Abstract

VERA CABRAL, Edén; SAN MIGUEL, María Cristina; CHAPARRO, Fiorela  and  FRANCO, Gianina. Knowledge about Chagas disease and Triatoma infestans in inhabitants of the Department of San Pedro, Paraguay 2019. An. Fac. Cienc. Méd. (Asunción) [online]. 2020, vol.53, n.1, pp.81-92. ISSN 1816-8949.  https://doi.org/10.18004/anales/2020.053.01.81-092.

The american trypanosomiasis, also known as Chagas disease, is caused by an hemophlagelated protozoo called Trypanosoma cruzi. In Paraguay, the most relevant vector is Triatoma infestans (vinchuca or “chichã guasu”) is considered, in social and economic terms, one of the most important parasitic diseases which may cause severe cardiological complications. Since 2014 till 2017, in San Pedro´s department, have been registered 302 cases of Chagas disease, all detected by serology. The objective of this study was directed to investigate the degree of knowledge of the population that, because of their lifestyles, presents risk factors. It has been made a qualitative-exploratory investigation, with hermeneutic focus. The population studied was made up for 41 families which reside in communities of San Pedro´s department, that are located around 15/40 km of urban zones. They all had a deep semi-structured interview. The results showed that: most of the settlers know triatoma and could observe it when they were children and also some of them affirm have been chopped, being able to describe the morphology and other characteristics of the vector. Most of the interviewed unknown the symptomatology produced by T. cruzi, but have the basic knowledge related with this disease.

Keywords : Chagas disease; Triatoma infestans; Knowledge..

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