title: Survey for Trypanosoma cruzi infection in a municipality in northeast Brazil.
abstract: An epidemiological survey of Trypanosoma cruzi infection was carried out in Bodocó, located in the western part of the State of Pernambuco, Brazil. Two hundred and forty-one individuals were parasitologically and immunologically screened. Although hemoculture did not reveal the presence of parasites in the blood, the sera of 5 individuals were scored as positive by the indirect fluorescence antibody test and the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Seropositivity in individuals above and below the age of 40 was 14.8 and 0.5%, respectively. These results indicate that recent infections with T. cruzi are rare in this area. However, since a T. cruzi-infected triatomid (Triatoma brasiliensis) was captured in a school classroom, this area must be considered endemic. When triatomid feces containing parasites were inoculated into a jird (mongolian gerbil), parasitemia appeared 10 days later. Immunohistochemical staining, using monoclonal antibody specific for T. cruzi, labeled organisms in jird tissues. These observations demonstrate that the jird is a suitable host for experimental T. cruzi infections and that monoclonal antibody is effective for detection of the parasite in host tissues.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Imunopatologia Prof. Keizo Asami, Federal Universidade de Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil. htachiba@is.icc.u-tokai.ac.jp
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tachibana
authors.forename: K C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Paz
authors.forename: W H
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Landivar
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.forename: L T
authors.initials: LT
authors.lastname: Montenegro
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Figuerêdo-Silva
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tateno
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000097:blood; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D014355:Chagas Disease / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000469:parasitology; D002648:Child; D006801:Humans; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000469:parasitology; D010203:Panstrongylus / Q000469:parasitology; D011159:Population Surveillance; D014224:Triatoma / Q000469:parasitology; D014349:Trypanosoma cruzi / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification
chemical_list: D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan