Risks of endemicity, morbidity and perspectives regarding the control of Chagas disease in the Amazon Region

Chagas disease, in the Amazon Region as elsewhere, can be considered an enzootic disease of wild animals or an anthropozoonosis, an accidental disease of humans that is acquired when humans penetrate a wild ecosystem or when wild triatomines invade human dwellings attracted by light or searching for...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz 2012-03, Vol.107 (2), p.145-154
Main Authors: Coura, José Rodrigues, Junqueira, Angela CV
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amazon Region
Animals
Animals, Domestic
Animals, Wild
Chagas disease
Chagas Disease - epidemiology
Chagas Disease - prevention & control
Chagas disease - risks of endemicity - morbidity - Amazon Region - control perspectives
Chagas Disease - transmission
Chronic Disease
control perspectives
Endemic Diseases - prevention & control
Endemic Diseases - statistics & numerical data
Humans
Insect Vectors - parasitology
Latin America - epidemiology
morbidity
PARASITOLOGY
risks of endemicity
Triatominae - parasitology
TROPICAL MEDICINE
Trypanosoma cruzi
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Summary:Chagas disease, in the Amazon Region as elsewhere, can be considered an enzootic disease of wild animals or an anthropozoonosis, an accidental disease of humans that is acquired when humans penetrate a wild ecosystem or when wild triatomines invade human dwellings attracted by light or searching for human blood. The risk of endemic Chagas disease in the Amazon Region is associated with the following phenomena: (i) extensive deforestation associated with the displacement of wild mammals, which are the normal sources of blood for triatomines, (ii) adaptation of wild triatomines to human dwellings due to the need for a new source of blood for feeding and (iii) uncontrolled migration of human populations and domestic animals that are already infected with Trypanosoma cruzi from areas endemic for Chagas disease to the Amazon Region. Several outbreaks of severe acute cases of Chagas disease, as well as chronic cases, have been described in the Amazon Region. Control measures targeted to avoiding endemic Chagas disease in the Amazon Region should be the following: improving health education in communities, training public health officials and communities for vector and Chagas disease surveillance and training local physicians to recognise and treat acute and chronic cases of Chagas diseases as soon as possible.
ISSN:1678-8060
0074-0276
1678-8060
0074-0276
DOI:10.1590/S0074-02762012000200001