ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to describe the experience of treatment of early prosthetic valve endocarditis at a heart center. DESIGN AND SETTING: Retrospective single-center study on data collected from electronic medical records covering the period from January 2009 to December 2015. METHODS: Over the study period, 1,557 consecutive valve operations were performed on adult patients. The study population comprised 32 patients (2%) who were diagnosed with prosthetic valve endocarditis within 12 months after the index surgery. Medical records were retrieved from electronic hospital records, retrospectively. Descriptive clinical, echocardiographic, microbiological and treatment-type data were used. Risk factors for early mortality were studied through univariate and multivariate analyses. RESULTS: The main clinical manifestation of infective endocarditis was fever, and this was present in all patients. Most of the prostheses were affected in the aortic position (40.6% of cases). The most commonly cultured microorganisms were Staphylococcus epidermidis and Staphylococcus aureus. Twenty-six patients (81.3%) underwent surgical treatment and six (18.7%) underwent exclusive clinical treatment. The prevalence of postoperative complications was 31.3% and hospital mortality occurred in seven cases (21.9%). The mortality rate was 50% among the patients who underwent medical treatment and 15.4% among those who underwent surgery. There were no independent risk factors for mortality. CONCLUSION: Prosthetic valve endocarditis is an infrequent complication of valve replacement. Surgical treatment has mortality rates compatible with the severity of patients’ conditions. Surgical indication should not be delayed when clinical treatment has been ineffective

BACKGROUND There is little information on the effect of using deltamethrin-impregnated dog collars for the control of canine visceral leishmaniasis. OBJECTIVES The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the use of 4% deltamethrin-impregnated collars (Scalibor®) in controlling visceral leishmaniasis in Lutzomyia longipalpis by comparing populations in intervention and non-intervention areas. METHODS Phlebotomine flies were captured over 30 months in four neighbourhoods with intense visceral leishmaniasis transmission in Fortaleza and Montes Claros. We calculated the rates of domicile infestation, relative abundance of Lu. longipalpis, and Lu. longipalpis distribution in each site, capture location (intra- and peridomestic locations) and area (intervention and non-intervention areas). FINDINGS In the control area in Fortaleza, the relative abundance of Lu. longipalpis was 415 specimens at each capture site, whereas in the intervention area it was 159.25; in Montes Claros, the relative abundance was 5,660 specimens per capture site in the control area, whereas in the intervention area it was 2,499.4. The use of dog collars was associated with a reduction in captured insects of 15% (p = 0.004) and 60% (p < 0.001) in Montes Claros and Fortaleza, respectively. MAIN CONCLUSIONS We observed a lower vector abundance in the intervention areas, suggesting an effect of the insecticide-impregnated collars.