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
. 2017 Mar-Apr;21(2):180-184.
doi: 10.1016/j.bjid.2016.10.006. Epub 2016 Dec 1.

Prevalence of Trypanosoma cruzi/HIV coinfection in southern Brazil

Dulce Stauffert  1 , Mariangela Freitas da Silveira  2 , Marília Arndt Mesenburg  3 , Adriane Brod Manta  4 , Alessandra da Silva Dutra  5 , Guilherme Lucas de Oliveira Bicca  4 , Marcos Marreiro Villela  6
Affiliations

Prevalence of Trypanosoma cruzi/HIV coinfection in southern Brazil

Dulce Stauffert et al. Braz J Infect Dis. 2017 Mar-Apr.

Abstract

Chagas disease reactivation has been a defining condition for acquired immune deficiency syndrome in Brazil for individuals coinfected with Trypanosoma cruzi and HIV since 2004. Although the first coinfection case was reported in the 1980s, its prevalence has not been firmly established. In order to know coinfection prevalence, a cross-sectional study of 200 HIV patients was performed between January and July 2013 in the city of Pelotas, in southern Rio Grande do Sul, an endemic area for Chagas disease. Ten subjects were found positive for T. cruzi infection by chemiluminescence microparticle immunoassay and indirect immunofluorescence. The survey showed 5% coinfection prevalence among HIV patients (95% CI: 2.0-8.0), which was 3.8 times as high as that estimated by the Ministry of Health of Brazil. Six individuals had a viral load higher than 100,000copies per μL, a statistically significant difference for T. cruzi presence. These findings highlight the importance of screening HIV patients from Chagas disease endemic areas.

Keywords: AIDS; Chagas disease; Trypanosoma cruzi.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Hotez P.J., Dumonteil E., Woc-Colburn L., et al. Chagas disease: “the new HIV/AIDS of the Americas. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2012;6:e1498. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Organização Mundial da Saúde . WHO; Geneva: 2016. Neglected tropical diseases. Available at: http://www.who.int/neglected_diseases/diseases/en/ [accessed 30.05.16]
    1. Rassi A., Jr., Rassi A., Marin-Neto J.A. Chagas disease. Lancet. 2010;375:1388–1402. - PubMed
    1. Almeida E.A., Lima J.N., Lages-Silva E. Chagas’ disease and HIV coinfection in patients without effective antiretroviral therapy: prevalence, clinical presentation and natural history. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 2010;104:447–452. - PubMed
    1. Salvador F., Sánches-Montalvá A., Valerio L., et al. Immunosuppression and Chagas disease experience from a non-endemic country. Clin Microbiol Infect. 2015;21:854–860. - PubMed

MeSH terms