An overview of Giardia spp. in human, animal, and environmental settings of Argentina: Comprehensive analysis and geographical distribution of surveys reported in the last forty years

RIVERO, MARIA ROMINA; FELIZIANI, CONSTANZA; DE ANGELO, CARLOS; TIRANTI, KARINA; SALOMON, OSCAR DANIEL; TOUZ, MARÍA CAROLINA

Simposio; XXXII Reunión Anual de la Sociedad Argentina de Protozoología; 2020

Giardia is a parasite distributed worldwide and one of the most ubiquitous protozoan inArgentina. This study is a comprehensive description of Giardia´s impact in Argentina basedon studies published in the country from the past 40 years. We described Giardia prevalencein humans (from urban, rural and indigenous populations), animals (including domestic, farmand wild animals) and in environmental surveys (water and soil samples). This work wasperformed according to recommendations established by Preferred Reporting Items forSystematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis guidelines. The analysis was conducted using theLILACS, PubMed, Scopus and Argentina SciELO databases employing as keywords,?Giardia? AND ?Argentina?. A manual review of papers was also carried out. Of 304 articles,92 fitted the eligibility criteria. Giardia was reported in 15 of the 23 Argentine provinces.Prevalence, co-infections, genotypes and risk factors described in each setting wereexplored in the four decades. An interactive web map of the country was performed with thegeographical distribution of all the selected studies. Furthermore, publication contributionsper regions as well as per national research centers origin were analyzed. This reportprovides useful information on epidemiological aspects of giardiasis in the country and canhelp to understand the socio-environmental and contextual framework that contributes toGiardia persistence in several regions in Argentina. All the compiled information may help todefine future research priorities and provides useful tools for professionals regarding actualinformation on the prevalence of this infection.