Journal article
Use of the polymerase chain reaction for detecting Trypanosoma cruzi in triatomine vectors
Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, Vol.90(6), pp.649-651
1996
DOI: 10.1016/S0035-9203(96)90419-8
PMID: 9015504
Abstract
Determination of the rate of
Trypanosoma cruzi infection in its triatomine vectors is an element in control programmes directed at reducing transmission of the organism to humans. Traditionally,
T. cruzi has been detected in these insects by microscopical examination of intestinal contents or excreta. The sensitivity of this laborious process has not been defined because of the lack of a bench-mark method against which microscopical examination could be compared. The purpose of this study was to compare the sensitivity of a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay with that of microscopical examination for detecting
T. cruzi in
Triatoma infestans nymphs that had fed on patients with chronic Chagas disease. To this end, we analysed 54 pairs of samples, each containing 2 groups of 10 insects, obtained by feedings on 19 patients with chronic
T. cruzi infection, 17 of whom were fed upon 3 times. One group of insects in each pair was analysed by PCR and the other by microscopical examination of excreta. Overall, the PCR assay gave positive results in 32 of 54 groups of insects examined (59%), whereas only 7 of 54 groups (13%) were positive by microscopical examination (
P = 0.038). These results demonstrate that the PCR assay is significantly more sensitive for the detection of
T. cruzi in triatomine vectors than is microscopical examination, and suggest that the PCR assay could be a useful tool in epizootiological studies.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Use of the polymerase chain reaction for detecting Trypanosoma cruzi in triatomine vectors
- Creators
- M.A Shikanai-Yasuda - Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São PauloD.E Ochs - University of IowaJ.E Tolezano - Instituto Adolfo LutzL.V Kirchhoff - University of Iowa
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, Vol.90(6), pp.649-651
- Publisher
- Elsevier Ltd
- DOI
- 10.1016/S0035-9203(96)90419-8
- PMID
- 9015504
- ISSN
- 0035-9203
- eISSN
- 1878-3503
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 1996
- Academic Unit
- Psychiatry; Infectious Diseases; Epidemiology; Internal Medicine
- Record Identifier
- 9984280878802771
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