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. 2014 Aug 6:7:358.
doi: 10.1186/1756-3305-7-358.

First description of Trypanosoma cruzi human infection in Esmeraldas province, Ecuador

Ángel Guevara  1 , Juan Moreira, Hipatia Criollo, Sandra Vivero, Marcia Racines, Varsovia Cevallos, Rosanna Prandi, Cynthia Caicedo, Francisco Robinzon, Mariella Anselmi
Affiliations

First description of Trypanosoma cruzi human infection in Esmeraldas province, Ecuador

Ángel Guevara et al. Parasit Vectors. .

Abstract

Chagas disease was described in Ecuador in 1930 in the province of Guayas and thereafter in various provinces. Triatomine were reported in the province of Esmeraldas but no human infection has been described. Here we report the first evidence that the disease does exist in the province of Esmeraldas. In indigenous Awá communities located in the northwest jungle of the Esmeraldas province, 144 individuals were tested using ELISA and PCR for T.cruzi of which 5 (3.47%) were positive. Twenty eight triatomine were collected, 27 were Triatoma dispar and 1 Pastrongylus rufotuberculatus, T.cruzi was detected in 11 (42.3%) of 26 insects.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Agarose gel showing PCR products 330 bp amplified with T.cruzi specific primers Tc121 y Tc122. M: DNA molecular markers. Lane 1 – 4 samples from Triatoma dispar L. Lane 5 negative control. Lane 6 positive control.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Agarose gel showing PCR products 330 bp amplified with T.cruzi specific primers Tc121 y Tc122. M: DNA molecular markers. Lane 1 – 5 blood samples from Awá infected people. Lane 6 negative control. Lane 7 positive control.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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