Abstract
Several parasitological studies carried out in El Salvador between 2000-2012 showed a higher frequency of acute cases of Chagas disease than that in other Central American countries. There is an urgent need for improved Chagas disease surveillance and vector control programs in the provinces where acute Chagas disease occurs and throughout El Salvador as a whole.
Highlights
The high incidence of acute Chagas disease in El Salvador has been known for several years
Even though the possibility of contracting the parasite by ingestion of contaminated fruit was recently reported in Venezuela (Alarcón de Noya et al 2010), oral transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi has not been reported in El Salvador or other Central American countries
Several factors may have contributed to the effective detection of acute Chagas disease cases, including (i) improved health facility access, permitted by small territories with a high density of medical facilities, (ii) the presence of trained health personnel who can recognise the diagnostic indicators of acute cases (Romaña’s signs and chagoma) and (iii) the presence of health promoters, who are each assigned 200 families and are required to make routine house visits to implement public health activities at least once a month
Summary
The high incidence of acute Chagas disease in El Salvador has been known for several years. Previous studies have suggested that acute cases of Chagas disease are rarely observed in Latin American countries (Dias & Schofield 1999) because most cases are asymptomatic, with only 1-2% of infected individuals experiencing symptoms (Coura 2007).
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