Abstract

MEZA ACOSTA, Graciela  and  CERECETTO MEYER, Hugo. Seroprevalence of Chagas disease in pregnant women of the department of Cordillera in the period 2010-2016 and the behavior of the seroprevalence after 21 years of Prenatal Chagas Control Program implementation. Mem. Inst. Investig. Cienc. Salud [online]. 2019, vol.17, n.3, pp.10-19. ISSN 1812-9528.  https://doi.org/10.18004/mem.iics/1812-9528/2019.017.03.10-019.

It is estimated that in Paraguay 165,000 people are infected with Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiological agent of Chagas disease. Among them 61,000 are women of childbearing age. In 1995, it was implemented the Chagas Prenatal Control Program in the Cordillera department, one of the endemic areas of the country. Herein is analyzed the evolution of T. cruzi seropositivity in pregnant women in the 21 years of prenatal control (period: 1995-2016), with emphasis on the period 2010-2016. In this descriptive study, data from the registers of the III Sanitary Region and from the five diagnostic laboratories were used. The serologic results of 20 districts involved 23,661 pregnant women who attended their prenatal control. It was recorded 1,074 seropositive women in the five reference laboratories, resulting in a 5 % prevalence of infection with T. cruzi in the period 2010-2016. At the beginning of the Program the prevalence was 16 %, the main decrease, to 6 %, was evidenced in 2014 maintaining quasi stationary until 2016. The Chagas disease prenatal diagnosis system and the protocols of prevention by the Ministry of Public Health and Social Welfare were effective. This information is useful to control the congenital transmission through the identification of positive pregnant women and providing the adequate treatment.

Keywords : Pregnant women; prenatal control; Chagas disease; seroprevalence..

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