Infestation by chagas disease vectors in four endemic zones of the central plateau of costa rica

• OLGER CALDERÓN-ARGUEDAS ^[1] ; ADRIANA TROYO ^[1] ; ALFREDO CASTRO ^[1] ; OLGA GUERRERO ^[1] ; MISAEL CHINCHILLA ^[1]
  1. [1] Universidad de Costa Rica

     Universidad de Costa Rica

     Hospital, Costa Rica

     
• Localización: Parasitología latinoamericana, ISSN-e 0717-7712, ISSN 0717-7704, Vol. 57, Nº. 1-4, 2002, págs. 88-95
• Idioma: inglés
• Títulos paralelos:
  • Infestación por vectores de la Enfermedad de Chagas en cuatro zonas endémicas de la meseta central de Costa Rica
• Enlaces
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• Resumen

  • An entomological search for vectors of Chagas` disease was performed in 157 houses located in 4 endemic regions of the Central Plateau of Costa Rica. Thirteen of the houses (8.3%) were positive for Triatoma dimidiata (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) the only triatomine species found. The bugs were collected mainly in peridomestic piles of firewood (95.2%) and 8.1% of all the insects were infected by Trypanosoma cruzi. The low abundance of Chagas' disease vectors and the their low infestation rates could be attributed to the improvement of the living conditions in the four study zones. The data also suggests that the impact of T. cruzi infection in Costa Rican populations could be low and the prevalence of T. cruzi could be linked to zoonotic cycles