Epidemiological profile of acute Chagas disease in individuals infected by oral transmission in northern Brazil.

George Harisson Felinto Sampaio,Nathan Ravi Medeiros Honorato,Antônia Claudia Jácome Da Câmara,Lúcia Maria Da Cunha Galvão,Luara Musse De Oliveira,Andressa Noronha Barbosa Da Silva,Carlos Ramon Do Nascimento Brito

doi:10.1590/0037-8682-0088-2020

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Oral infection by Trypanosoma cruzi is currently the most important route of transmission of acute Chagas disease (ACD) in the North region of Brazil, and the reported outbreaks are usually related to ingestion of contaminated food, especially unprocessed açaí pulp. METHODS A retrospective cohort study was performed to analyze the epidemiological profile of individuals with suspected cases of ACD in the municipality of Breves, located in the state of Pará, Brazil. Therefore, notifications of suspected cases of ACD were collected from the Municipal Health Department of Breves from January 2007 to December 2017. RESULTS A total of 265 individuals were registered, and the majority were male (54.7%; 145/265). Age ranged from nine months to 79 years, with a greater number of notifications for individuals aged between 1 and 39 years (71.3%; 189/265). Most of them had a low level of education (74.3%, 197/265), were living in rural and urban areas (58.9%; 156/265 and 37.7%; 100/265, respectively). Infection occurred mainly in the domestic environment (96.2%; 255/265) through oral transmission (98.1%; 260/265). There were a greater number of notifications in November, December and January. CONCLUSIONS These data showed that oral transmission of T. cruzi has become increasingly high in the study region, and health education programs need to be implemented as strategies to ensure good manufacturing practices of unprocessed food.

Highlights

Oral infection by Trypanosoma cruzi is currently the most important route of transmission of acute Chagas disease (ACD) in the North region of Brazil, and the reported outbreaks are usually related to ingestion of contaminated food, especially unprocessed açaí pulp
American trypanosomiasis or Chagas disease, an anthropozoonosis caused by Trypanosoma cruzi, is one of the 17 neglected tropical diseases that still persist in the poorest societies and affect approximately six million people worldwide[1]
The present study evaluates the epidemiological profile of individuals suspected of ACD in the municipality of Breves, State of Pará, Brazil, and to understand the route of infection in order to help improve public policies to prevent the oral transmission of T. cruzi

Summary

Introduction

Oral infection by Trypanosoma cruzi is currently the most important route of transmission of acute Chagas disease (ACD) in the North region of Brazil, and the reported outbreaks are usually related to ingestion of contaminated food, especially unprocessed açaí pulp. Notifications of suspected cases of ACD were collected from the Municipal Health Department of Breves from January 2007 to December 2017. Conclusions: These data showed that oral transmission of T. cruzi has become increasingly high in the study region, and health education programs need to be implemented as strategies to ensure good manufacturing practices of unprocessed food. As a result of larger migration flows, chagasic infection is no longer found only in endemic areas of Latin America; it is diagnosed in countries considered to be non-endemic.

Methods

Results

Conclusion