Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Evidence of Autochthonous Chagas Disease in Southeastern Texas

2014; American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene; Volume: 92; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.4269/ajtmh.14-0238

1476-1645

Melissa N. Garcia, David Aguilar, Rodion Gorchakov, Susan Rossmann, Susan P. Montgomery, Hilda N. Rivera, Laila Woc-Colburn, Peter J. Hotez, Kristy O. Murray,

Insect symbiosis and bacterial influences

Autochthonous transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi in the United States is rarely reported. Here, we describe five newly identified patients with autochthonously acquired infections from a small pilot study of positive blood donors in southeast Texas. Case-patients 1–4 were possibly infected near their residences, which were all in the same region ∼100 miles west of Houston. Case-patient 5 was a young male with considerable exposure from routine outdoor and camping activities associated with a youth civic organization. Only one of the five autochthonous case-patients received anti-parasitic treatment. Our findings suggest an unrecognized risk of human vector-borne transmission in southeast Texas. Education of physicians and public health officials is crucial for identifying the true disease burden and source of infection in Texas.