Title
A global systematic review of Chagas disease prevalence among migrants
Date Issued
01 April 2016
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
University of California San Diego
Publisher(s)
Elsevier B.V.
Abstract
Human migration has been identified as a potential factor for increased Chagas disease risk and has transformed the disease from a Latin American problem to a global one. We conducted a systematic review of the scientific literature between 2004-2014 in order to: summarize recent seroprevalence estimates of Chagas disease among Latin American migrants, in both endemic and non-endemic settings; compare seroprevalence estimates in migrants to countrywide prevalence estimates; and identify risk factors for Chagas disease among migrants. A total of 320 studies were screened and 23 studies were included. We found evidence that the prevalence of Chagas disease is higher than expected in some migrant groups and that reliance on blood donor screening prevalence estimates underestimates the burden of disease. Overall there is a dearth of high quality epidemiologic studies on the prevalence of Chagas disease in migrants, especially among intra-regional migrants within Latin America. Given that this zoonotic disease cannot likely be eradicated, improved surveillance and reporting is vital to continuing control efforts. More accurate health surveillance of both Latin American migrants and the Chagas disease burden will help countries appropriately scale up their response to this chronic disease. Overall, improved estimates of Chagas disease among migrants would likely serve to highlight the real need for better screening, diagnostics, and treatment of individuals living with the disease.
Start page
68
End page
78
Volume
156
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Medicina tropical
Enfermedades infecciosas
Subjects
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-84961923791
PubMed ID
Source
Acta Tropica
ISSN of the container
0001706X
Sponsor(s)
Erin Conners was supported by a UC MEXUS dissertation research grant titled “The Potential Role of Migration in Chagas Disease Expansion” and the University of California, San Diego, Center for AIDS Research (CFAR), an NIH-funded program (P30 AI036214 ), which is supported by the following NIH Institutes and Centers: NIAID , NCI, NIMH, NIDA, NICHD, NHLBI, NIA, NIGMS, and NIDDK.
Erin Conners was supported by a UC MEXUS dissertation research grant titled “The Potential Role of Migration in Chagas Disease Expansion” and the University of California, San Diego, Center for AIDS Research (CFAR), an NIH-funded program (P30 AI036214), which is supported by the following NIH Institutes and Centers: NIAID, NCI, NIMH, NIDA, NICHD, NHLBI, NIA, NIGMS, and NIDDK.
Sources of information:
Directorio de Producción Científica
Scopus