Impact of Chagas Disease in Bolivian Immigrants Living in Europe and the Risk of Stigmatization

Abstract

Background. The prevalence of Chagas disease in endemic countries varies with the kind of vector involved and the socioeconomic conditions of the population of origin. Due to recent immigration it is an emerging public health problem in Europe, especially in those countries which receive immigrant populations with a high prevalence of carriers. The study reviews the impact of the disease on Bolivian immigrants living in Europe, the preventive measures and regulations applied in European countries, and their repercussion on possible stigmatization of certain population groups. Methods. The Bolivian immigrant population resident in 2012 was estimated and the affected population in different European countries was calculated with data on carrier prevalence that were recently published. The preventive measures and regulations available in Europe were also reviewed. MEDLINE-PubMed, GoPubMed, and Embase were consulted for the literature review. Results. The Bolivian immigrant population has the highest prevalence of Chagas carriers (6.7%–25%) compared to the overall Latin American population (1.3%–2.4%). Only in Spain, France, Belgium, UK, Portugal, Italy, Switzerland, The Netherlands, and Germany, preventive measures are applied to this population. The established regulations are insufficient and completely different criteria are applied in the different countries and this could reflect a certain degree of stigmatization.

Interdisciplinary approach at the primary healthcare level for Bolivian immigrants with Chagas disease in the city of São Paulo

“…Regarding the child-bearing age women (10–49 years) analyzed in the present study, the described prevalence of 6.1% [27] was higher than that described by Munhoz et al [13] but lower than those registered in Europe (Tables 1 and 2) [10,11,12,14,17,23,24]. Moreover, in recent and previous publications, a higher prevalence was registered for general Bolivian immigrants in European countries [5,12, Table 1] compared with São Paulo [27].…”

“…Moreover, in recent and previous publications, a higher prevalence was registered for general Bolivian immigrants in European countries [5,12, Table 1] compared with São Paulo [27]. The patients evaluated in the present study migrated recently from Bolivia (0–5 years) [27], and most of them were young adults that lived in the urban area of La Paz.…”

Anti-Trypanosoma cruzi antibodies in Latin American migrants in transit through the México- USA border

“…Estas cifras contrastan con el origen de los migrantes que llegan a Europa, donde se destaca Bolivia en primer lugar (30).…”

"I Cannot Be Worried": Living with Chagas Disease in Tropical Bolivia

“…In the social environment, people with CD may suffer from stigmatization because of the disease’s association with poverty[11, 38, 39]. Patients with CD have also faced discrimination, impacting opportunities for employment[9, 40].…”