Urban vectors of Chagas disease in the American continent: a systematic review of epidemiological surveys

CARBAJAL DE LA FUENTE AL; SANCHEZ-CASACCIA P; PICCINALI RV; PROVECHO YM; SALVA L; MELI S; CANO F; HERNÁNDEZ R; NATTERO J

PLOS NEGLECTED TROPICAL DISEASES

PUBLIC LIBRARY SCIENCE

Lugar: San Francisco; Año: 2022

1935-2735

AbstractBackground: Chagas is a complex and multidimensional socio-environmental healthphenomenon, in which different components converge and interact. Historically, this diseasewas associated with insect vectors found in the rural environment. However, in the Americas,we are currently facing a new paradigm, in which different scenarios allow maintaining thevectorial transmission of the parasite through triatomine populations that either occasionallyenter the dwellings or colonize urban environments.Methodology/Principal Findings: Records of scientific reports available in the PubMed andLILACS search engines were retrieved, using three criteria according to the main triatominegenera of epidemiological importance and to the general scientific production on Chagasdisease in urban contexts. Results showed that records on the occurrence of vectors in urbandwellings began to increase in the last three decades. Results also showed that the mainspecies of triatomines collected inside dwellings (18 in total) belong mainly to the generaTriatoma and Panstrongylus, with most species (16/18, 88.8%) infected with the parasite, andthat infestation of triatomine species occurs in all types of cities (small, medium and large,including megalopolises), from Argentina to the USA.Conclusions/Significance: Urban Chagas represents a new challenge that adds a differentdimension to the problem of Chagas disease due to the particular characteristics of thelifestyle in urban agglomerates. The new scenario will require adaptations of the programs ofcontrol of vector to this shift from rural to urban settlements.