Peridomiciliary colonies of Triatoma vitticeps (Stal, 1859) (Hemiptera, Reduviidae, Triatominae) infected with Trypanosoma cruzi in rural areas of the state of Espírito Santo, Brazil

Evaluation of the Chagas Disease Control Program in Açucena Municipality, Rio Doce Valley, State of Minas Gerais, Brazil

“…Other authors have confi rmed high rates of natural infection with T. cruzi, with a rate of positivity between 25% and 65% of insects examined [24][25][26][27] . Curiously, in the State of Espírito Santo where the frequency of T. vitticeps and positivity for T. cruzi is higher in rural dwellings, the prevalence of Chagas disease is low and limited to autochthonous cases of transmission by this species 28 . In contrast, it is well known that the domestic colonization capacity of this species is low 28 .…”

“…Curiously, in the State of Espírito Santo where the frequency of T. vitticeps and positivity for T. cruzi is higher in rural dwellings, the prevalence of Chagas disease is low and limited to autochthonous cases of transmission by this species 28 . In contrast, it is well known that the domestic colonization capacity of this species is low 28 . However, these authors observed that domiciliary invasion occurred in areas of recent deforestation due to the introduction of local hydroelectric factories, and that the adults were attracted by the light of the residences.…”

Feeding behavior of Triatoma vitticeps (Reduviidae: Triatominae) in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil

“…Studies carried out on T. vitticeps populations in ES, RJ and MG demonstrated the capacity of this triatomine to invade houses (Santos et al 1969c, Ferreira et al 1986, Sessa & Carias 1986, Dias et al 1989, Gonçalves et al 1998, Souza et al 2008. Similarly, these invasive insects were always highly infected with flagellates similar to Trypanosoma cruzi (Pinto et al 1969, Santos et al 1969a, b, Barros et al 1975, Sessa & Carias 1986, Dias et al 1989, Gonçalves et al 1998, dos Santos et al 2005. On the other hand, colonization is not efficient and several studies on the feeding habits of this triatomine using the precipitin method demonstrated some difficulty to obtain a full meal.…”

Infecção natural de Triatoma vitticeps (Stal, 1859) por flagelados morfologicamente semelhantes a Trypanosoma cruzi (Chagas, 1909) no Estado do Espírito Santo

“…Tal método se mostrou eficiente na detecção dos flagelados, sendo que Sherlock 13 sugere que o conteúdo alimentar no estômago do inseto pressiona os túbulos de Malpighi liberando excretas ricos em tripomastigotas. Os índices de infecção natural altos em geral apresentados por T. vitticeps podem ser atribuídos principalmente à sua relação estreita com mamíferos silvestres não refratários a T. cruzi 8 , indicando o potencial da espécie na manutenção do ciclo silvestre da doença de Chagas em sua área de ocorrência. Provavelmente a baixa incidência da doença de Chagas humana autóctone no estado seja decorrente do hábito que tem esta espécie em eliminar seus dejetos tardiamente após o repasto sanguíneo 3 9 , visto que trabalhos sobre especificidade alimentar demonstraram presença marcante de T. vitticeps no intradomicílio e contato freqüente com o homem 4 5 .…”