Abstract
BackgroundThe National Army of Colombia is present in all of the national territory, focused in sylvatic zones where they are exposed continually to potential risk of transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiological agent of the Chagas disease. People of this study were active personal that were born and lived during their first years in endemic areas of transmission through domiciled vectors as Rhodnius prolixus.AimThe main aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of Chagas disease in the active military population of the National Army, gathered in five departments.MethodsAn observational and descriptive study with cross-sectional analysis was carried out. Blood sample each patient in order to apply serological diagnosis by two different Enzyme Linked ImmunoSorbent Assay tests, following the algorithm of National Institute of Health, Colombia. In cases of serum results with inconsistencies, a Hemagglutination Inhibition test and Indirect Immunofluorescence assay test were performed to solve inconclusiveness. Positive samples by two different tests were considered seropositive. Additionally, to each positive sample by at least one serological test, we did extraction of DNA for molecular diagnosis.Results295 serums were analyzed and two of them were positive in order to get a prevalence of 0.68%. Two samples analyzed by molecular diagnosis were negative.ConclusionThe prevalence was < 1% It is probable the infection in the seropositive individuals occurred before enlisting in the military service due to origin locations with transmission such as Casanare and Boyacá. These findings allow defining the prevention and control programs of chronic cases and reduction in the disease burden.
Highlights
Chagas disease is a zoonosis caused by the protozoan hemoflagellate Trypanosoma cruzi, which is transmitted to humans mainly by insects of the triatominae subfamily (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) throughout skin contact and mucous membranes with feces and other secretions of these insects [1]
The enzootic transmission is mediated by sylvatic triatominae such as R. pallescens, Eratyrus cuspidatus, Panstrongylus rufotuberculatus and Psammolestes arthuri, who participate when people enter into sylvatic transmission due to recreational or work activities as patrolling by active military population of The National Army of Colombia [5, 12,13,14]
The main aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of chronic phase infection with T. cruzi in active military population of the Colombian National Army gathered in five departments during 2018, as an initial part of surveillance and control program of the Chagas disease inside the military forces of Colombia
Summary
Chagas disease is a zoonosis caused by the protozoan hemoflagellate Trypanosoma cruzi, which is transmitted to humans mainly by insects of the triatominae subfamily (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) throughout skin contact and mucous membranes with feces and other secretions of these insects [1]. Vector transmission of T. cruzi is the most frequently way of Chagas disease transmission in Colombia. In this country 25 species of triatomines have been reported in 423 municipalities located under 2000mamsl distributed in 31 departments [3,4,5]. Rhodnius prolixus is the main vector species of T. cruzi in Colombia, its domiciliation in part of the Andean region, eastern plains of Orinoco and the Sierra Nevada of Santa Marta has been responsible for most of the transmission during years [3, 6, 7]. People of this study were active personal that were born and lived during their first years in endemic areas of transmission through domiciled vectors as Rhodnius prolixus
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