AJTMH Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
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Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg., 74(5), 2006, pp. 762-765
Copyright © 2006 by The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

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HUMAN TRYPANOSOME INFECTION AND THE PRESENCE OF INTRADOMICILE RHODNIUS PALLESCENS IN THE WESTERN BORDER OF THE PANAMA CANAL, PANAMA

JOSÉ E. CALZADA*, VANESSA PINEDA, EDILMA MONTALVO, DAYRA ALVAREZ, ANA MARÍA SANTAMARÍA, FRANKLYN SAMUDIO, VICENTE BAYARD, LORENZO CÁCERES, AND AZAEL SALDAÑA
Instituto Conmemorativo Gorgas de Estudios de la Salud, Panama, Republic of Panama

An entomologic search was carried out to collect intradomicile triatomines in dwellings from rural communities in the western border of the Panama Canal, Panama. Sixty-nine triatomines were collected inside 20 houses of 67 houses investigated. Rhodnius pallescens was the only triatomine species found and included adults of both sexes and nymphs. A significantly high Trypanosoma cruzi (72.7%) and T. rangeli (40%) vector infection rate was detected. Blood meal analysis showed that 68% of R. pallescens had fed on humans. Human serologic analaysis and hemoculture performed on inhabitants from triatomine-infested houses showed that 32.1% (18 of 56) of the samples were trypanosome infected. Thirteen samples (23.2%) had antibodies against T. cruzi. Six of these seropositive samples were from children less than 15 years old. Trypanosoma rangeli was isolated in five hemoculture samples, all from children less than 11 years old. The epidemiologic implications of these findings in terms of human infection are discussed.

Received August 26, 2005. Accepted for publication January 11, 2006.

Acknowledgments: We thank Roberto Rojas, Jose Montenegro, and Enrique Martinez for field and technical assistance.

Financial support: This investigation was supported by grant A304558 from the United National Development Program/World Bank/World Health Organization World Special Program for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases. And grant PAN 6010 from the International Atomic Energy Agency.

* Address correspondence to José E. Calzada, Instituto Conmemorativo Gorgas de Estudios de la Salud, Apartado Postal No. 0816-02593, Panama, Republic of Panama. E-mail: jcalzada{at}gorgas.gob.pa

Authors’ address: José E. Calzada, Vanessa Pineda, Edilma Montalvo, Dayra Alvarez, Ana María Santamaría, Franklyn Samudio, Vicente Bayard, Lorenzo Cáceres, and Azael Saldaña, Instituto Conmemorativo Gorgas de Estudios de la Salud, Apartado Postal No. 0816-02593, Panama, Republic of Panama, Telephone: 507-227-4111, Fax: 507-225-4366, E-mail: jcalzada{at}gorgas.gob.pa.






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Copyright © 2006 by the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.