The epidemiologic profile and prevalence of cardiopathy in Trypanosoma cruzi infected blood donor candidates, Londrina, Paraná, Brazil

Abstract

To describe the epidemiologic profile and prevalence of cardiopathy in 163 Trypanosoma cruzi serum positive blood donor candidates, a descriptive study was carried out between August, 1996 and November, 1997 at the Londrina State University Chagas Disease Outpatient Clinic. The profile found was: young, average age 42.95 +/- 8.62 years; male (65%); Caucasian (84%); low level of schooling; low family income; agricultural worker (26%); born in the state of Paraná (67%); from rural areas (85%); migrated to the city (85%); and the vector as the main mechanism of transmission. During the clinical characterization a chronic cardiac form was found in 38% of the patients and classified as cardiac suggestive form in 21% and little suggestive of Chagas disease in 17%. No significant difference was found among age group distribution, sex and the presence of cardiac symptoms in patients with or without cardiopathy. This study emphasizes the importance of expanding medical services to areas with a greater prevalence of infected individuals, in a hierarchical manner and aiming at decentralization.

Prevalence of Chagas Disease Among Blood Donor Candidates in Triangulo Mineiro, Minas Gerais State, Brazil

“…Thanks to successful vector control programs, blood transfusion is the second most common mode of transmission for Chagas disease in Latin America. Hence, non-negative donor screening is a challenge for blood bank staff, which ought to identify possible carriers of acute and chronic asymptomatic parasite 14 , 17 .…”

Prevalência de infecção chagásica em doadores de sangue no estado de Pernambuco, Brasil

“…No entanto, essa predominância de indivíduos masculinos é abordada em outro estudo como sendo resultante de diferenças culturais na prática da doação de sangue que comumente atribui aos homens o papel de doador por excelência. 16 Com base no que foi abordado, podemos concluir que a prevalência da doença de Chagas em doadores de sangue do estado de Pernambuco diminuiu consideravelmente ao longo dos anos. Fato este observado quando comparamos índices do passado (4,4%) 13 com a atual prevalência de 0,17% encontrada no presente estudo durante o período analisado.…”

Using a Chagas disease hospital database: a clinical and epidemiological patient profile

“…The predominance of advanced age among patients was probably due to the control practices of the triatomine vector, which occurred during the late 80s and early 90s. Oliveira-Marques et al 9 also showed that the age of infected people among 163 blood donors ranged from 18 to 63 years, in which 65% were male. Furthermore, Teixeira et al 10 evaluated the clinical profile of 43 patients, and found that 63% were over 40 years, and that 28% were female and 72% male.…”

“…Interestingly, when the difference in the gender of the 80 patients was analyzed, a signifi cant correlation between the developed symptomatic clinical form and the gender of the patient was positively associated (p<0.001), where a predominance of the cardiac and cardiodigestive clinical manifestations was found among male patients (Figure 3). de Oliveira-Marques et al 9 , when comparing the clinical forms of CD with age, observed that the chronic cardiac form had lower frequency in patients younger than 30 years (2%). Also, in this study, when the clinical form was compared to the gender, the chronic cardiac form was recorded in 33% of female patients and in 41% of male patients 9 , corroborating our fi ndings.…”