Prevalence of Chagas' Disease in Mulungu do Morro Northeastern Brazil

• Main Authors: Roque Aras, Marielza Veiga, Irênio Gomes, Gildo Mota, Bernardo Rodrigues, Rosângela Rabelo, Carmen Guzman-Bracho, Ailton Melo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Sociedade Brasileira de Cardiologia (SBC) 2002-05-01
• Series: Arquivos Brasileiros de Cardiologia
• Subjects: Chagas' disease; prevalence; trypanosomiasis
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0066-782X2002000500001
• ISSN: 0066-782X; 1678-4170

OBJECTIVE - The aim of this paper is to describe the prevalence of T. Cruzi infection in patients of from Mulungu do Morro, a rural tropical region of Northeastern Brazil. METHODS - A cross-sectional study was performed. After randomly selecting samples of the population, and obtaining their consents , patients completed pretested epidemiological and clinical questionnaires. Serum samples from all patients were collected and screened for the presence of T. cruzi antibodies. RESULTS - Of 694 patients examined, 174 patients (25.1%) tested had a positive serology for Chagas' disease. Of the study population, 341 patients were male with 27% Chagas' disease prevalence, without a statistical difference. Illiteracy was the only variable related to T. cruzi infection in our population. CONCLUSION - In conclusion, our study points to the high prevalence of Chagas' disease among patients in Mulungu do Morro, suggesting that this region has a high frequency of infection and probably active vectorial transmission.