title: [A comparative study between natural and artificial xenodiagnosis in chronic Chagas' disease patients].
abstract: In order to study the sensitivity of the xenodiagnosis technique a comparison between natural and artificial xenodiagnosis methods was performed in 57 chronic phase chagasic patients (31 female), with ages ranging from 26 to 83 years. All patients had demonstrable antibodies against Trypanosoma cruzi. Forty first instar nymphs of Dipetalogaster maximus were used for each of both methods and for each patient. The positivity of xenodiagnosis artificial was significantly higher than the routine test method. These results did show that a single application of 40 bugs by the artificial method yielded a similar result than 3 applications of 40 bugs each, by the natural method. The positivity of xenodiagnosis was significantly higher in patients between 56-65 and 66-83 years old than at other ages. Males were predominant in this age group. These results showed the viability of artificial xenodiagnosis and its use in routine laboratory testing.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Biologia, Fisiologia de Insetos e Xenodiagnóstico, Instituto de Patologia Tropical e Saúde Pública, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Goiânia, GO.
authors.forename: A H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: dos Santos
authors.forename: I G
authors.initials: IG
authors.lastname: da Silva
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rassi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000818:Animals; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000097:blood; D014355:Chagas Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000469:parasitology; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008722:Methods; D008875:Middle Aged; D009758:Nymph; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013997:Time Factors; D014225:Triatominae; D014349:Trypanosoma cruzi / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification
chemical_list: D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan
vernacular_title: Estudo comparativo entre o xenodiagnóstico natural e o artificial, em chagásicos crônicos.