Clinical, laboratory and epidemiological data of chronic chagasic patients residing in the northwestern region of the State of Paraná, Brazil

Abstract

Clinical, laboratory and epidemiological data of 48 chagasic patients living in the northwestern region of the State of Paraná were analyzed. The clinical study revealed abnormalities in 59.5% of electrocardiograms and 27% of chest x-rays. Prior to etiologic treatment, all patients had positive IIF and ELISA, except for one case with a IIF titer of 20. Hemoculture, CoML and PCR were positive in 41.7%, 89.6% and 83.3% of subjects respectively. The subjects included women (52.1%) and men (47.9%) with average age of 46.9 ± 10.1 years mainly from the States of Minas Gerais and São Paulo (70.9%) and Paraná (18.8%). The majority acquired the infection through vector contact (95.8%) and 79.2% discovered the disease because they felt ill and looked for medical care, while 8.3% discovered their illness through blood donation. Understanding the clinical, laboratory and epidemiological data of chagasic patients is of considerable importance in order to formulate etiologic treatment proposals for these patients. The majority of the subjects in this study are in the productive phase of their lives and do not present clinical abnormalities, thus raising questions related to treatment which will be evaluated in future studies.