with coinfection from 2009 to 2013 in the city of Porto Alegre, Brazil, the state capital with the highest rate of coinfection in Brazil. The data came from national health information systems. The dependent variable was the performance of DOT. Bivariate and multivariable models were used to determine factors associated with DOT. The percentage of cure and death was verified in a period of two years, comparing patients who received and did not receive DOT., Results: 2,400 cases of coinfection were reported, with 1,574 males and 826 females and a mean age of 38 years ± 9.91 years. The occurrence of DOT was 16.9%. In the multivariable analysis, factors independently associated to DOT were the year (with greater chances of being received in 2012 and 2013), place of origin, non-white race (OR = 1.29, 95% CI = 1.08-1.54), cases of relapse (OR = 1.33; 95% CI = 1.03-1.73), readmission after abandonment (OR = 1.48, 95% CI = 1.20-1.83), transfer (OR = 2.04; 95% CI = 1.40-2.98), acid-fast bacilli (AFB) test with positive result in first sample (OR = 1.73, 95% CI = 1.24-2.42), alcohol abuse (OR = 1.39; 95% CI = 1.16-1.67), and mental disorders (OR = 1.83; 95% CI = 1.38-2.44.) Of the 532 cases of death, occurring in two years, 10.2% were in patients who underwent DOT and 89.8% in patients who did not undergo DOT (p<0.001). O percentual de óbitos em pessoas que receberam DOT foi de 13% e o percentual de óbitos para pessoas que receberam tratamento convencional foi de 24%., Conclusions: There was an increase in the percentage of DOT over the years in the scenario studied, and the predictors for DOT were related to social vulnerability. In relation to death within two years, a lower proportion was found in patients who underwent DOT, suggesting a protective effect of the strategy., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Objective: To describe and compare the epidemiological profile of cases of tuberculosis and HIV coinfection of the District Administration Health Units of Porto Alegre, Brazil, from 2009 to 2013., Method: Retrospective cohort with data from national health information systems. Sociodemographic, clinical and follow-up variables were investigated through association tests., Results: 2,419 cases of tuberculosis and HIV coinfection were reported, with a mean age of 38 ± 9.91 years, predominantly white and with up to 7 years of study. The comparison between the District Administration Health Units was significant in terms of race/color (p<0.001), gender (p<0.001), schooling (p<0.004), age (p<0.003), place of origin (p<0.001), (p<0.001), alcoholism (p<0.001), indication and performance of Directly Observed Therapy (p<0.001), closure (p<0.001)., Conclusion: Socioeconomic and treatment variables influence the occurrence of coinfection in different areas of Porto Alegre, reinforcing that the sum of different factors explains the indicators of the disease.

Objective: To analyze how belonging to certain social groups contributes to constituting the vulnerabilities associated with illnesses due to tuberculosis/HIV/AIDS coinfection. METHODOLOGYThis is a qualitative study carried out in the city of Porto Alegre, state of Rio Grande do Sul, in regions of high social vulnerability. Twenty coinfected people were interviewed in specialized health services between August and December 2016. The analysis was based on the frameworks The Sound of Silence and Vulnerability and Human Rights., Results: Socioeconomic conditions were decisive for the constitution of the vulnerability conditions. Processes of people invisibilization, and the silencing of their voices, in a scenario marked by economic, racial and gender inequalities, contributed for their health needs not to be understood and effectively taken into account in the services actions., Final Considerations: The more effective strategies are to legitimize voices and to understand the needs of those affected by coinfection, the greater the chances that programmatic responses to the problem will be successful.

In locations with a high rate of tuberculosis (TB) and HIV infection, there are a number of strategies to prevent negative outcomes such as opportunistic infections, hospitalizations and death, and this article investigates risk factors for the occurrence of hospitalization and death in cases of TB/HIV co-infection in the south of Brazil. The data are taken from a population-based retrospective cohort study on cases of TB/HIV co-infection from 2009 to 2013 in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Sociodemographic, epidemiological and clinical variables were analyzed. Relative risk (RR) estimates for hospitalization and death were determined by regression models. There were 2,419 co-infection cases, of which 1,527 (63.1%) corresponded to hospitalizations, and 662 (27.4%) to death. The occurrence of hospitalization was associated with ≤ 7 years of schooling (RR = 3.47, 95%CI: 1.97-6.29), 8-11 years of schooling (RR = 2.56, 95%CI: 1.44-4.69), place of origin-district health authorities Northwest/Humaitá/Navegantes/Ilhas (RR = 2.01, 95%CI: 1.44-2.82), type of entry into the surveillance system as in cases of reentry after withdrawal (RR = 1,35, 95%CI: 1.07-1.70), closure in surveillance as in withdrawal of treatment (RR = 1.47, 95%CI: 1.18-1.83) and multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (RR = 3.94, 95%CI: 1.97-8.81). The occurrence of death was associated with age (RR = 1.07, 95%CI: 1,01-1,14), ≤ 7 years of schooling (RR = 3.94, 95%CI: 2.26-7.09), 8-11 years of schooling (RR = 2.84, 95%CI: 1.61-5.16), place of origin-district health authorities Baltazar (RR = 2.05, 95%CI: 1.48-2.86), type of entry in the surveillance system as cases of re-entry after withdrawal (RR = 1.53, 95%CI: 1.22-1.91), relapse (RR = 1.33, 95%CI: 1.03-1.73). The occurrence of hospitalizations and deaths is high among co-infected patients. Our estimation approach is important in order to identify, from the surveillance data, the risk factors for hospitalization and death in co-infected patients, so that they may receive more attention from the Brazilian national healthcare system., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Objective: to identify how the notion of vulnerability is used in national and international scientific publications that address the problem of tuberculosis., Method: an integrative review of literature published in the databases of the Biblioteca Virtual em Saúde, the United States National Library of Medicine and the Biblioteca Digital Brasileira de Teses e Dissertações, considering the descriptors Tuberculosis and Vulnerability in Portuguese and English., Results: we selected fifty-eight studies published between 1992 and February 2014, which resulted in three categories of analysis. CONCLUSION the link between tuberculosis and the notion of vulnerability has not been sufficiently consolidated in national and international literature. This creates an obstacle for the achievement of the epistemological transformations and pragmatic measures that are required to obtain better results from interventions in the field.

This paper analyzes from the users' perception adherent to treatment, the meanings attributed to the risks of the disease. The qualitative study was developed from the Grounded Theory. Data collection occurred through semi-structured interviews, with 19 users as subjects adhering to tuberculosis treatment. The project was approved by the research ethics committee of UFRGS. Survey participants indicate relational risks such as the possibility of harms that tuberculosis is the interaction of the patient with society, with interference with public and private dimensions of everyday life. The recognition of the participants as subjects of risks was part of a process that is producing identities, making them sought an image of the subject concerned with his care and the care of the other, preserving their personal relationships and interaction in society.