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Background: Human activities, such as urbanization and climate change, have facilitated the spread of arbovirus-carrying vectors, disproportionately affecting vulnerable traditional Indigenous communities. Objective: To explore the relationships between subclinical myocardial dysfunction, assessed by global longitudinal strain (GLS), and comprehensive arbovirus serology in an Indigenous population, while also describing the serological and epidemiological profile of dengue, chikungunya, and Zika viruses. Methods: This ancillary study is part of the first phase (2016–2017) of the Project of Atherosclerosis among Indigenous Populations (PAI), a cross-sectional study involving participants from two Indigenous communities with different degrees of urbanization and a highly urbanized city in Northeast Brazil. We assessed the seroprevalence of dengue, chikungunya, and Zika viruses in the Fulni-ô Indigenous community, the less urbanized and most traditional group. Additionally, we explored the relationship between these viruses and subclinical heart disease, assessed by speckle-tracking echocardiography-derived GLS. Results: One hundred seventy-four participants were included, with a median age of 45.0 years (interquartile range 38.0–55.0). The majority were female (58.6%; n = 102). The prevalence of anti-ZIKV IgG was 95.3%; anti-DENV IgG was 85.8%, and anti-CHIKV IgG was 70.9%. GLS abnormalities were detected in nearly half (48.3%) of the cohort. However, no significant association was found between arbovirus serology and GLS. Conclusions: The findings reveal a high prevalence of positive serology for arboviruses and a significant rate of subclinical cardiac dysfunction. There was no significant association between reduced left ventricular longitudinal strain and positive arbovirus serology, likely due to the limited number of participants with indications of acute contact with the viruses studied. However, the unprecedented and relevant results of this study are noteworthy, as they address critical public health issues, particularly in vulnerable populations. Further research is needed to explore these findings in more depth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Arthropod-borne viral diseases are acute febrile illnesses, sometimes with chronic effects, that can be debilitating and even fatal worldwide, affecting particularly vulnerable populations. Indigenous communities face not only the burden of these acute febrile illnesses, but also the cardiovascular complications that are worsened by urbanization. A cross-sectional study was conducted in an Indigenous population in the Northeast Region of Brazil to explore the association between arboviral infections (dengue, chikungunya, and Zika) and cardiac biomarkers, including cardiotrophin 1, growth differentiation factor 15, lactate dehydrogenase B, fatty-acid-binding protein 3, myoglobin, N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide, cardiac troponin I, big endothelin 1, and creatine kinase-MB, along with clinical and anthropometric factors. The study included 174 individuals from the Fulni-ô community, with a median age of 47 years (interquartile range 39.0 to 56.0). High rates of previous exposure to dengue, chikungunya, and Zika were observed (92.5%, 78.2%, and 95.4% anti-IgG, respectively), while acute exposure (anti-IgM) remained low. The biomarkers were linked to age (especially in the elderly), obesity, chronic kidney disease, and previous or recent exposure to chikungunya. This study pioneers the use of Luminex xMAP technology to reveal the association between cardiac inflammatory biomarkers and exposure to classical arboviruses in an Indigenous population undergoing urbanization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Stroke is a major cause of mortality worldwide. Renal dysfunction is an important risk factor for stroke. Brazilian studies on stroke knowledge are generally population based. Studies stratifying stroke knowledge according to comorbidities are rare. Scientific data are essential to guide the awareness of stroke., Objective: To assess stroke knowledge in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) on hemodialysis., Design and Setting: Cross-sectional analytical study of patients with CKD on hemodialysis in north-eastern Brazil., Methods: A self-administered questionnaire survey on stroke awareness was administered to patients with CKD on hemodialysis between April and November 2022. The chi-square test and other descriptive statistics were used. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed using logistic regression., Results: A total of 197 patients were included in the analysis. The Brazilian acronym for stroke was used by 53.5% of the participants. Less than 10.0% of the sample showed optimal decision-making ability regarding stroke. Of the participants, 29.9% knew at least one risk factor and one symptom; however, this was considered as having below the minimum capacity because they did not know the emergency service call number. In the analysis adjusted for income and education, females (odds ratio [OR], 0.40%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.20-0.82), older patients (OR, 0.24%; 95% CI, 0.09-0.63) and having at most one comorbidity (OR, 0.48%; 95% CI, 0.23-0.98) were factors for lower levels of knowledge or ideal decision-making capacity against stroke., Conclusions: Patients on hemodialysis, especially women and older people, have little knowledge about stroke.