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Background Underlying comorbidities have been widely associated with a worse prognosis for COVID-19 patients, since viral infections could act as triggers for worsening of chronic diseases. Although Chagas disease (CD) is endemic in Latin America, it has been recognized that the disease is now a worldwide concern. Information on the interplay between COVID-19 and CDis lacking. Purpose To assess clinical characteristics and in-hospital outcomes of patients with CD and COVID-19, and to compare it to non-CD patients. Methods Patients with COVID-19 diagnosis were selected from the Brazilian COVID-19 Registry, a prospective multicenter cohort, from March to September, 2020. CD diagnosis was based on hospital record at the time of admission. Study data were collected by trained hospital staff using Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap) tools. Genetic matching for sex, age, hypertension, DM and hospital was performed in a 4:1 ratio. Results Of the 7,018 patients who had confirmed infection with SARS-CoV-2 in the registry, 31 patients with CD and 124 matched controls were included. Overall, the median age was 72 (64.-80) years-old and 44.5% were male. At baseline, heart failure (25.8% vs. 9.7%) and atrial fibrillation (29.0% vs. 5.6%) were more frequent in CD patients than in the controls (p Conclusions In this large Brazilian COVID-19 Registry, CD patients had a higher prevalence of atrial fibrillation and chronic heart failure compared with non-CD controls, with no differences in-hospital outcomes. The lower C-reactive protein levels in CD patients require further investigation. Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding sources: Public grant(s) – National budget only. Main funding source(s): This study was supported in part by Minas Gerais State Agency for Research and Development (Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais - FAPEMIG) [grant number APQ-00208-20], National Institute of Science and Technology for Health Technology Assessment (Instituto de Avaliação de Tecnologias em Saúde – IATS)/ National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnolόgico - CNPq) [grant number 465518/2014-1], Table 1. Clinical outcomes more...

Epidemiología; Microbiología; SARS-CoV-2 Epidemiologia; Microbiologia; SARS-CoV-2 Epidemiology; Microbiology; SARS-CoV-2 Chagas disease (CD) continues to be a major public health burden in Latina America. Information on the interplay between COVID-19 and CD is lacking. Our aim was to assess clinical characteristics and in-hospital outcomes of patients with CD and COVID-19, and to compare it to non-CD patients. Consecutive patients with confirmed COVID-19 were included from March to September 2020. Genetic matching for sex, age, hypertension, diabetes mellitus and hospital was performed in a 4:1 ratio. Of the 7018 patients who had confirmed COVID-19, 31 patients with CD and 124 matched controls were included (median age 72 (64–80) years-old, 44.5% were male). At baseline, heart failure (25.8% vs. 9.7%) and atrial fibrillation (29.0% vs. 5.6%) were more frequent in CD patients than in the controls (p more...

ObjectiveChagas disease (CD) continues to be a major public health burden in Latina America, where co-infection with SARS-CoV-2 can occur. However, information on the interplay between COVID-19 and Chagas disease is lacking. Our aim was to assess clinical characteristics and in-hospital outcomes of patients with CD and COVID-19, and to compare it to non-CD patients.MethodsPatients with COVID-19 diagnosis were selected from the Brazilian COVID-19 Registry, a prospective multicenter cohort, from March to September, 2020. CD diagnosis was based on hospital record at the time of admission. Study data were collected by trained hospital staff using Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap) tools. Genetic matching for sex, age, hypertension, DM and hospital was performed in a 4:1 ratio.ResultsOf the 7,018 patients who had confirmed infection with SARS-CoV-2 in the registry, 31 patients with CD and 124 matched controls were included. Overall, the median age was 72 (64.-80) years-old and 44.5% were male. At baseline, heart failure (25.8% vs. 9.7%) and atrial fibrillation (29.0% vs. 5.6%) were more frequent in CD patients than in the controls (pConclusionsIn this large Brazilian COVID-19 Registry, CD patients had a higher prevalence of atrial fibrillation and chronic heart failure compared with non-CD controls, with no differences in-hospital outcomes. The lower C-reactive protein levels in CD patients require further investigation.Key messagesWhat is already known about this subject?Preexisting cardiovascular disease enhances vulnerability to COVID-19.Co-infection with SARS-CoV-2 and T.cruzi can occur in patients living in areas in which both infections are epidemic.What does this study add?Despite a higher frequency of chronic heart failure and atrial fibrillation, our findings do not suggest that co-infection with T.cruzi and SARS-CoV-2 worsens in-hospital outcomes.Chagas disease patients were observed to have lower C-reactive protein (CRP) levels.How might this impact on clinical practice?Given the current circulation of SARS-CoV-2 at high levels and millions of T cruzi-infected individuals living in Brazil, the risk for co-infections substantially increases.Further studies are needed to investigate why CRP levels were lower in CD patients. We hypothesized that CD patients might have a lower risk of unregulated inflammatory response to COVID-19, as they already have an active chronic inflammatory and immune response response triggered by T.cruzi infection. more...