Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo (Aug 2015)

FIRST REPORT OF ACUTE CHAGAS DISEASE BY VECTOR TRANSMISSION IN RIO DE JANEIRO STATE, BRAZIL

  • Luiz Henrique Conde SANGENIS,
  • Andréa Silvestre DE SOUSA,
  • Gilberto Marcelo SPERANDIO DA SILVA,
  • Sérgio Salles XAVIER,
  • Carolina Romero Cardoso MACHADO,
  • Patrícia BRASIL,
  • Liane DE CASTRO,
  • Sidnei DA SILVA,
  • Ingebourg GEORG,
  • Roberto Magalhães SARAIVA,
  • Pedro Emmanuel Alvarenga Americano do BRASIL,
  • Alejandro Marcel HASSLOCHER-MORENO

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1590/S0036-46652015000400017
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 57, no. 4
pp. 361 – 364

Abstract

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SUMMARY Chagas disease (CD) is an endemic anthropozoonosis from Latin America of which the main means of transmission is the contact of skin lesions or mucosa with the feces of triatomine bugs infected by Trypanosoma cruzi. In this article, we describe the first acute CD case acquired by vector transmission in the Rio de Janeiro State and confirmed by parasitological, serological and PCR tests. The patient presented acute cardiomyopathy and pericardial effusion without cardiac tamponade. Together with fever and malaise, a 3 cm wide erythematous, non-pruritic, papule compatible with a "chagoma" was found on his left wrist. This case report draws attention to the possible transmission of CD by non-domiciled native vectors in non-endemic areas. Therefore, acute CD should be included in the diagnostic workout of febrile diseases and acute myopericarditis in Rio de Janeiro.

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