Seroprevalencia de la enfermedad de chagaS en comunidadeS indígenaS de loS eStadoS Bolívar y delta amacuro, venezuela Seroprevalence of chagaS diSeaSe in indigenouS communitieS from Bolivar and delta amacuro StateS, venezuela

Traditionally Bolivar and Delta Amacuro states (Venezuela) have been considered as non-endemic for Chagas Disease, although there are all the links of the epidemiological chain. For the purpose of contributing to the knowledge of the epidemiology of this disease, a prospective seroepidemiological study was performed. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of antibodies anti-Trypanosoma cruzi in three indigenous communities (E'nepa, Hiwi and Warao) in Bolivar and Delta Amacuro states. Once each participant provided an informed consent to voluntarily be part of the study, a survey was conducted to collect clinical and epidemiological data. Samples of venous blood were taken to detect specific antibodies (IgG) against T. cruzi by the ELISA test (BiosChile) in serum. Positive subjects underwent three additional tests (Chagatest HAI Wiener lab, Chagatest ELISA recombinant Wiener lab y Bioline Chagas Ab Rapid) to confirm the presence of antibodies. From the 159 individuals that were tested, 4 (2.5%) were seropositive for the infection with T. cruzi. All belonged to the E'nepa etnia and prevalence was the same in both sexes (1.25%) (p > 0.05). The study shows that prevalence of infection with T. cruzi in E'nepa community municipality Cedeno, Bolivar State is low (2.5%) and infection is nonexistent in other examined Waraos communities in Pedernales and Antonio Diaz municipalities, Delta Amacuro state.