Resumen

MONTEAGUDO CANTO, Alina; SALAZAR CUETO, Carlos E.; SANTANA TELLEZ, Tomas N.  y  AGUERO PADRON, Marlene. American trypanosomiasis in Latin American students. AMC [online]. 2013, vol.17, n.4, pp.435-452. ISSN 1025-0255.

Background: Chagas' disease or trypanosomiasis is a tropical parasitic disease, generally chronic, caused by trypanosome cruzy. It presents three stages: severe phase, undetermined phase, and chronic phase. The disease affects the nervous system, the digestive system, and the heart. It produces neurological disorders, damage in the cardiac muscle (cardiomyopathy) and in the digestive tract (megacolon and/or megaesophagous). It was established that some students from the Latin American School of Medicine were affected by the disease, which does not exists in Cuba. Objective: to get to know the real health situation of the Latin students diagnosed with American trypanosomiasis. Methods: a descriptive, observational study was conducted at the University of Medical Sciences of Camagüey in students who suffered from Chagas' disease. The universe, which coincided with the sample, was composed of 29 Latin American students. Results: male sex was predominant. The average age was of 25 years old. Bolivia was the country that was predominant in terms of frequency. Bradycardia was the most frequent sign. Electrocardiogram produced more altered results than normal ones. In 11 of the patients (37.93 %) the family pathological precedents were gathered. A high percent of the patients finished their treatment at the Pedro Kourí Institute (25 patients that made an 86.21 %). One of the patients died. Conclusions: students with Chagas' disease had an average of six years of been diagnosed but not of been sick. They are not asymptomatic. Electrocardiogram should be greatly valued for its high positive results. Contrast studies of the digestive tract should be made looking for megaesophagous or any other problem. An active analysis of Bolivian students should be kept. Family pathological precedents should be greatly valued. Monitoring consultations should be kept at no more than three-month intervals in order to see the evolution, mainly from the cardiovascular point of view.

Palabras clave : CHAGAS DISEASE  [ultrasonography]; PARASITIC DISEASES; NERVOUS SYSTEM; YOUNG ADULT; EPIDEMIOLOGY, DESCRIPTIVE.

        · resumen en Español     · texto en Español     · Español ( pdf )