Current Situation of Acute Rheumatic Fever and Rheumatic Heart Disease in Latin America and the Caribbean: A Systematic Review.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) disproportionately affects low-income and middle-income countries. Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) have been less represented in scientific literature. We aimed to describe the epidemiology, burden and implemented screening and prevention strategies of RHD in LAC.

Methods

We systematically searched PubMed, Embase, LILACS, and SciELO from 1990 to April 2021. Observational and experimental studies that described data on the epidemiology, burden, or prevention/screening strategies of RHD, regardless of age or language, were included. The risk of bias was assessed by previously published tools depending on their study design. Pre-specified data were independently extracted and presented by each topic (epidemiology, burden, preventio

SUBMITTER: Jaimes-Reyes MA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9438465 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature