High level of coinfection HIV- Tripanosoma cruzi (Chagas disease?s agent) in intravenous drug users in Buenos Aires, Argentina

GUILLERMINA DOLCINI, ANA M. DE RISSIO, MARIA A. PANDO, GUADALUPE ANDREANI, MIRIAM M. GARCÍA, MARÍA M. AVILA, MERCEDES C WEISSENBACHER, LILIANA MARTÍNEZ PERALTA.

Sydney

Congreso; 4th IAS CONFERENCE ON HIV PATHOGENESIS, TREATMENT AND PREVENTION.; 2007

International Aids Society

Objectives: The prevalence of Tripanosoma cruzi in blood donors from Buenos Aires city is 3%. An exacerbation of neurologic symptoms of Chagas? disease in AIDS patients, as well as of congenital Chagas in HIV infected children, was already described in Argentina and Brazil, showing the importance of preventing this coinfection. The aim of this study was to detect HIV- T.cruzi coinfection in at-risk HIV infection populations. Methods: A total of 280 HIV positive serum samples from 4 HIV seroprevalence cross sectional studies conducted in Buenos Aires city (between 2001 and 2004) in different at-risk groups were tested for T.cruzi infection. Seventy-seven were intravenous drug users (IDU), 51 were heterosexual individuals consulting about new sexually transmitted infections (STI), 28 were non-injecting cocaine users (NICU), and 124 were men who have sex with men (MSM). Informed consent was obtained from all participants. T.cruzi infection was diagnosed using in house EIA, Hemagglutination and Indirect immunofluorescence tests. Results: Six out of 77 HIV positive IDUs and 2 out of 51 HIV positive STI samples were also positive for T.cruzi giving a coinfection of 8% and 4%, respectively. No coinfection was detected in NICU and MSM. Most of the IDU samples also showed coinfection with HCV, HBV and/or HTLVs. However, no association with drug or condom use was found in the risk factors analysis. Of note, IDUs had the lowest social level, with about 68% unemployment. Conclusions: The highest level of HIV- T.cruzi coinfection was found in IDUs, most probably related to blood transmission. Previous studies performed in Buenos Aires in 1990 in drug addicts showed 1% prevalence of T.cruzi, showing the important dynamics of the epidemics, based on migrations from T.cruzi endemic zones (northern provinces of Argentina and northern neighbor countries) to the main urban centers of Argentina.