SEROPREVALENCE OF INFECTION BY TRYPANOSOMA CRUZI AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH THE VECTOR INFESTATION OF TRIATOMA INFESTANS IN PERIURBAN AND RURAL AREAS OF THE PROVINCE OF LA RIOJA

RODRIGUEZ, JIMENA; DIAZ ARIZA, MARÍA DEL CARMEN; ABRAHAN, LUCIANA

Otro; REUNIÓN ANUAL DE SOCIEDADES DE BIOCIENCIAS 2023; 2023

Infection by the Trypanosoma cruzi parasite, which causes Chagas disease, is a major public health problem. This disease is transmitted to human, mostly vectorially, through hemipterous blood-sucking insects belonging to the Triatominae subfamily. Triatoma infestans is the main triatomine vector in Argentina. Currently, in La Rioja province, there are no previous studies that allow detecting the presence of the parasite in blood samples from human patients and in samples of T. infestans obtained in domiciles. In this context, the objective of our work was to analyze the prevalence of infection by T. cruzi in patients and its relationship with the T. infestans presence in the domiciliary area of La Rioja province.Areas were selected with T. infestans infestation of 58.41%, according to the evaluation carried out by the Chagas Program of La Rioja in 2021. A total of 45 participants were analyzed during 2022 by serology for T. cruzi infection, resulting in a prevalence of 6.67%. In addition, a total of 77 T. infestans individuals were found in 10 houses out of 26. However, the presence of the parasite was not found by light microscopy at 400x in samples of T. infestans. Moreover, a map was made using Epi Info 7.2 program, adding data obtained from the database of the Vera Barros Regional Hospital and the vectorial province office. In this mapping, a relationship was observed between areas with T. cruzi seropositive patients and areas with T. infestans presence for the identification of conglomerates, common infection sources and risk exposures for Chagas disease.