Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2009 Apr;15(4):653-5.
doi: 10.3201/eid1504.081450.

Oral transmission of Chagas disease by consumption of açaí palm fruit, Brazil

Aglaêr A Nóbrega  1 , Marcio H Garcia, Erica Tatto, Marcos T Obara, Elenild Costa, Jeremy Sobel, Wildo N Araujo
Affiliations

Oral transmission of Chagas disease by consumption of açaí palm fruit, Brazil

Aglaêr A Nóbrega et al. Emerg Infect Dis. 2009 Apr.

Abstract

In 2006, a total of 178 cases of acute Chagas disease were reported from the Amazonian state of Pará, Brazil. Eleven occurred in Barcarena and were confirmed by visualization of parasites on blood smears. Using cohort and case-control studies, we implicated oral transmission by consumption of açaí palm fruit.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
A) Açaí palm and açaí fruit. B) Location of Barcarena in Pará State, Brazil. C) Epidemic curve for 11 case-patients with acute Chagas disease, Barcarena, Brazil, September–October 2006.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Trypanosoma cruzi (arrow) in a peripheral blood smear of a patient at a local health facility in a rural area of Pará State, Brazil (Giemsa stain, magnification ×100). Image provided by Adriana A. Oliveira, Brazilian Field Epidemiology Training Program, Brasilia, Brazil.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Bilate AM, Cunha-Net E. Chagas disease cardiomyopathy: current concepts of an old disease. Rev Inst Med Trop Sao Paulo. 2008;50:67–74. 10.1590/S0036-46652008000200001 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Amato Neto V, Lopes M, Umezawa ES, Aveiro Ruocco MS, Dias JC. Outras formas de transmissão do Trypanosoma cruzi. Revista de Patologia Tropical. 2000;29(Suppl):115–29.
    1. Dias JC. Notas sobre o Trypanosoma cruzi e suas características bio-ecológicas, como agente de enfermidades transmitidas por alimentos. Rev Soc Bras Med Trop. 2006;39:370–5. 10.1590/S0037-86822006000400010 - DOI - PubMed
    1. da Silva NN, Clausell DT, Nóbilis H, de Mello AL, Ossanai J, Rapone T, et al. Epidemic outbreak of Chagas disease probably due to oral contamination [in Portuguese]. Rev Inst Med Trop Sao Paulo. 1968;10:265–76. - PubMed
    1. Shikanai-Yasuda MA, Marcondes CB, Guedes LA, Siqueira GS, Barone AA, Dias JC, et al. Possible oral transmission of acute Chagas disease in Brazil. Rev Inst Med Trop Sao Paulo. 1991;33:351–7. - PubMed

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources