ABSTRACT
Introducción: La Enfermedad de Chagas es una zoonosis parasitaria causada porTrypanosoma cruzi, un protozoario que se transmite principalmente de manera vectorial al ser humano. Estudios de campo predicen que un tercio de un estimado de 18 millones de personas infectadas en Latinoamérica morirán de Enfermedad de Chagas. Objetivo: El objetivo de este estudio fue determinar la seroprevalencia de la infección por Trypanosoma cruzi y factores asociados en población del municipio de Cumaral, Meta, Colombia. Material y Métodos: Se realizó un estudio descriptivo de tipo transversal, en el cual se recolectaron sueros de toda persona habitante del municipio de Cumaral por más de seis meses y que habitara en área urbana o rural. Se utilizó el método de ELISA de extractos totales (Primera prueba) para la detección de IgG antiTripanosoma cruzy; a los positivos se les realizó prueba confirmatoria por ELISA recombinante; los resultados dudosos fueron enviados al Instituto Nacional de Salud para su confirmación mediante la inmunofluorescencia indirecta. Para el análisis de la información se utilizó el paquete estadístico Prism versión 8.2.1 para MacOS. Resultados: En la tamización de la prueba para Chagas del presente estudio, resultó positivo 2,7 por ciento de los evaluados; al contrastar los sujetos con resultado positivo con los negativos, se observaron diferencias en la edad, la escolaridad y el material de las paredes de sus viviendas. Conclusiones: Los resultados proporcionan información útil de condiciones de vivienda y seroprevalencia de la enfermedad, que ayudan a evaluar la efectividad del acuerdo que facilita y fortalece el acceso al diagnóstico y tratamiento de la enfermedad(AU)
Introduction: Chagas disease is a parasitic zoonosis caused byTrypanosoma cruzi, a vector-born protozoan that is transmitted to humans. Field studies predict that one-third of around 18 millionT cruzi-infected humans will die of Chagas disease in Latin America. Objective: To determine the seroprevalence of the infection with Trypanosoma cruzi and to identify some risk factors associated with this condition in Cumaral, Meta, Colombia. Material and Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted. Blood samples were collected from subjects that had been living in urban and rural areas of Cumaral municipality for more than six months. An ELISA-IgG method with total extracts (first test) was used for the detection of Trypanosoma cruzy IgG. A recombinant-based ELISA was performed as a confirmatory test. Doubtful results were sent to the National Institute for Health for confirmation by indirect immunofluorescence assay. Prism 8 for MacOS (version 8.2.1) was used for statistical analysis. Results: In the screening for Chagas disease, 2,7 percent of all the cases tested were positive. When comparingsubjects with positiveandnegative results, differences between age, scholarship and materials used in the construction of house walls were evidenced. Conclusions: The results provide useful information about housing conditions and seroprevalence of the disease that help to evaluate the effectiveness of the arrangement that provides and strengthens the access to the diagnosis and treatment of the disease(AU)
Subject(s)
Humans , Mass Screening , Seroepidemiologic Studies , Cross-Sectional Studies , Risk Factors , Chagas Disease/epidemiology , ColombiaABSTRACT
Chagas' disease is caused by unicellular parasite Trypanosoma cruzi (T. cruzi). It is endemic throughout Latin America, but nowadays has become a global challenge due to tourism and migration. Non-treated infection may result in health-threatening complications and lead to death. Current medications for this infection are nifurtimox (NFT) and benznidazol. Both drugs may cause side effects and are ineffective in the chronic phase. Therefore, new antichagasic compounds are urgently required. Nitazoxanide (NTZ) is a broad spectrum antiparasitic drug, proposed recently as a potential candidate to be added to the list of essential medicines for integrated neglected tropical disease control and elimination. Although the effect of NTZ against T. cruzi epimastigotes in vitro was reported, the corresponding experiments in animal models of T. cruzi infection have never been undertaken. The present work was designed to fill this gap and evaluate the effect of NTZ on experimental murine trypanosomiasis, in comparison with classical antichagasic agent NFT. Highly sensitive to T. cruzi BALB/c mice were infected using Albarrada T. cruzi strain, recently isolated in Mexico. Experimental groups were either left untreated, or otherwise treated with NFT, NTZ (100 and 1000 mg/kg), or with both drugs simultaneously. The severity of the infection was estimated based on criteria such as parasitemia, lesions in target tissues (heart, muscles and lungs) and mortality. Despite the expected protective effect, NTZ drastically aggravates the course of T. cruzi infection. Namely, parasitemia, tissue lesions and mortality caused by T. cruzi infection were significantly higher in NTZ-treated mice groups, even in comparison with untreated infected animals. NTZ by itself no produced mortality o tissue damage, and NFT showed an expected protective effect. Our results indicate that NTZ cannot be considered for Chagas' disease treatment. Moreover, NTZ should be used with caution in patients positive for T. cruzi infection.
