Seroprevalence of Chagas disease in schoolchildren from two municipalities of Jequitinhonha Valley, Minas Gerais, Brazil; six years following the onset of epidemiological surveillance

Abstract

SUMMARYSix years after the beginning of the epidemiological surveillance of Chagas disease in Berilo and José Gonçalves de Minas, Jequitinhonha Valley, MG, Brazil, a serological inquiry was performed to observe whether the transmission of this endemy was occurring in this area. A randomized sample of 1,412 children seven to 14 years old, was screened. Six asymptomatic children were found to be positive, leading to 0.4% of prevalence. Hemoculture confirmed infection in five out of the six positive cases. Additional epidemiological investigation revealed important antecedents, such as disease reports in relatives and predisposing ecological and housing conditions. Our results demonstrated similar seroprevalence (0.4%) in schoolchildren, ranging from seven to 14 years old, and that were observed six years ago (0.2%) for children 0-9 year-old. Thus, considering the constant presence of Panstrogylus megistus in the peridomicile these findings emphasize the need of continuous improved epidemiological surveillance of Chagas disease in this region.

Entomological surveillance of Chagas disease in Berilo municipality, Jequitinhonha Valley, State of Minas Gerais, Brazil

“…These individuals probably acquired the infection before the implementation of control measures. Only one teenager (aged 15 years) was positive, although she had been identified in previous serological survey performed in the area by our team 1 . Based on the genetic characterization of parasites from this girl and her mother, transmission may have been congenital in this case, since several molecular markers proved to be identical (data not shown).…”

Transmission and Epidemiology of Zoonotic Protozoal Diseases of Companion Animals

“…Vector control practices in many South American countries have resulted in significant decreases in rates of human seropositivity (222,223). In these regions, mammalian reservoirs have generally remained, and the number of asymptomatic seropositive people of middle age and older remains high.…”

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

“…During the fi rst phase, blood samples collected on fi lter paper were evaluated by an ELISA test using blood eluate as in previous studies 10 . Next, venous blood from all participants considered positive or equivocal during the fi rst phase was tested along with 10% of the negative samples to confi rm the ELISA results.…”