As part of an epidemiological study on leishmaniasis in Merida, Venezuela, the diversity and dispersion of sandflies species found in 15 localities between 175 m and 1,960 m.a.s.l., are presented. From 7,126 collected sandflies (5,132 female and 1,994 male), 24 species were identified, 10 of them recognized as anthropophilic. The relation species-altitude is presented, and the species composition found in human dwellings, periodomestic and sylvatic areas, are recorded. The possible role of the identified species on the transmission of leishmaniasis in the andean region, is discussed.
2l1 days of evolution (mean = 47; DE = 36.7). Their ages ranged from 0 to 75 years (mean = 21). The clinical, parasitological, serological and immunological diagnosis of CL were studied. The LST reactivity was compared with respect to years age, sex, number and evolution of the lesion, before and after the treatment with glucantime (G)injected intramuscularly (IM). Second and third injections the G were necessary in 61.97% and 12.76% of thee patients respectively. The time required for healing ranged from 30 to 120 days. The diameter of the induration was of 5 to 27 mm before the treatment, and up to 27 mm of induration when no clinical manifestations were abserved in all cases of CL. A higher proportion of positive skin test was obtained in the > 8 years age group (79.22%) than in the younger group. The relatively higher prevalence of LST in children from 1 to 10 years correlates with the percentage distribution of positive parasitaemias, and is associated wih the male patients. These findings suggest that it is the intensity rather than the simple occurrence of parasitaemia which determine, the association into the LST and number and evolution of lesion in these cases of Cl. The frequency of LST positivity was higher in individual males (55.63%). When these infections were grouped according to years age, sex and time of infection, and relationship with LST, the differences were no longer significant]]>
This study has been done to evaluate the central nervous system (CNS) of mice infected with Trypanosoma cruzi and its relationships with the irreversible decrease of motor activity of the rear limbs during acute Chagas´disease. The course of the present study shows the in vivo behaviour of three parasites strains which were isolated from different sources and geographical areas, with the purpose of explaining the parasitemia, mortality rate, clinical, pathological and histopathological changes in the CNS of infected mice. The mice were injected intraperitoneally with 5.10 3 bloodstreams of different T. cruzi strains. The mice infected with PR and ASM strains from Venezuela, showed low parasitemia and high mortality, while the Y strain produced higher parasitemia levels. At the 30th day post-infection both left parietal brain cortex (LPC) and spinal cord (SC) were sectioned, stained with hematoxilin and eosin (H-E) and examined by means of confocal ligth microscopy. At this time, the pathology of the CNS exhibited focal infiltrates of monocytes, lymphocytes, plasmocytes, polymorphonuclear cells and loss of neuronas and motoneurons. The sections of LPC of infected mice with ASM strain, showed loss neuronal, parasites and abundant T. cruzi antigen deposits in the proximity of the swollen neurons. The sections of SC stained with Enolase-Avidin-Biotin-Peroxidase showed a reduction in the average number of neurons of the cervical region (CR) of the infected mice with PR, ASM and Y strains. Sections stained with Propidium Ioduro (IP) showed a reduction of the number of motoneurons in all regions of the SC, with a significant difference between groups infected with different T. cruzi strains and control uninfected mice (P < 0.05). This study established a correlation between the parasitism in the proximity to inflammatory cells, together the appearance of T. cruzi antigen and neuronal destruction in the brain. Therefore it can be concluded that the changes in CNS may be attributed to early parasitism in nervous tissue, which occur in a few days, involving clinico-pathological manifestations, which produced alterations of the mobility with paralysis of the rear limbs and death in 100% of mice with acute infection produced by PR and ASM-T. cruzi strains from Venezuela.
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