Active Transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi in Schoolchildren from the Amazon Region in Napo Province, Ecuador

Acta Parasitologica (2021)Cite this article

Abstract

Purpose

Chagas disease, caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, is a vector-borne disease with a major disease burden in the Americas, with over 6 million cases. There are about 200,000 cases in Ecuador, but the epidemiology of the disease is poorly understood, particularly in the Amazon region, making surveillance and control challenging.

Methods

We determined here the seroprevalence of T. cruzi antibodies in a cohort of 516 schoolchildren aged 5–15 years from Chontapunta parish, in the Napo province, Ecuador, using ELISA and indirect hemaglutination tests.

Results

We detected a seroprevalence of 0.77% (95% confidence interval 0.31–1.97%), with some significant variation among the three studied communities.

Conclusion

These data provide evidence of the ongoing transmission of T. cruzi in this area, and support the need to strengthen epidemiological surveillance and patient care.

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Funding

This work was funded in part by grant # 632083 from Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine to ED.

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Affiliations

  1. Centro Nacional de Referencia de Parasitología, Instituto Nacional de Salud Publica, Guayaquil, Ecuador

    Caty Carrera Vargas, Luis Solorzano & Doris Guale

  2. Department of Tropical Medicine and Vector-Borne and Infectious Disease Research Center, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA

    Claudia Herrera & Eric Dumonteil

Authors
  1. Caty Carrera Vargas
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  2. Luis Solorzano
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  3. Doris Guale
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  4. Claudia Herrera
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  5. Eric Dumonteil
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Eric Dumonteil.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

The study was carried out as part of the routine epidemiologic surveillance activities of the National Reference Center from the National Institute of Public Health (INSPI).

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Carrera Vargas, C., Solorzano, L., Guale, D. et al. Active Transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi in Schoolchildren from the Amazon Region in Napo Province, Ecuador. Acta Parasit. (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11686-021-00334-2

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Keywords

  • Chagas disease
  • American trypanosomiasis
  • Seroprevalence
  • Diagnostic
  • Pediatric