Chagas Disease in Pregnant Women in the Peruvian Amazon Basin. Cross-Sectional Study

José-Manuel Ramos-Rincón; Sonia Ortiz-Martínez; María-Esteyner Vásquez-Chasnamote; Olga-Nohelia Gamboa-Paredes; Viviana-Vanessa Pinedo-Cancino; Cesar Ramal-Asayag; Miguel Górgolas-Hernández-Mora; Martin Casapía-Morales

doi:10.3389/fvets.2020.00556

Chagas Disease in Pregnant Women in the Peruvian Amazon Basin. Cross-Sectional Study

Front Vet Sci. 2020 Sep 15:7:556. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2020.00556. eCollection 2020.

Affiliations

¹ Clinical Medicine Department, University Miguel Hernández de Elche, Alicante, Spain.
² Internal Medicine Service, General University Hospital of Alicante-ISABIAL, Alicante, Spain.
³ Medical Practice El Ballestero, Health Service of Castilla La Mancha, Albacete, Spain.
⁴ Natural Resources Research Center, Peruvian Amazon National University, Iquitos, Peru.
⁵ Research Assistant, Amazon Rainforest Civil Association, Iquitos, Peru.
⁶ Molecular Biology and Immunology Laboratory of the Specialized Unit of LIPNAA-CIRNA, Peruvian Amazon National University, Iquitos, Peru.
⁷ Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine Service, Loreto Regional Hospital, Iquitos, Peru.
⁸ School of Medicine, National University of the Peruvian Amazon, Iquitos, Peru.
⁹ Infectious Disease Division, University Hospital Foundation Jiménez Díaz, Madrid, Spain.
¹⁰ Medicine Department, Autonomous University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
¹¹ Medical Department, Amazon Rainforest Civil Association, Iquitos, Peru.

Abstract

Aims: To assess the prevalence of Chagas disease in pregnant women in Iquitos City, Peru. Material and Methods: Cross-sectional survey in 300 pregnant women in Iquitos (Peru) from 1 May 2019 to 15 June 2019. Women were tested using an ELISA serology test. Results: Serology was positive in one case (prevalence: 0.33%; 95% confidence interval: 7.1-13.9%), of a 25-year-old woman who lived in a wooden house with a leaf roof in a periurban area of Iquitos. She was familiar with kissing bugs and had chronic, asymptomatic Chagas disease. Conclusion: The prevalence of Chagas disease is low in the urban and peri-urban area of the city of Iquitos.

Keywords: Amazon; Chagas disease; Peru; Trypanosoma cruzi; pregnant.