Cystic echinococcosis in South America: a call for action

Abstract

Cystic echinococcosis (CE) or hydatidosis, a parasitic zoonosis caused by a cestode of the family Taeniidae, species Echinococcus granulosus, is endemic in Argentina, Chile, Peru, Uruguay, and southern Brazil. This report presents CE figures for these five countries in 2009 – 2014 and proposes indicators to measure national control programs. Nearly 5 000 new CE cases were diagnosed annually in the five countries during the study period. The average case fatality rate was 2.9%, which suggests that CE led to approximately 880 deaths in these countries during the 6-year period. CE cases that required secondary or tertiary health care had average hospital stays of 10.6 days, causing a significant burden to health systems. The proportion of new cases (15%) in children less than 15 years of age suggests ongoing transmission. Despite figures showing that CE is not under control in South America, the long-standing implementation of national and local control programs in three of the five countries has achieved reductions in some of the indicators. The Regional Initiative for the Control of CE, which includes the five countries and provides a framework for networking and collaboration, must intensify its efforts.

One Health for neglected tropical diseases

“…Ministries of health wanting to reduce human disease may find it challenging to mobilise their resources for animal-based control measures, as might also be the case with private funding structures. 10 However, having appropriate joint indicators and appropriate coordination and funding models has been shown to overcome some of these challenges—for example, in Latin America, where canine rabies control responsibilities have been brought under the remit of ministries of health, 11 and multisector international working groups have been created to tackle this disease on a global level.…”

Factores asociados a complicaciones prequirúrgicas en pacientes con equinococosis quística de áreas endémicas del Perú

“…El tener más de 56 años como factor de riesgo para las complicaciones prequirúrgicas tiene plausibilidad, porque podría estar asociado a la exposición permanente al riesgo, es decir, a los huevos de E. granulosus, dado que los Andes centrales son áreas hiperendémicas con tasas de incidencias muy altas (5) . Por otro lado, se ha sugerido que en personas mayores, el desarrollo de complicaciones podría asociarse con las comorbilidades (15) , y también puede estar relacionado con el crecimiento de los quistes.…”

“…En el Perú, el costo estimado anual de la EQ humana es de USD 2 420 348 (IC 95%: 1 118 384 -4 812 722) (4) . En cinco países en las Américas, entre 2009 y 2014, Perú concentró el 70,3% (20 785) del total de casos con una tasa de incidencia acumulada anual (TIA) entre 10 a 12,5 por cada 100 000 habitantes (5) .…”

Past and present of cystic echinococcosis in Bolivia

“…Substantial research on different aspects of the epidemiology of CE in these countries has been published. Furthermore, these 5 countries have joined forces since 2004 in “The Regional Initiative for the Control of CE” sponsored by the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) [ 2 ]. In the case of Bolivia, data regarding any aspect of the epidemiology of CE are not well documented.…”