Prevalence of Chagas Disease in Aldea las Palmas, Olopa, Chiquimula

Abstract

Chagas disease is a parasitic disease associated with conditions of poverty and overcrowding and it is considered a public health problem in Guatemala. For this reason, the prevalence of the acute and chronic phase was determined in 134 women of childbearing age and 164 schoolchildren living in the village. Las Palmas, Chiquimula and the associated sociodemographic factors. No positive cases were obtained for the acute phase, but there were forty positive cases (13.42%) for the chronic phase, three children, and thirty-seven women. The most affected age groups were the range of 13 to 14 years with two cases (1.22%, 2/164) and 25 to 34 years with fifteen cases (11.19%, 15/134). The majority of study participants (190) belonged to sector 3 of the village, with twenty positive cases in women and three in schoolchildren. The housing factors most associated with positivity were tin roofs, mud walls, cracked walls, and dirt floors, but without statistical significance (p < 0.05). The majority of the population knows the vector and the disease, however, in the positive cases only 12.5% ​​(5/40) were aware of the bedbug feces, 42.5% (17/40) have observed it inside the house and 20 % (8/40) acknowledged having been bitten by the vector. The risk to which the population is exposed was evident and that their housing conditions favor the accommodation of the vector, so it is recommended to continue with vector control actions and education of the population.