Prevalence of Chagas Disease Among Family Members of Previously Diagnosed Patients in Los Angeles, California

Salvador Hernandez; Colin J Forsyth; Carmen A Flores; Sheba K Meymandi

doi:10.1093/cid/ciz087

Prevalence of Chagas Disease Among Family Members of Previously Diagnosed Patients in Los Angeles, California

Clin Infect Dis. 2019 Sep 13;69(7):1226-1228. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciz087.

Authors

Salvador Hernandez¹, Colin J Forsyth¹, Carmen A Flores¹, Sheba K Meymandi¹

Affiliation

¹ Center of Excellence for Chagas Disease at Olive View-University of California, Los Angeles Medical Center, Sylmar.

Abstract

Chagas disease (CD) in the United States is severely underdiagnosed, due to an absence of systematic screening as part of routine healthcare. We screened 189 relatives of 86 existing patients and found a CD prevalence of 7.4%. Screening close relatives of previously diagnosed individuals can effectively identify new CD cases.

Keywords: Trypanosoma cruzi; Chagas disease; neglected diseases; screening.

MeSH terms

Adult
Chagas Disease / diagnosis
Chagas Disease / epidemiology*
Chagas Disease / etiology
Electrocardiography
Family*
Female
Humans
Los Angeles / epidemiology
Male
Mass Screening
Middle Aged
Population Surveillance
Prevalence
Trypanosoma cruzi
Young Adult