Resumo
In paralel with several other epidemiologic and entomologic data of 19 Municipalities of Espírito Santo State, Brazil, the feeding pattern of 222 Triatoma vitticeps is studied through precipitin tests. Very high levels of natural infection with Trypanosoma cruzi are observed in adult insects, in contrast with the abscence or minimum degrees of infection among nymphs and human individuals. The precipitin tests showed the contact of the insects with multiple blood sources, chiefly human and birds, followed by rodents and marsupials. The data suggest that T. vitticeps in spite of being highly antropophilic, become infected by T. cruzi in sylvatic ambient and occasionally invade houses. The species doesn't seem to be - at least until now - a good vector in the domestic cycle of Chagas' disease. Several factors seem to be involved in this conclusion, mainly the low density of the insect in the houses, its hardness to coloniza them, its slowness concerning to suction and defecation and possibly its low susceptibility to different T. cruzi strains.
Triatoma vitticeps; Hemiptera; Reduviidae; Trypanosoma cruzi; Chagas' disease; feeding patterns; precipitin test
Triatoma vitticeps; Hemiptera; Reduviidae; Trypanosoma cruzi; Chagas' disease; feeding patterns; precipitin test
Fonte alimentar e potencial vetorial de Triatoma vitticeps (Stal, 1859) com relação à doença de Chagas humana no estado do Espírito Santo, Brasil (Hemiptera, Reduviidae)
João Carlos Pinto Dias1
Vilma Ramos Feitosa1
Antenor do N. Ferraz Filho2
Vera Lúcia C. Rodrigues2
Seila Aires de Alencar3
Paulo Augusto Sessa3
Ministério da Saúde, SUCAM, Divisão de Doença de Chagas, Brasília, Brasil
Secretaria de Estado da Saúde, Superintendência de Controle de Endemias, São Paulo, Brasil
SUCAM, Vitoria, Brasil
In paralel with several other epidemiologic and entomologic data of 19 Municipalities of Espírito Santo State, Brazil, the feeding pattern of 222 Triatoma vitticeps is studied through precipitin tests. Very high levels of natural infection with Trypanosoma cruzi are observed in adult insects, in contrast with the abscence or minimum degrees of infection among nymphs and human individuals. The precipitin tests showed the contact of the insects with multiple blood sources, chiefly human and birds, followed by rodents and marsupials. The data suggest that T. vitticeps in spite of being highly antropophilic, become infected by T. cruzi in sylvatic ambient and occasionally invade houses. The species doesn't seem to be - at least until now - a good vector in the domestic cycle of Chagas' disease. Several factors seem to be involved in this conclusion, mainly the low density of the insect in the houses, its hardness to coloniza them, its slowness concerning to suction and defecation and possibly its low susceptibility to different T. cruzi strains.
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Datas de Publicação
-
Publicação nesta coleção
24 Jun 2009 -
Data do Fascículo
1989
