Chagas Disease Infection among Migrants at the Mexico/Guatemala Border

Abstract

Chagas disease results in the largest burden, in terms of disability-adjusted-life-years, of any parasitic disease in the Americas. Monitoring Chagas disease among migrants is critical to controlling its spread and to serving the needs of the migrant community. Therefore, we determined the prevalence and correlates of Chagas disease in regional and international migrant populations at the Mexico/Guatemala border. Data were collected as part of a larger study of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and migration. Participants were a sample of recent regional and international migrants who used an illicit substance or had recent problem drinking. infection was classified as testing positive on two different enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs). Interviewer-administered surveys captured sociodemographics, migration history, Chagas disease knowledge, and access to care. We enrolled 389 recent migrants, and the prevalence of Chagas disease was 3.1%. Only 19% of the participants reported having ever heard of the disease and less than 1% had been previously tested.-positive participants were more likely to have been born in a rural area or town than a city (92% yes versus 59% no, = 0.02) and have recently lived in a house with a makeshift roof (33% yes versus 8% no, < 0.01), walls (42% yes versus 13% no, < 0.01), or floor (50% yes versus 21% no, < 0.02), or cinderblock walls (92% yes versus 63% no, = 0.04). With migration rapidly changing the distribution of Chagas disease, more work needs to be done to create targeted surveillance programs and provide access to affordable treatment among Latin American migrants.

Knowledge of Chagas disease in Latin American migrant population living in Japan and factors associated with knowledge level

“…The barriers found in Japan included language barrier, migratory process, and difficulties to access the health care system. These results are similar to the barriers experienced by the LA migrant population in other non-endemic countries [30, 11, 17, 31].…”

Chagas disease awareness and socioeconomic characteristics of Bolivian immigrants living in São Paulo, Brazil

“…Similarly, among a sample of migrants at the Guatemala-Mexico border, 80% had not previously heard of CD [12].…”

“…Prior research has found a high degree of socioeconomic marginalization among immigrants with CD in Europe and the United States [9][10]. Despite having a higher risk for CD, immigrants from Latin America are typically undiagnosed and may not have heard of the disease [11][12]. Compounding this, providers in host countries are often unfamiliar with CD and not up-to-date with treatment recommendations [13][14].…”

Parasitic Diseases Within the Spinal Cord and Nerve Roots

“…The clinical manifestations of this disease can be distinguished into an acute phase which lasts 6-8 weeks and chronic phases [107]. In these acute cases, patients are often found to have fever, malaise, headache, and hepatosplenomegaly [1].…”

“…In these acute cases, patients are often found to have fever, malaise, headache, and hepatosplenomegaly [1]. In chronic cases, some patients develop other complications that include cardiac, gastrointestinal, or both [107][108][109]. The association that this disease has with the spinal cord is through acute meningitis or nodular encephalitis, but this is in rarer cases [1,110].…”