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American trypanosomiasis

1965; Elsevier BV; Volume: 66; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/s0022-3476(65)80344-4

1097-6833

Norman C. Woody, Antonio Bencomo Hernández, Benjamin Suchow,

Vector-borne infectious diseases

In South Texas, Trypanosoma cruzi (the etiologic agent of Chagas' disease) is found naturally occurring in animals and in the reduviid bugs which can transmit the organism when they bite human beings. Sera from 117 persons who had been bitten by these insects were tested for complement fixation with T. cruzi antigen; 3 (2.5%) were positive. The positive reactors had no clinical evidence of the disease and their blood cultures were negative for T. cruzi. Typical inoculation lesions were observed on 2 additional patients who had no other evidence of the disease. Despite the frequency of human exposure through bites of the insect vector, systemic infection in humans is uncommon. The few cases which do occur are generally inapparent. In South Texas, Trypanosoma cruzi (the etiologic agent of Chagas' disease) is found naturally occurring in animals and in the reduviid bugs which can transmit the organism when they bite human beings. Sera from 117 persons who had been bitten by these insects were tested for complement fixation with T. cruzi antigen; 3 (2.5%) were positive. The positive reactors had no clinical evidence of the disease and their blood cultures were negative for T. cruzi. Typical inoculation lesions were observed on 2 additional patients who had no other evidence of the disease. Despite the frequency of human exposure through bites of the insect vector, systemic infection in humans is uncommon. The few cases which do occur are generally inapparent.