The goal of this work was to test the efficacy of the vaccination with Trypanosoma rangeli in dogs. Mongrel dogs received three subcutaneous injections of fixed T. rangeli epimastigotes at 6-week intervals. Such immunisation induced antibodies against Trypanosoma cruzi. While both control and immunised dogs developed detectable parasitemia, this was lower and shorter in vaccinated animals. Interestingly, feeding of Triatoma infestans nymphs on vaccinated and chronically infected dogs led to a sharp reduction in the rate of bug infection. These results suggest that it might be possible to reduce the vectorial parasitemia through vaccination of dogs. As dogs are known to play a major role in the domestic cycle of T. cruzi, this might represent a strategy to reduce parasite transmission to humans.
The sensitivity of rapid diagnostic tests (RDT) for Chagas disease is not great enough for their single use. The aim of this paper was to evaluate the performance of two RDTs for Chagas disease, used simultaneously. Two different RDTs (A and B) were performed in 64 and 42 serum samples that were negative and positive, respectively, by conventional serological techniques. Validity and reliability of both tests were evaluated individually and simultaneously. Sensitivity was 90.5% and 97.6%, and specificity was 100% and 93.8%, for RDT A and B, respectively. The k statistic was 0.96. When both RDTs were used simultaneously, sensitivity was 97.4%, specificity was 100% and the discordance percentage 6.6%. The combined use of two RDTs with serum samples is an acceptable application in healthcare centres.
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