Carolina Cunto de Athayde et al. Fabio Akio Nishijuka Márcia Cavalcanti de Campos Queiroz Monica Medeiros Luna … Jaime Lobo Figueiredo Nadia Matias de Albuquerque Sebastião Carlos Ribeiro de Castilho Renata R. T. Castro
Introduction
Heart failure (HF) is a chronic condition with worldwide high and growing prevalence. –
It is extremely important to identify the cause of decompensated HF in order to manage cases correctly, given that identification makes it possible to implement specific treatment and prevent new hospitalizations. In Brazil, the main causes are poor adherence to medical treatment (30%) and infections (23%), mainly pulmonary bacterial ones. For this reason, patients with HF should receive the pneumococcal vaccine. Although it is less common, decompensation may occur due to viral infections, which justifies vaccination against influenza in these patients.
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