title: Incidence of Trypanosoma cruzi infection in two Guatemalan communities.
abstract: The prevalence of human infection by Trypanosoma cruzi was assessed using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in a serological survey in 1998 of 2 rural communities (SMH and PS) in Guatemala. In SMH (Department of Zacapa), where Rhodnius prolixus was the principal vector, the seroprevalence amongst 373 people tested was 38.8%. In PS (Department of Santa Rosa), where the main vector was Triatoma dimidiata, 8.9% of the 428 people tested were seropositive. The overall prevalence of seropositivity was higher in females than in males in both SMH (40% vs 36%) and PS (11.9% vs 4.9%), although this difference was significant only in PS. Historical seroconversion rates, estimated retrospectively by fitting a transmission model to the age-prevalence curves, were 3.8% per year in SMH and 0.5% per year in PS. There was some indication of a recent reduction in incidence in both villages. In PS, but not in SMH, both the observed prevalence and the estimated incidence rates were significantly higher in females than in males.
authors.affiliation: University of San Carlos of Guatemala, Zone 12, Guatemala City, Guatemala. gmb5@cdc.gov
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Paz-Bailey
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Monroy
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rodas
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rosales
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tabaru
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Davies
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lines
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000818:Animals; D014355:Chagas Disease / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006166:Guatemala / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012423:Rural Health; D017678:Sex Distribution; D014349:Trypanosoma cruzi