Abstract
A descriptive, entomological and seroepidemiological study on Chagas disease was conducted in a place of recent occupation on the outskirts of Cochabamba, Bolivia: Avaroa/Primer de Mayo (population:3,000), where the socio-economic level is low and no control measures have been made available. The immunofluorescent antibody test (IFAT) was used for IgG and IgM anti-Trypanosoma cruzi antibodies in filter paper bloodspot eluates from 128 subjects (73 females, 55 males) selected by systematic sampling. Concerning each subject age, gender, birthplace, occupation, duration of residence and building materials used in their houses were recorded. Vectors were captured both in domestic and peridomestic environments. Seropositive, 12.5% (16/128): females, 15.1% (11/73); males, 9.1% (5/55). Average time of residence: 6.1 years for the whole population sample and 7.4 years for the seropositive subjects. Most houses had adobe walls (76. 7%, n= 30), galvanized iron rooves (86.7%) and earthen floors (53. 4%) 80% of the walls had crevices. One hundred forty seven specimens of Triatoma infestans were captured, of which 104 (70.7%) were domestic, and 1 peridomestic Triatoma sordida. Precipitin host identification: birds, 67.5%; humans, 27.8%; rodents, 11.9%; dogs, 8. 7%; cats, 1.6%. House infestation and density indices were 53.3 and 493.0 respectively. We found 21 (14.3%) specimens of T. infestans infected with trypanosomes, 18 (85.7%) of which in domestic environments. The elements for the vector transmission of Chagas disease are present in Avaroa/Primer de Mayo and the ancient custom of keeping guinea pigs indoors adds to the risk of human infection. In neighboring Cochabamba, due to substandard quality control, contaminated blood transfusions are not infrequent, which further aggravates the spread of Chagas disease. Prompt action to check the transmission of this infection, involving additionally the congenital and transfusional modes of acquisition, is required.
Highlights
A descriptive, entomological and seroepidemiological study on Chagas disease was conducted in a place of recent occupation on the outskirts of Cochabamba, Bolivia: Avaroa/Primer de Mayo, where the socio-economic level is low and no control measures have been made available
The elements for the vector transmission of Chagas disease are present in Avaroa/Primer de Mayo and the ancient custom of keeping guinea pigs indoors adds to the risk of human infection
No seropositives were detected among the 42 subjects (32.8% of the sample) aged under 10 years, 9 of them (21.4%) were residents of houses in which triatomines infected with T. cruzi had been found (Table 5)
Summary
A descriptive, entomological and seroepidemiological study on Chagas disease was conducted in a place of recent occupation on the outskirts of Cochabamba, Bolivia: Avaroa/Primer de Mayo (population: 3,000), where the socio-economic level is low and no control measures have been made available. As is often the case in South America, Chagas disease remains a serious public health problem in Bolivia It is one of the consequences of poor standards of housing, education and hygiene prevailing in the rural, peri-urban and urban places inhabited by more than half the population of the country. Triatoma infestans occurs in 7 of the 9 Departments into which Bolivia is divided, viz La Paz, Cochabamba, Tarija, Chuquisaca, Potosí, Santa Cruz and Beni. These departments add up to 84% of the Bolivian territory, and include valleys and lowlands (llanos), at altitudes between 300 and 3,500 meters[23]. Local researchers place great emphasis on investigating such problems, posed by Chagas disease in peri-urban areas, as congenital transmission, www.fsp.usp.br/~rsp the sylvatic cycle of T. infestans, the action of insecticides and specific treatment[4]
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