title: [The Dot immunoenzymatic assay on nitrocellulose (Dot-ELISA) in the diagnosis of Chagas disease. II. Seroepidemiologic study in 4 rural communities of Venezuela].
abstract: A survey of human Trypanosoma cruzi infection in four rural communities of two Venezuelan states with different epidemiological Chagas' disease situations was carried out using the Dot-ELISA and conventional serology. In the two hamlets of Zulia state, no seropositives were found in the under-15 age group whereas seropositivity in the over-15 group was 15.6%. In Cojedes state, the two hamlets studied exhibited a seropositivity of 8.9% in the under-15 group and 51.6% in the over-15 group. Upon comparison with conventional methods, Dot-ELISA evidenced high co-positivity, co-negativity and efficiency indexes. In the samples taken from Zulia, the predictive value of the test was 66% and 60% for cytoplasmatic and integral antigens, respectively; with the Cojedes samples, 100% and 95%. The results suggest that Dot-ELISA could be a practical alternative for seroepidemiological Chagas' disease studies in underdeveloped regions.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Parasitología, Facultad Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad de Carabobo, Venezuela.
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: de Hubsch
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Chiechie
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Comach
authors.forename: R R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Aldao
authors.forename: R D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Gusmao
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D014355:Chagas Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D006386:Hemagglutination Tests; D006801:Humans; D015151:Immunoblotting; D007223:Infant; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012423:Rural Health; D014687:Venezuela / Q000453:epidemiology
vernacular_title: El ensayo inmunoenzimático en microgotas sobre nitrocelulosa (Dot-ELISA) en el diagnóstico de la enfermedad de Chagas. II. Estudio seroepidemiológico en cuatro comunidades rurales de Venezuela.