-
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases Dec 2022Chagas is a complex and multidimensional socio-environmental health phenomenon, in which different components converge and interact. Historically, this disease was...
BACKGROUND
Chagas is a complex and multidimensional socio-environmental health phenomenon, in which different components converge and interact. Historically, this disease was associated with insect vectors found in the rural environment. However, in the Americas, we are currently facing a new paradigm, in which different scenarios allow maintaining the vectorial transmission of the parasite through triatomine populations that either occasionally enter the dwellings or colonize urban environments.
METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS
Records of scientific reports available in the PubMed and LILACS search engines were retrieved, using three criteria according to the main triatomine genera of epidemiological importance and to the general scientific production on Chagas disease in urban contexts. Results showed that records on the occurrence of vectors in urban dwellings began to increase in the last three decades. Results also showed that the main species of triatomines collected inside dwellings (18 in total) belong mainly to the genera Triatoma and Panstrongylus, with most species (16/18, 88.8%) infected with the parasite, and that infestation of triatomine species occurs in all types of cities (small, medium and large, including megalopolises), from Argentina to the USA.
CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE
Urban Chagas represents a new challenge that adds a different dimension to the problem of Chagas disease due to the particular characteristics of the lifestyle in urban agglomerates. The new scenario will require adaptations of the programs of control of vector to this shift from rural to urban settlements.
Topics: Animals; Humans; Trypanosoma cruzi; Chagas Disease; Triatoma; Panstrongylus; Cities
PubMed: 36516183
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0011003 -
Memorias Do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz 2021Panstrongylus geniculatus (Latreille, 1811) is the triatomine with the largest geographic distribution in Latin America. It has been reported in 18 countries from...
Panstrongylus geniculatus (Latreille, 1811) is the triatomine with the largest geographic distribution in Latin America. It has been reported in 18 countries from southern Mexico to northern Argentina, including the Caribbean islands. Although most reports indicate that P. geniculatus has wild habitats, this species has intrusive habits regarding human dwellings mainly located in intermediate deforested areas. It is attracted by artificial light from urban and rural buildings, raising the risk of transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi. Despite the wide body of published information on P. geniculatus, many knowledge gaps exist about its biology and epidemiological potential. For this reason, we analysed the literature for P. geniculatus in Scopus, PubMed, Scielo, Google Scholar and the BibTriv3.0 databases to update existing knowledge and provide better information on its geographic distribution, life cycle, genetic diversity, evidence of intrusion and domiciliation, vector-related circulating discrete taxonomic units, possible role in oral T. cruzi transmission, and the effect of climate change on its biology and epidemiology.
Topics: Animals; Biology; Chagas Disease; Ecology; Genes, Insect; Genetic Variation; Genotype; Geography; Humans; Insect Vectors; Latin America; Panstrongylus; Phylogeny; Triatoma; Trypanosoma cruzi
PubMed: 33656141
DOI: 10.1590/0074-02760200528 -
What are we talking about when we talk about education and Chagas? A systematic review of the issue.Biochimica Et Biophysica Acta.... May 2020More than 110 years has passed since the first publications on Chagas disease, and it still urges the necessity of understanding it as a complex socioenvironmental...
More than 110 years has passed since the first publications on Chagas disease, and it still urges the necessity of understanding it as a complex socioenvironmental issue in which components of diverse nature converge and interact beyond the biomedical and epidemiological aspects. The current scenarios of the issue, both rural and Latin American as urban and global, demand that the education on Chagas disease include all possible contexts: where there are insect vectors and where there are not; inside and outside Latin America; in rural, periurban, and urban areas; in formal and non-formal educational environments. We consider essential the requirement of both an integral approach that overcomes the biomedical aspect to include the multidimensionality of the issue and a dialogical educational perspective that allows individuals and communities to analyze, decide, and lead contextualized prevention and promotion actions regarding their health. In this study, we surveyed, described, and critically analyzed studies approaching the link education-Chagas disease in scientific publications from the last 15 years. We aimed at contributing methodological-theoretical elements to (re)think the development of educational research and experiences that truly help facing this issue. From the electronic search of scientific literature in 6 databases, we found 426 articles, out of which we selected 25. We incorporated 10 articles from other sources to this initial corpus and performed both qualitative and quantitative analyses over the total number [35] to characterize the studied works in general, focusing on the conceptions on the Chagas disease issue and the underlying health education approaches.
Topics: Animals; Biomedical Research; Chagas Disease; Communicable Disease Control; Disease Eradication; Disease Vectors; Global Burden of Disease; Humans; Neglected Diseases; Patient Education as Topic; Politics; Publications; Triatoma; Trypanosoma cruzi
PubMed: 32006572
DOI: 10.1016/j.bbadis.2020.165691