Seroepidemiological study of Chagas disease in the community of Copey-El Guayabillo, State of Carabobo, Venezuela

[摘要] Introduction: Chagas disease, caused by Trypanosoma cruzi and transmitted by insects of the family Reduviidae, is considered to be a public health problem due to its magnitude and impact. It is one of the communicable diseases most broadly distributed in the American continent. The factors involved in its transmission cycle include the poor quality of housing, the material of which walls and roofs are built, the presence of other reservoirs of the parasite, the endophilia and exophilia of the vector, and the presence of trees and other habitats. Objective: determine the seroprevalence of the disease in the community of Copey-El Guayabillo, State of Carabobo. Methods: a study was conducted of 115 patients from 36 households, who were given an epidemiological survey, 3 serological tests (ELISA [enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay], indirect hemagglutination and indirect immunofluorescence). Results: overall prevalence was 6.09% for people over 40, with a predominance of the male sex (71 %) and the occupation of agricultural worker (57.14 %). Most seropositive patients (71.43 %) lived in huts with laminated metal covers. 85.71 % of the houses had annexed structures (henhouses, woodsheds and pigpens). No fecal traces, eggs, exuviae, or living or dead specimens (nymphs or adults) of the vector were found inside the houses surveyed. Eighteen animals were tested by xenodiagnosis with negative results. Conclusion: these results indicate that there was no active transmission of the disease in the community at the time of the research.

[学科分类] 传染病学

[关键词] Chagas disease;seroprevalence;xenodiagnoses