Heterogeneities in the Ecoepidemiology of Trypanosoma cruzi Infection in Rural Communities of the Argentinean Chaco

Cardinal, Marta Victoria; Orozco, Marcela; Enriquez, Gustavo Fabián; Ceballos, Leonardo A.; Gaspe, María Sol; Alvarado-Otegui, Julián A.; Gurevitz, Juan M.; Kitron, Uriel; Gürtler, Ricardo E.

doi:10.4269/ajtmh.13-0251

Cited by 40 publications

(73 citation statements)

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“…In the multivariate analysis, human infection was significantly associated with the household number of infected people and the baseline abundance of infected domestic bugs. A strong association between the relative abundance of infected domestic bugs and the seroprevalence of T. cruzi infection in domestic dogs was recorded previously [20]. These results support the occurrence of vector-borne transmission before the intervention programme and point to the significant contributions of chronically infected people jointly with domestic dogs or cats to the maintenance of domestic parasite transmission.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

“…[16, 18, 20]). In our study area, the median goat-equivalent index of Creole households was 25 times larger than Qom’s.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The study area, denominated Area I, has been described previously [20, 26]. A census of the local human population carried out in November 2011 enumerated a total of 1253 persons: 343 (27.4%) Qom and 880 (70.2%) Creole residents, 18 mixed ethnic backgrounds (1.4%), and 12 (1.0%) had missing data for the ethnic group.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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High levels of human infection with Trypanosoma cruzi associated with the domestic density of infected vectors and hosts in a rural area of northeastern Argentina

et al. 2018

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BackgroundInsecticide spraying campaigns designed to suppress the principal vectors of the Chagas disease usually lack an active surveillance system that copes with house reinvasion. Following an insecticide campaign with no subsequent surveillance over a 12-year period, we implemented a longitudinal intervention programme including periodic surveys for Triatoma infestans, full-coverage house spraying with insecticides, and selective control in a well-defined rural area of the Argentinean Chaco inhabited by Creoles and one indigenous group (Qom). Here, we conducted a cross-sectional study and report the age-specific seroprevalence of human T. cruzi infection by group, and examine the association between human infection, the onset of the intervention, the relative density of infected domestic bugs, and the household number of infected people, dogs, or cats.ResultsThe seroprevalence of infection among 691 residents examined was 39.8% and increased steadily with age, reaching 53–70% in those older than 20 years. The mean annual force of infection was 2.5 per 100 person-years (95% CI: 1.8–3.3%). Infection in children younger than 16 years born before the intervention programme was two to four times higher in houses with infected T. infestans than in houses without them and was six times higher when there were both infected dogs or cats and bugs than when they were absent. The model-averaged estimate of the intervention effect suggests that the odds of seropositivity were about nine times smaller for those born after the onset of the intervention than for those born before it, regardless of ethnic background, age, gender, household wealth, and cohabitation with T. cruzi-infected vectors or human hosts. Human infection was also closely associated with the baseline abundance of infected domestic triatomines and the number of infected cohabitants. Two of 43 children born after interventions were T. cruzi-seropositive; since their mothers were seropositive and both resided in apparently uninfested houses they were attributed to vertical transmission. Alternatively, these cases could be due to non-local vector-borne transmission.ConclusionsOur study reveals high levels of human infection with T. cruzi in the Argentinean Chaco, and the immediate impact of sustained vector surveillance and selective control actions on transmission.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s13071-018-3069-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

“…[16, 18, 20]). In our study area, the median goat-equivalent index of Creole households was 25 times larger than Qom’s.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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High levels of human infection with Trypanosoma cruzi associated with the domestic density of infected vectors and hosts in a rural area of northeastern Argentina

et al. 2018

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“…The disturbed area (a rural section of 450 km 2 ) was described elsewhere (Orozco et al, 2013); small patches of native forest were close to the houses, usually subjected to intense human pressure. The prevalence of house infestation with T. infestans was 46% (Gurevitz et al, 2013) and the infection with T. cruzi was high (22-29%) in domestic bugs, dogs and cats (Cardinal et al, 2014) before a community-wide residual insecticide spraying conducted in November 2007.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A comparative study of Trypanosoma cruzi infection in sylvatic mammals from a protected and a disturbed area in the Argentine Chaco

et al. 2016

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Understanding the complex epidemiology of Trypanosoma cruzi transmission cycles requires comparative studies in widely different environments. We assessed the occurrence of T. cruzi infection in sylvatic mammals, their infectiousness to the vector, and parasite genotypes in a protected area of the Argentine Chaco, and compared them with information obtained similarly in a nearby disturbed area. A total of 278 mammals from >23 species in the protected area were diagnosed for T. cruzi infection using xenodiagnosis, kDNA-PCR and nuclear satellite DNA-PCR (SAT) from blood samples. The relative abundance and species composition differed substantially between areas. Didelphis albiventris opossums were less abundant in the protected area; had a significantly lower body mass index, and a stage structure biased toward earlier stages. The capture of armadillos was lower in the protected area. The composite prevalence of T. cruzi infection across host species was significantly lower in the protected area (11.1%) than in the disturbed area (22.1%), and heterogeneous across species groups. The prevalence of infection in D. albiventris and Thylamys pusilla opossums was significantly lower in the protected area (nil for D. albiventris), whereas infection in sigmodontine rodents was three times higher in the protected area (17.5 versus 5.7%). Parasite isolates from the two xenodiagnosis-positive mammals (1 Dasypus novemcinctus and 1 Conepatus chinga) were typed as TcIII; both specimens were highly infectious to Triatoma infestans. Fat-tailed opossums, bats and rodents were kDNA-PCR-positive and xenodiagnosis-negative. Desmodus rotundus and Myotis bats were found infected with T. cruzi for the first time in the Gran Chaco.

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“…Domestic dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) are important reservoirs of T. cruzi and contribute to the domestic transmission of the disease owing to their proximity to men (Pineda et al, 2011;Enríquez et al, 2013;Ramírez et al, 2013). Their role as a reservoir and risk factor in the transmission of the pathogen to humans has been studied in different regions (Crisante et al, 2006;Rojas et al, 2008;Portugal-García et al, 2011;Cardinal et al, 2014), suggesting good sentinels of this parasitic disease. In Chile this scenario has not yet been evaluated.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An entomological and seroepidemiological study of the vectorial‐transmission risk of Chagas disease in the coast of northern Chile

González

Reyes

Canals

et al. 2015

Medical Vet Entomology

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Four species of triatomines are known from Chile: Triatoma infestans Klug, Mepraia spinolai Porter, M. gajardoi Frías, Henry & González, and M. parapatrica Frías (Hemiptera: Reduviidae), the last three are endemic. The geographical distribution of M. gajardoi includes the coastal areas in the north of Chile between 18° and 21°S, an area with both a resident workforce and summer-season visitors. A study was developed to assess the risk of vectorial transmission of Chagas disease by M. gajardoi in hut settlements on the coast of the Tarapacá Region, in particular in Caleta San Marcos and Caleta Río Seco. The study comprised fingerstick sampling of 95 persons, venous samples from 29 domestic dogs and capture of 52 triatomines, from both fishing coves. The samples were analysed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) techniques. The results show that, of the total number of persons studied, 100% were negative for Trypanosoma cruzi Chagas (Trypanosomatida: Trypanosomatidae) antibodies, 10.34% of canids were positive for the antibody and 5.8% of M. gajardoi were infected to the PCR technique. The presence of this species in areas close to human settlements constitutes a risk to human populations established on the coast of northern Chile.

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Heterogeneities in the Ecoepidemiology of Trypanosoma cruzi Infection in Rural Communities of the Argentinean Chaco

Cited by 40 publications

References 33 publications

High levels of human infection with Trypanosoma cruzi associated with the domestic density of infected vectors and hosts in a rural area of northeastern Argentina

High levels of human infection with Trypanosoma cruzi associated with the domestic density of infected vectors and hosts in a rural area of northeastern Argentina

A comparative study of Trypanosoma cruzi infection in sylvatic mammals from a protected and a disturbed area in the Argentine Chaco

An entomological and seroepidemiological study of the vectorial‐transmission risk of Chagas disease in the coast of northern Chile

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