Abstract:Risk factors for hydatid disease in high school students in the district of Punitaqui, ChileBackground: Hydatidosis is an endemic zoonosis in different areas of Chile, including the Region of Coquimbo, this is linked to the slaughter of cattle and presence of dogs. Objective: To identify risk factors related to hydatidosis in the home of high school students of Punitaqui. Material: A descriptive cross-sectional study was done by the application of a self-administered questionnaire to 274 students of high schoo… Show more
“…En Chile se ha demostrado desconocimiento de la EQ, el que varía según la región y la población estudiada. Particularmente, se ha encontrado que, en estudiantes de enseñanza secundaria de la comuna de Punitaqui, existen factores de riesgo que favorecen la presencia del parásito como la tenencia de perros, crianza y faena de ganado en áreas rurales y urbanas 8,18,19 .…”
Declaración de conflictos de interés: Los autores declaran no tener ningún conflicto de interés real, potencial o evidente, ninguna conexión financiera ni cualquier otro vínculo o conflicto de interés que pudiera sesgar nuestro trabajo. Financiamiento: La investigación fue financiada con fondos estatales por el Gobierno
“…En Chile se ha demostrado desconocimiento de la EQ, el que varía según la región y la población estudiada. Particularmente, se ha encontrado que, en estudiantes de enseñanza secundaria de la comuna de Punitaqui, existen factores de riesgo que favorecen la presencia del parásito como la tenencia de perros, crianza y faena de ganado en áreas rurales y urbanas 8,18,19 .…”
Declaración de conflictos de interés: Los autores declaran no tener ningún conflicto de interés real, potencial o evidente, ninguna conexión financiera ni cualquier otro vínculo o conflicto de interés que pudiera sesgar nuestro trabajo. Financiamiento: La investigación fue financiada con fondos estatales por el Gobierno
“…14 This procedure allows identifying families with either low or high risk of disease transmission, based on existing knowledge about the natural history of the disease and factors associated with statistical significance, compiled from guides from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the national and provincial health departments, and literature searches. 1,2,7,8,[15][16][17] To carry out the stratification procedure, a Family Epidemiological Survey (FES) on CE was implemented, which is characterized by closed-end questions containing variables oriented to the presence of components of the cycle of transmission of the disease. Families were thus stratified in high or low risk of transmission (Supplemental Material 2).…”
Hydatidosis is a zoonosis of worldwide distribution with endemic areas in Argentina. The present epidemiological study was conducted to explore the presence of cystic echinococcosis in the rural community of Los Bordos (population 99), in the northern province of La Rioja, Argentina, during March 2018. The study included the search for cysts by abdominal ultrasound and a survey on family risk. Sixty-seven people agreed to undergo ultrasound examination, and five adults showed images compatible with hydatic cysts (7.5% prevalence). A family survey was applied to 29 households (78%), stratifying 24 families (83%) as high risk (95% confidence interval = 64.2–94.1) and 5 (17%) as low risk (95% confidence interval = 5.8–55.7) of transmission of the disease, respectively. The values were statistically different by the McNemar test. The goal of the present study, the first study of its kind in La Rioja, was to assess the family risk of echinococcosis among subjects with ultrasound images compatible with cystic echinococcosis.
Background
Cystic echinococcosis (CE) caused by Echinococcus granulosus sensu lato (s.l.) is a neglected and underdiagnosed parasitic zoonosis that has a significant socioeconomic impact on rural communities relying on livestock farming. CE is endemic across Latin America, including Chile, where the Coquimbo region exhibits a relatively high record of hospital-based human cases and infected animals. However, the incidence of hospitalized CE cases may underestimate the real burden of infection in a population, since the majority of cases never reach medical attention or official disease records.
Methodology/Principal findings
In 2019, a cross-sectional, community-based study was conducted with the objectives of estimating for the first time the prevalence of human abdominal CE using abdominal ultrasound (US) screening in volunteers residing in urban and rural localities of the Monte Patria municipality located in Limarí province, Coquimbo region, Chile, and identifying the risk factors associated with human infection. Pre-screening activities included a 16-h lecture/hands-on training aimed at rural physicians that focused on the diagnosis of CE by US, based on current WHO recommendations. A total of 2,439 (~8% of municipality inhabitants) people from thirteen target localities were screened by abdominal US in June-July 2019. We found an overall CE prevalence of 1.6% (95% CI 1.1–2.2) with a significantly higher likelihood of infection in rural localities, older age classes and people drinking non-potable water; 84.6% of infected volunteers were newly diagnosed with CE. Cysts were either in active or inactive stages in equal proportions; active cysts were detected in all age classes, while 95.7% of inactive cysts occurred in >40 years-old subjects.
Conclusions/Significance
This is the first US survey aimed at detecting human infection caused by Echinococcus granulosus s.l. in Chile. Our findings indicate a high CE prevalence in the area, and contribute to define the demographic and behavioral risk factors promoting the transmission of the parasitic infection within target communities. Our results support the implementation of cost-effective strategies for the diagnosis, treatment and control of CE, and the need to improve the epidemiological surveillance system in Chile.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.