Seroprevalence of Trypanosoma cruzi infection and vector control activities in rural communities of the southern Gran Chaco (Argentina)

Exploring the association between Trypanosoma cruzi infection in rural communities and environmental changes in the southern Gran Chaco

“…The results of a concomitant study performed in the same area (Moreno et al 2010) and those of the present study show the complexity of the interactions between vector control activities, the expansion of the agricultural land driven by a secular rainfall pattern, migrations from rural to urban environments and local improvements in quality-of-life in rural communities.…”

“…In some cases, vector control is insufficient. This is the case in the northwest, where land use around the rural communities showed few changes between 1979-2004 and vector control interventions were relatively frequent, but with low coverage (Moreno et al 2010). In the north, even with the relatively low impact of vector control interventions, the improvement of lifestyle and/or quality of life in rural communities, driven by the expansion of agricultural land, has reduced T. cruzi transmission (although in some cases, the Chagas problem has simply been transferred to urban settlements because of the migration from poor rural communities to cities).…”

“…The serological study was performed on 2,501 persons in 76 rural communities in the northwest and on 912 persons in 61 rural communities in the west. Additional methodological details and data analyses of the prevalence of T. cruzi in these regions are described by Moreno et al (2010).…”

“…Northern province of Córdoba, the region south of Santi- ago del Estero and the southern extreme of the Gran Chaco were highly endemic for Chagas disease and showed a pattern similar to that of Santiago del Estero (Chüit 1989), although a greater reduction occurred in the prevalence of T. cruzi in the rural communities of the Chaco region in Córdoba. Moreno et al (2010) recently showed that the T. cruzi prevalence in young children (under 10 years of age) was zero or very low, which suggests that the vectorborne transmission of T. cruzi has been reduced in most of the area. The spraying of houses with residual insecticides in the north and west of Córdoba was systematic during the 1980s.…”

A New Endemic Focus of Chagas Disease in the Northern Region of Veraguas Province, Western Half Panama, Central America

“…The epidemiological characterization of endemic areas including seroprevalence studies, ecology/biology of triatomine vectors, and parasite genotyping is an important prerequisite to establish effective control programs. This type of surveillance is ongoing in almost all endemic regions, even in countries where Chagas disease control has been successful [5], [6], [7], [8], [9]. Presently, the epidemiology of T. cruzi is well-known in most countries in Central America [10].…”