Risk factors associated with Chagas disease in pregnant women in Santander, a highly endemic Colombian area

Abstract

ObjectiveTo determine the prevalence and risk factors associated with Chagas disease in pregnant women in an endemic area of Santander, Colombia.MethodsCross‐sectional study included 23 municipalities of Santander, Colombia. Serological IFAT and ELISA tests were undertaken to detect IgG anti‐ Trypanosoma cruzi. A questionnaire was conducted for assessing the risk factors of each participant. Newborns were evaluated at birth and followed up to 1 year of age to determine congenital infection.ResultsAn overall prevalence of 3.2% (95% CI 2.4–4.2) among 1518 pregnant women was detected. Prevalences by provinces were as follows: Guanentina: 6.0% (95% CI 4.1–8.5), García Rovira: 2.9% (95% CI: 1.5–4.8) and Comunera: 0.4% (0.4–2.3). The main risk factors identified were age >32 years old (OR: 2.1; 95% CI: 1.1–3.9); currently having a thatched roof (OR: 11.8; CI95% 2.2–63.2) and a thatched roof during childhood (OR: 3.0; 95% CI: 1.4–6.6); having below primary school education level (OR: 4.6; 95% CI: 2.2–9.5); and a history of a close contact with the vector (triatomine bugs) at least once during their lifetime (OR: 6.9; 95% CI: 3.7–12.9). No congenital cases were detected by parasitological or serological techniques.ConclusionsPrevalence of Chagas disease in pregnant women is a potential source of infection in this Colombian endemic area. The main risk factors associated with seropositivity were related to conditions favouring the contact with the vector. The results show that it is necessary to continue an active surveillance in order to offer diagnosis and treatment to mothers and their newborns in addition to screening to pregnant women from endemic areas.

Molecular Diagnosis of Chagas Disease in Colombia: Parasitic Loads and Discrete Typing Units in Patients from Acute and Chronic Phases

“…The risk factors classification was conducted through a survey applied to each of the patients included in the study. A series of questions were asked such as the place of birth, knowledge of vector insects, blood donations and/or organ transplantation, housing type and presence of cardiac symptoms based on previous evaluated questionnaires (Survey 1) [ 32 ]. Patients whose serological tests were negative were classified into two groups according to the presence or absence of risk factors.…”

Seroprevalencia de Chagas en mayores de 14 años de áreas rurales del Chaco Santafesino

“…En relación al riesgo de transmisión congénita, se indagó respecto de la madre del encuestado: el nivel de escolaridad alcanzado, serología para Chagas y tipo de vivienda que habitaron. La encuesta se realizó sobre la base de la desarrollada por el Instituto de Salud de Colombia 11 . Los datos obtenidos se analizaron de acuerdo a la naturaleza de la variable que los originó, utilizando el Software InfoStat.…”

Infección por Trypanosoma cruzi en mujeres puérperas y sus neonatos en Barcelona, estado Anzoátegui, Venezuela

“…cruzi en mujeres embarazadas 12 . Por el contrario, en los países de la subregión andina, como Colombia, y la región del Amazonas en el Ecuador, se reportaron prevalencias para esta parasitosis de 3,2 y 3,8%, respectivamente 13 , 14 . En los países ubicados en Suramérica, la seroprevalencia de la infección por T .…”

“…Aunque el haber vivido o continuar haciéndolo en condiciones precarias (casa de bahareque) y el tener contacto previo con el vector transmisor de T . cruzi , han demostrado ser factores de riesgo importantes en Argentina y Colombia 13 , 30 , 36 , en esta investigación no se demostró asociación estadística significativa entre esas variables y la infección. Igualmente, no se encontró asociación entre la infección y la edad de las mujeres puérperas.…”